With my powerlifting background I've always liked the 1RM testing.  Now that I'm going into my 4th year at the same place I'm noticing a few trends.  I was aware of them, but I hadn't actually experienced them because I had only spent a six months to a year at my previous three stops.

Generally speaking, I see the most progress during a kids freshman and sophomore years.  Those first two winters they usually make crazy progress.  As they get into their third winter their progress slows, which makes complete sense.  Newbie gains just can't last.  The other thing that happens is they begin to get more snaps.  This takes its toll.

In my time here I've worked with a few kids who were/are 3-4 year starters (the same would go for the back-up that's basically a starter when it comes to total snaps played).  As their snap count increases their injuries tend to increase.  I'm not talking about major injuries, just the little nagging ones - shoulders, ankles, knees, wrists that just get banged up, but don't necessarily result in lost time in games or practice.

There are a few kids I'm thinking of that made great progress as freshmen and sophomores and began to get old.  I had a few of these guys have great winter/summer cycles.  I could see their bodies filling out and it was obvious they were doing great work.  But, when it came time to test, they had bad test weeks.

At first I chalked it up to a bad week.  It happens.  Then I saw the trend continue during the next big cycle.  Then it hit me.  Actually, it didn't hit me.  It came from talking with Jim Wendler who is now a huge fan or rep maxes.

What I've done is place two "rep tests" in the middle of the training cycle.  On week 4 we'll do a RM at 80% of their max.  Not a true RM because I'll shut them down when I don't like their reps anymore, but you get the idea.  We'll also do a RM at week 7 with 85%.

I know it's not ideal to "test" this close, but it's a chance for these guys to get some estimated maxes based on RM's on top of the 1RM test we'll do in week 9.  My thought is that if they have a bad 1RM day they'll still have some RM numbers to show them progress.

I also have a few 4th and 5th year seniors who will not 1RM.  For example, I have an OL who has squatted over 500 since he was a redshirt sophomore.  I believe it was 505, 520, 530 and 550.  Over the summer he managed a 540 and there was no way I was letting him go heavier because it just wasn't going to happen.  Now, a 10lb drop isn't a big deal at all, but this kid wants to squat 600.

In my thought process I got out of meathead powerlifter mode and thought about the athlete, not the lifter.  What does the kid gain by squatting 600lbs?  Nothing.  It won't make him a better lineman, but it might put him in a position where he could get hurt.  I'm not so arrogant that I need to say I have a 600lb squatter at the risk of him possible hurting himself.

So, there will be 3-4 guys who do a RM test.  I know this kid wants to squat 600 so he'll attempt 500 with a goal of 6 reps.  That equates to a 600lb max.

I think this is another way of keeping the kids healthy and still allowing them to reach their goals.  Plus, it's another way to show progress.

Hopefully, I'm on to something here.  This week will be the first round of RM's at 80%.  Should be a great week.