What Percentage of 1RM Should I Use? | Sets, Reps and Intensity Table

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Many popular strength training programs use a percentage of your 1 rep max or training max to determine how much weight you should lift for a certain amount of sets and reps. This approach is appealing to many people because it takes out any subjective guess work. It tells you exactly how much to lift.

But what if you're looking to mix it up and do a different set and rep combination than what's in your program?

The table below shows various set and rep combinations and the percentage of your 1RM you should use.

% of 1 Rep Max by Sets and Reps

Reps	Sets
Reps	1	2	3	4	5
1	100	98	97	95	94
2	94	92	91	89	88
3	91	90	88	87	85
4	88	87	86	84	83
5	86	85	83	82	81
6	84	82	81	80	78
7	82	80	79	78	76
8	80	78	77	76	75
9	78	76	75	74	73
10	76	75	73	72	71
11	74	73	72	71	70
12	73	71	70	69	68
13	71	70	69	68	67
14	70	68	67	66	65
15	68	67	66	65	64

The percentages on the table are for maximal effort set and rep combinations. For most people, this means the last set will be right around failure. However, going to failure should be done sparingly due to excess fatigue it causes.

It's recommended to take about 5% off of each of the numbers or drop a rep or two for most of your training. This will put you between 1 to 4 reps away from failure for most of your sets which is ideal for maximizing progress while minimizing fatigue.

Percentage based training isn't perfect. We all have good days where we could lift more and bad days where the prescribed weight is just too much. However, at the very least, percentage based training gives a good starting point for determining how much to lift.