Abstract
1-repetition maximum (1RM), a representative index for an individual’s weightlifting capacity, provides an organized workout guide, but to measure 1RM needs several repetitive exercises up to one’s limit and has a risk of injury, thus, not adequate for beginners, elders, or disabled people. This study suggests a simpler and safer 1RM measurement method using a hydraulic fitness machine. We asked twenty-five female subjects with less than a month of experience in weight training to repeat chest exercises using a conventional plate-loaded bench press machine and a hydraulic bench press machine and measured 1RMs. Repeated-measures ANOVA and paired t-test reported the difference between the plate and hydraulic 1RMs insignificant (p-value = 0.082) and confirmed the generality of 1RM across the different types of fitness machines. We then derived several 1RM equations in terms of load weight and lifting speed during non-1RM exercise and reduced it to a first-order polynomial expression with adjusted R-square of 0.8849. Goodness-of-fit test and comparison with 1RM equations from reference studies () verified our formula valid. We finally simplified the 1RM measurement process up to a maximum of three repetitions.
Highlights
With rising health awareness, the global health and fitness club market reached USD96.7 billion in 2019 with an annular growth rate of 8.7%, and about 184 million people worldwide go to fitness club [1,2]
Fitness clubs usually measure trainees’ 1-repetition maximum (1RM) and design customized weight training routines to increase workout effects according to their athletic abilities [3]. 1RM is the maximum weight that a person can lift once and is often used as a representative index to evaluate an individual’s weightlifting capacity [4]. 1RM is usually measured by exercising once with the smallest load weight and increasing it up to one’s limit [5]
Studies report that the average bench press 1RMs of male and female adults with more than 3 months of exercise experience are 98 kg and
Summary
The global health and fitness club market reached USD. 96.7 billion in 2019 with an annular growth rate of 8.7%, and about 184 million people worldwide go to fitness club [1,2]. Recent studies suggest relatively safer methods to measure 1RM using mathematical equations defined in terms of load weight and lifting speed during a normal exercise [10,11]. Since there is no physical weight involved with the workout other than viscous damping which resists rate of change in motion, users of hydraulic fitness machines are less likely to get injured during workout. Since they offer similar exercise effects to conventional machines, more hydraulic exercise equipment is widely adopted [13]. We derived several 1RM polynomial equations in terms of load weight and lifting speed for the hydraulic press machine. After testing goodness-of-fit of the models, we selected one model as a valid 1RM equation and suggested a concise 1RM measurement process
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