Training max and percentage programs
Many well-known programs, 5/3/1 and its relatives among them, don't tell you what weight to lift. They tell you a percentage, like 3 sets of 5 at 75%. The percentage is of your training max.
Your training max is a working number for each main lift, set a little under the most you can lift once. Get it right and the whole program falls into place. This guide covers what it is, why it sits below your real max, how to set it and how it rises.
What a training max is
Your one-rep max, or 1RM, is the heaviest weight you can lift once with good form. A training max, or TM, is a number below that, most often 85 to 90% of it. If you can squat 140 kg once, a 90% training max is 126 kg, which you would round to 125 kg.
The program then works off the training max, not your true max. A set at 80% of a 125 kg training max is 100 kg.
Why it sits below your real max
Your true max on any given day moves around with sleep, stress and food. Plan every set off your best-ever day and the program will be too heavy on most days.
Starting lower gives you room. The early weeks feel manageable, your form stays clean, and you build up to heavy work rather than starting there. It also leaves space for the training max to rise steadily for months before you catch up with your real strength.
A training max that is too high is the most common way to wreck a percentage program. If you are failing the main sets in the first few weeks, the number is too high. Lower it by 10% and start again.
How to set yours
You don't need to test a true one-rep max. Take a recent heavy set, for example 100 kg for 5 reps, and estimate your max from it. A common formula puts 100 kg × 5 at about 117 kg. Take 90% of that, about 105 kg, as your training max.
Use a set you did with good form, not one you ground out. When in doubt, go lower. A training max that is a little low costs you a couple of easy weeks. One that is too high can cost you the whole block.
How it goes up
Most percentage programs raise the training max on a schedule, often at the end of each cycle of three or four weeks. A typical step is about 2.5 kg for upper-body lifts and 5 kg for lower-body lifts.
Many also use an AMRAP set, as many reps as possible, on the last set. Beat the target reps and the training max goes up. Fall well short and it stays put or comes down. That way the number follows your real strength instead of a calendar.
Training maxes in Durata
When you start a program from Discover that runs on training maxes, Durata asks for them first, suggesting each one from your logged history, around 90% of your best estimated one-rep max. With no history for a lift, you type it in. Every percentage set then shows its weight already worked out, rounded to your plates.
On your own sessions, the set sheet's Load can be % TM: pick the percentage and the weight follows your training max.
At the end of each cycle on a repeating plan, Cycle complete shows your training maxes with any earned increases already filled in, ready to apply or change.
Common questions
What percentage of my max should my training max be?
Most programs use 85 to 90% of your one-rep max. If you are new to percentage training, 85% is the safer start.
Do I need to test my one-rep max first?
No. Estimate it from a recent heavy set of 3 to 5 reps with good form, then take 85 to 90% of that.
My training max feels too heavy. What should I do?
Lower it by about 10% and start the cycle again. Missing the main sets early on is the clearest sign it is too high.
How often does a training max go up?
Usually once per cycle of three or four weeks, by about 2.5 kg on upper-body lifts and 5 kg on lower-body lifts. Some programs raise it only when you beat a rep target on an AMRAP set.
Put it into practice
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