How is estimated 1RM calculated for assisted pull-ups and dips?
When a set is marked as assisted, Mekimeki takes the weight you logged, negates it, and uses that signed value everywhere the estimate and your records are calculated. Because the number on an assisted machine is help rather than load, negating it makes the estimate move in the direction you are actually moving: dropping from 25 kg of assistance to 15 kg produces a higher estimate, not a lower one. No bodyweight entry is required, because the direction comes from the sign rather than from subtracting assistance from your weight.
The rule
| Signed weight | An assisted set uses the magnitude of the logged weight with the sign flipped to negative. Every other type keeps it positive. |
|---|---|
| Estimated 1RM | The estimate is computed on the magnitude and the negative sign is reapplied to the result, so an assisted set produces a negative estimate. |
| Direction | Less assistance is a larger signed value, so it ranks higher — 15 kg of help beats 25 kg of help. |
| Personal records | Weight and estimated-1RM records compare the signed value, so a record on assisted work means you needed less help than ever before. |
| Bodyweight | Not required and not used. Mekimeki never asks for it in order to score an assisted set. |
| Scope | Assisted is a per-set type, so assisted and unassisted sets of the same movement share one exercise and one history. |
Why the sign, rather than bodyweight minus assistance
The usual method is to compute an effective load of bodyweight minus assistance, which is a truer absolute number: it tells you roughly how many kilos you actually moved. Mekimeki does not do this, and the trade is worth stating plainly.
Subtracting requires a current bodyweight to be on file, and a stale one silently corrupts every estimate calculated from it. Negating the sign requires nothing beyond the number already on the machine, and it gets the ordering right — which is the part that matters when you are watching a trend. What it gives up is the absolute figure: an assisted estimate is a ranking value, not a claim about how much you lifted.
What a record on assisted work means
Because comparisons run on the signed value, a weight or estimated-1RM record for assisted sets is triggered by needing less help than in any previous session, at that rep count or better. That is the event worth flagging on an assisted machine.
It also means an assisted set and an unassisted set of the same movement never compete for the same record in a misleading way: unassisted work carries a positive value and assisted work a negative one, so genuine bodyweight reps always rank above any amount of machine help.
What this does not do
The boundaries of the behaviour above, stated so you do not have to infer them.
- An assisted estimate is not a load in kilograms. It is a signed ranking figure and should not be read as "you can pull this much".
- Mekimeki does not convert an assisted estimate into an unassisted one. It cannot tell you how close you are to a first unaided rep.
- Band-assisted work is only scored this way if you express the help as a weight and mark the set assisted. Mekimeki does not model band tension.
- This article does not describe how assisted sets affect training volume. That behaviour is under review and will be documented once it is settled.
Related questions
Do I need to enter my bodyweight?
No. The direction of the estimate comes from the sign on the assisted set, not from subtracting assistance from your bodyweight, so no bodyweight is required at any point.
Do I need a separate exercise for assisted pull-ups?
No. Assisted is a per-set type, so the same exercise holds assisted and unassisted sets and the history stays continuous as you move from one to the other.
Why is my assisted estimate a negative number?
Because the weight is negated before the estimate is calculated. The sign is what makes less assistance rank above more assistance; read the estimate as a position on a scale rather than as a load.
What happens on the day I do my first unassisted rep?
Log it without the assisted type. It carries a positive value, which ranks above every assisted set you have ever logged, so it registers as a record on the spot.
See the product page for this feature →
Other articles
- Do warm-up sets count toward my personal records and training volume?
- Which one-rep max formula does Mekimeki use, and can I change it?
- How does Mekimeki decide that a set is a personal record?
- What does each set type actually change?
Documentation checked against the shipping app on 2026-08-15.
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