The principles · Estimated 1RM
Estimated 1RM (e1RM)
One top set, turned into a number for how strong you are today — no max-out required. It is the single thread that runs through everything else the coach watches, and reading its trend is most of the skill.
Last updated: June 2026
What is an estimated 1RM?
An estimated one-rep max is the heaviest weight you could lift once, worked out from a set you actually did. Press 205 for five clean reps and the math says your single is somewhere near 240 — without you ever touching a true max. That is the whole trick: a hard set you were already doing becomes a strength number, every session.
The estimate trades a little precision for a lot of frequency. A true max is the gold standard, but it is heavy, risky, and rare — you might test it twice a year. An estimate gives you the same kind of number off every top set, so instead of two data points a year you have a line. And a line is what tells you whether the plan is working.
How e1RM is calculated
Squatly uses the Epley formula — a long-established estimate that reads a one-rep max off any hard set. It needs two things you already log: the weight you lifted and the reps you hit.
e1RM = weight × (1 + reps / 30)
The estimate is most accurate close to a true single and loosens as the reps climb past about five — which is exactly why you read the trend across sessions rather than leaning on any one number. Same formula, same lift, session after session: the line it draws is the part that matters.
The trend matters more than the number
No single estimate is exact — and it does not need to be. What you read is the direction. A line that keeps climbing means the work is landing and the plan can keep pushing; the slope tells you that long before any single session would.
- Charted per lift, per session — one glance shows the direction
- A climbing line is the plan working — and room to add weight
- You see the direction in weeks, not after a wasted month
Every session · read the slope, not the day
Bench e1RM · 12 weeks
Why does this matter for your training?
Strength is slow, and it hides. From one week to the next you rarely feel stronger, so it is easy to sit on a weight that already has room to spare — or to push one that has more to give. The e1RM trend cuts through the feel. It turns “I think I’m progressing” into a line you can read.
It also keeps you honest about what counts as progress. Adding a rep at the same weight, or the same reps at a heavier load, both push the estimate up — so a session that did not set an obvious PR can still show real movement. And when a lift starts coming easy, the line catches it early — your cue to add weight while the work is still building you, not to coast another month at a load you have outgrown.
What does Squatly's coach do with your e1RM?
The coach reads your e1RM as a signal, not a scoreboard. After each session it re-estimates the lift from your top set, updates the line, and asks one question: which way is this heading, and does the next session need to change?
- Climbing and the sets coming easy — it moves the load up so the work keeps building you
- Climbing steadily at honest effort — it holds the course and lets progression run
- Flat with effort rising — it reads accumulated fatigue and proposes a lighter week
- It never edits silently — every change is shown with the trend behind it, for you to accept, adjust, or reject
The e1RM rarely calls a change on its own. It is the thread the coach follows into the other signals — a climbing line with effort easing at the same load is the read behind moving the weight up and adding volume, just as a flat line over rising effort is the read behind a deload. Read together, the signals say what no single number can.
Re-estimated from your top set
One strength number after every session — so the line is current before your next workout, not reconstructed after.
Estimated 1RM, in short
- How is e1RM calculated?
- Squatly estimates a one-rep max from your top set with the Epley formula — weight × (1 + reps/30) — so a 205 lb set of five estimates to about 239 lb. The estimate is charted per session, so you watch your strength move in real numbers without ever testing a true max.
- Why does Squatly estimate a 1RM instead of having me test it?
- Because a true one-rep max is expensive: it is fatiguing, it carries injury risk, and you can only do it every so often. An estimate reads your strength from a normal hard set you were already doing, so you get a strength number every session instead of every few months — far more useful for spotting trends.
- Is an estimated 1RM accurate enough to train from?
- Any single estimate is approximate, and it gets less precise as reps climb past about five. But you train from the trend, not one reading. A line moving up over several sessions is reliable signal even when each individual number is a few pounds off, which is exactly how the coach uses it.
- What does a flat e1RM line actually mean?
- It means your best set has not improved — not that you wasted the session. You can train hard, add volume, and feel worked while the estimate sits still. A flat line is information: paired with rising effort it reads as fatigue, and paired with easy sets it reads as room to push.
Programs built on this principle
Pick one and the coach runs it for you, set to set.
- Novice Linear ProgressionYou add weight every session — the e1RM line is meant to climb in a straight slope, and the day it flattens is the day the program tells you to change.
- 5/3/1 — Boring But BigEvery cycle ends on an AMRAP top set, and that top set is exactly what your e1RM is read from — rep PRs show up as a rising line before the training max moves.
- Madcow 5×5Progression is weekly, not per-session, so the e1RM trend is the honest readout of whether the heavier ramp is actually sticking.
Watch your own lifts climb.
The coach turns every principle here into a target on your next set, read from your own log.
iOS · Works offline