The Legion Strength Level Calculator estimates what your one-rep max should be on the main compound exercises, given your experience level. It also predicts how strong you can get in your lifetime without taking steroids.
You can use this data in the following ways:
To set realistic yet challenging goals.
To understand your strengths and weaknesses.
To see how much progress you’ve made since you began lifting weights.
To estimate your natural strength potential.
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How Tracking Your One-Rep Max Helps You Build Muscle
The most reliable way to gain muscle is getting stronger.
As your one-rep max is simply the maximum amount of weight you can lift for a single repetition for a particular exercise, it’s an excellent way to determine whether or not you’re getting stronger. In other words, your one-rep max is a rough proxy for muscle growth.
The relationship between muscle gain and strength isn’t perfect and doesn’t work well for comparing progress between two different people, though. For example, just because one person has a higher bench one-rep max than another doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily have a bigger chest, as other factors also influence muscle growth.
What you can count on is that if your one-rep max is going up for a particular exercise, you’re also growing the muscles that are trained by that exercise.
How to Improve Your One-Rep Max
You can improve your one-rep max in many ways. The simplest method is to follow a well-designed training program that emphasizes progressive overload, like Bigger Leaner Stronger or Thinner Leaner Stronger.
Beyond that, focus on the following:
Practice: The best way to get stronger at an exercise is to practice that exercise—you improve your squat strength by squatting, your overhead press by overhead pressing, and so forth. Thus, if you currently bench just once weekly and want to improve, try benching more frequently.
Build muscle: As a new weightlifter, you’ll find most strength gains come from honing your technique. However, as you become more experienced (after 1-to-2 years of consistent weightlifting), buildingmore muscle is one of the most effective ways to increase your one-rep max strength. If you want a program designed to help experienced weightlifters build muscle and get strong, check out my fitness book Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger.
Train with heavy weights: You must regularly train with weights near your maximum to improve your one-rep max strength. A good guideline is to spend approximately 80% of your gym time training in the 4-to-6 rep range (85-to-90% of your one-rep max) and the remainder training in the 6-to-8 or 8-to-10 rep range (75-to-85% of your one-rep max).
+ Scientific References
Brechue, William F., and Takashi Abe. “The Role of FFM Accumulation and Skeletal Muscle Architecture in Powerlifting Performance.” European Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 86, no. 4, Feb. 2002, pp. 327–336, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-001-0543-7.
Appleby, Brendyn, et al. “Changes in Strength over a 2-Year Period in Professional Rugby Union Players.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. 26, no. 9, Sept. 2012, pp. 2538–2546, https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0b013e31823f8b86.
Schoenfeld, Brad J., et al. “Effects of Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Well-Trained Men.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. 29, no. 10, Oct. 2015, pp. 2954–2963, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25853914/, https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0000000000000958.
Legion Featured Author
Mike Matthews
Mike Matthews is the founder of Legion as well as the author of several award-winning fitness books, including Bigger Leaner Stronger, Muscle for Life, and The Shredded Chef.
His simple and science-based approach to building muscle, losing fat, and getting healthy has sold over a million books and helped thousands of people build their best bodies ever, and his work has been featured in many popular outlets including Esquire, Men’s Health, Elle, Women’s Health, Muscle & Strength, and more, as well as on FOX and ABC.
You can find Mike on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.
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Free Worldwide Shipping & Returns
Many companies use shipping and handling fees to increase their profit margins, but here at Legion, we hate profits, so our shipping is free!
Okay, so we do dig on profits, but we also go in for happy customers, and free shipping works like gangbusters. So, if you’re outside the USA, your order ships free when it’s over $199.
Why the restriction on international orders? Unfortunately, shipping abroad is very expensive, and if we didn’t require a minimum order size, we’d lose a lot of money. But! We’re also hustling to improve our international logistics and will be passing our savings along to our international customers.
Also, if you don’t absolutely love our stuff for whatever reason, we don’t request you deliver it to a PO box in the Gobi Desert by carrier pigeon.
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