Determining 15RM

[DutchVince]

Greetings from Holland !

First allow me to introduce myself.
First the most important stats:

male
age 44
ectomorph
178 lbs @ 12% BF @ 6 foot 3 inches

Goal: 210-220 lbs @ 8% BF and look better than most guys in their 30's
(what the heck maybe even 20's ) !

January 2005 I weighed a paltry 145 lbs; looked like a walking skeleton and thought I would stay that way for the rest of my life. Then I found DutchBodybuilding.com and learned how to train and eat properly.

Using a conventional split-routine this resulted in 44 lbs of mass (33 lbs muscle 11 lbs fat): two months ago my weight was 189 lbs.
After cutting the fat I reached 178lbs@10-12%BF. So within a year I added a clean 33 lbs of muscle.

I became a member of this board because I want to try out HST and see if it actually works as advertised. (at DutchBodyBuilding.com HST is all the hype at the moment, thanks to some evangelists! )

OK here comes my first question in the form of an example:

Lets say I want to find my 15RM for benchpress.
I estimate (based on past excercises) that 80 lbs should be OK.
Then I go for it and fail at 12 reps
(or at 17 reps whatever, the point is: NOT exactly 15 reps)
What is my 15 RM?
Do I have to try all over again with a improved estimate or can I calculate my 15 RM from the 12 (or 17) RM?

TIA!
DutchVince

 

[colby2152]

If you did 12 reps, than make it 70 lbs... if you did 17 reps, make it 90 lbs... it's more of a rough estimate which is why actually testing your RM's is so much better.

 

[robefc]

I agree with colby that testing is better but if you are going to estimate err on the side of caution, better to be able to do too many and just progress the weight for an extra session than the opposite scenario IMHO.

Cheers

Rob

 

[Lol]

If you underestimate slightly on the 15RMs you'll likely have less zigzagging once you get to 10s. It really doesn't matter that much though as it's the weight progression you make over the whole cycle that will ensure your body has to keep adapting and growing.

However, I agree with Colby too. If you can get your maxes right, so much the better. It gives you a psychological boost when you get to the end of a two week micro-cycle and find you could easily beat your previous tested maxes. (This doesn't always happen but often it does.)

All the best,
Lol