1RM? 3RM? 5RM?

I found the following article on the Crossfit Victorious website. I always keep an eye on their programming to see how they base their daily metcon off of a max effort lift they complete right before the metocn normally.

One of their workouts would be:
Strength - Find 2RM Push Press
Metcon- 7 Power Cleans-5 Front Squats-3 Shoulder 2 Overhead
   Done at 70% of 2RM Push Press

I always thought this was a good idea for the metcons to challenge everyone at the same intensity level, rather than just following the cookie cutter model of most crossfit workouts.

So when I found the following article on the use of athletic maxes rather than 1RM's, it definitely brought about some thoughts and led me to read more on the effectiveness of 1RM's compared to athletic maxes in the 2-5 rep range.

Wait a minute!! What happened to the CrossFit Total????

Don't worry it has not gone away we have just modified it. About 3 years ago while training in another affiliate as an athlete I threw my back out attempting a 1 RM on dead lifts followed by a met-con involving wall ball shots.  Knowing that I already suffer from a herniated disc in my lower back, I went to my chiropractor to remedy my back. The very first question that he asked me was, "Why do you need to know your 1 rep max?" My answer, "Because that was the CrossFit workout of the day." Apparently it was not a good enough answer for him. Just to give you a slight background on my Chiropractor Dr. Steven Smith, he is very knowlagible in weightlifting and power lifting, having competed in several events himself during his prime.  So, I took that same question and went to seek an answer for it. I asked the head instructor/ owner of the affiliate that same question and got the same answer I gave. "Because that's what CrossFit does for strength WODs".

Well guys, "Because that's what CrossFit does." was not a GOOD ENOUGH answer for me.  I seeked out more information and took the time to correspond with several power lifting and olympic lifting trainers. I got a much different answer from them. Their athletes 1RM PR happens on the platform when it is worth the risk of injury and not on the training floor. 

That is why CFV uses a 2RM, because we truly want you to understand the movement of the lift.  Although a 1RM is a valid measure of strength at that moment, lifting something heavy one time does not necessarily mean you have completely grasped the movement or have attained the strength to repeat it on multiple occasions. This is why we like to incorporate strength days with 2RM, and periodize that movement through a 4 week cycle invo. Although we admire your eagerness to want to push big weight, we’d rather see you actually grasp and be comfortable with a lift. Here’s another awesome post from CrossFit South Brooklyn on why shooting for the heaviest 1 rep is a little over-hyped.

From CrossFit South Brooklyn Post

"Think of a 1RM not so much as a measure of strength capacity but as an act of strength performance. Veteran lifters will speak of owning a weight versus hitting a weight. Owning a weight means that you can get under a bar just about anytime you want and move that weight (assuming a proper warm-up and having not done back-to-back hero WOD’s that week). Hitting a weight is a much less reproducible feat. It means that on a day where you felt good, were well rested, timed your eating properly, had your weight belt sitting just right, heavenly bodies were aligned properly, and you managed not to mess anything up, you were able to squeeze out a higher weight than ever before. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that a weight that you have only hit once isn’t something that you can just do on command. It’s an act of strength and will; repeating it doesn’t just happen. No sprinter expects to hit a PR every time they run a given distance, not in competition and especially not in training. There is no reason to just assume that every time you get under a barbell you’re going to PR.
We should also consider that not every one’s best event in lifting is the 1RM. Consider again, sprinting. All sprinters are fast, that’s why they are sprinters. However sprinters have different specialties, some are better in a 60m dash, others are better at the quarter mile. If we took a random group of sprinters and tested their best times at a series of distances, say 60m, 100m, 200m, and 400m, we would probably find that the rankings would look very similar across the events: the faster runners would tend to do well at all of them. However, you would also expect to see some shuffling of rankings based upon the individual strengths of the sprinters. Some are better at accelerating, some run the turns well, some finish well, etc. To bring this back to lifting, imagine a group of powerlifters from the same weight class. If you tested their 1RM, 3RM, and 5RM squat you would see something very similar: The strongest lifters would tend to be at the the top of each ranking, however you would also see some move up or down the leader board as the reps changed based upon their individual characteristics. This is relevant to us because the better you are at an event, the 3RM versus the 1RM for instance, the more likely you are able to reproduce your best effort. We should test our strength at 3RM’s and 5RM’s for precisely the same reason that Track and Field tests more than just the 100m dash as a measure of speed."

Don't be so quick to follow what other's are doing. Do some research and find out WHY you should be doing it. If you cannot find research backing it up or it doesn't seem logical to you, then DON'T do it! The same goes for your DIET. Don't follow what you see on TV or the internet. Find out WHY you should follow their diet and read the RESEARCH!

-BM