1RM percentage chart
Enter a one-rep max and this chart prints every training percentage as an actual number, from 100% down to 40%, with the rep range each load usually supports. Percentages become weights you can load.
Do not know your max yet? The 1RM calculator estimates it from any hard set you have already done.
- Heavy strength work (85%)
- 120 kg
- Hypertrophy work (75%)
- 105 kg
- Technique work (60%)
- 85 kg
An estimate from a published formula, not a measurement. Use it as a consistent yardstick for tracking change.
Every percentage, as weight
Loadable rounding snaps each figure to the nearest total a 20 kg bar plus standard plates can make, so you are not chasing a number the rack cannot produce.
| % of 1RM | Weight | Reps at that load | What it trains |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | 140 kg | 1 | Maximal strength |
| 95% | 132.5 kg | 2 | Maximal strength |
| 90% | 125 kg | 3-4 | Strength |
| 85% | 120 kg | 5 | Strength |
| 80% | 112.5 kg | 6-8 | Strength |
| 75% | 105 kg | 8-10 | Hypertrophy |
| 70% | 97.5 kg | 10-12 | Hypertrophy |
| 65% | 90 kg | 12-15 | Hypertrophy |
| 60% | 85 kg | 15-18 | Muscular endurance |
| 55% | 77.5 kg | 18-22 | Muscular endurance |
| 50% | 70 kg | 22+ | Technique and warm-up |
| 40% | 55 kg | 30+ | Technique and warm-up |
Why the headline number is 90%, not 100%
A true one-rep max is a single performance on a single day. Programs that run every session off 100% end up prescribing loads you can only hit when everything lines up: good sleep, good session, fresh.
A training max of about 90% is the number that survives a bad Tuesday. Percentages taken from it are loads you can hit every week, which is what makes a progression plan repeatable rather than aspirational.
How to read the rep column
The reps listed against each percentage are what most trained lifters manage on that load, not a target to chase. Two people with the same one-rep max can differ by four or five reps at 70%, because rep capacity at a given percentage is partly a fibre-type and skill question.
Treat it as a sanity check. If 80% feels like a comfortable ten, your entered max is probably low. If 80% stops you at four, it is probably high.
Percentages are per lift, not per lifter
Squats, bench and deadlift do not behave the same at the same percentage. Deadlifts drop off fastest: a set at 85% of a deadlift max is usually shorter than a set at 85% of a squat max, because there is no stretch reflex helping out of the bottom.
Keep a separate max for each lift. One number applied across a whole session is the fastest way to make one exercise too easy and another impossible.
What the app does with this
- Your max updates itself. Mekimeki recalculates an estimated 1RM from every working set you log, so the percentages you train off never go stale.
- Per-exercise, not per-session. Squat, bench and deadlift each carry their own estimate and their own history.
- Warm-up sets stay out of it. Sets tagged as warm-up are excluded from the estimate, so a light opener cannot drag the number down.
Questions people ask
Should I use a training max or my real max for percentages?
A training max, for anything you plan to repeat weekly. Set it at roughly 90% of your best single and run the program off that. Percentages of a true max look correct on paper and turn into missed reps by week three.
Why does the chart round the weights?
Because 78.3 kg is not a thing you can load. Loadable rounding snaps each row to the nearest total the bar and standard plates can make. Switch to Exact if you are on a machine with a continuous stack or you want the raw arithmetic.
My max changed. Do I need to redo the whole chart?
Only the input. Change the one-rep max at the top and every row recalculates. If you are logging in Mekimeki the estimate updates on its own as you train, which is the point of tracking it rather than testing it.
Do these percentages work for accessories like curls and rows?
Loosely. The percentage-to-rep relationship was mapped on big barbell lifts. On isolation work most people get more reps at a given percentage, so use the chart as a starting load and adjust by feel after the first set.
Related tools
Percentages that keep up with you
Mekimeki re-estimates your one-rep max from every set you log, per exercise, so the loads you train off stay current without a single test day.
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