Rep Max Table Calculator
The formula
What the rep-max table tells you
The percent-of-max lookup that hangs every rep scheme off one number: 85 % for 3s, 80 % for 5s, 75 % for 10s — the Brzycki curve as a card.
Calculation: Table: load for N reps via Brzycki % = 36/(37−N). Enter your inputs and every substitution is shown below the result.
Reading the result
When the plan says “3 × 5 at 80 %”, this table is what it means; the whole program is built on these rows.
Rules of thumb: Standard card: 3@90, 5@87, 8@80, 10@75 (rounded)
Limitations and best practice
Tables assume fresh lifters and full depth — the first rep after a bad weekend is worth 5 % less than the paper says.
This calculator gives an estimate based on standard formulas; it is not professional financial, medical, legal or engineering advice. Verify anything you plan to act on with a qualified professional and your own records.
Frequently asked questions
Different lifts, same table?
Use Epley instead?
Source & methodology
Brzycki/NSCA rep-percent table tradition.
How Rep Max Table works — and what your result really means
This page was written for one job: turning your own inputs into a defensible figure, with the working shown. Searchers land on a Rep Max Table page for three reasons — to plan, to compare options, and to check that somebody else’s arithmetic is honest. This tool serves all three, and everything after the calculator explains the model instead of hiding it.
Training math in Fitness & Sports converts effort into load, and load into adaptation. Rep Max Table does the conversion: Table: load for N reps via Brzycki % = 36/(37−N). Athletes who understand their numbers progress faster because they can separate programming from recovery — and the 247.5 kg result above is exactly that separator.
Most confusion about Rep Max Table comes from mixing up the input you control with the input you merely observe. The formula treats them identically, but your decisions should not: one deserves measurement, the other deserves a defensible estimate.
What makes a calculation page trustworthy is that its copy is derived from its own arithmetic: here load for 5 reps = 247.5 kg, recomputed every time a field changes, and the sensitivity section ranks the inputs that move the result — 1RM first, at ≈10.0 % of the headline for a ten-percent error either way in that input. Read the sections in order and you will be able to reproduce every figure by hand.
How Rep Max Table is computed, line by line
One formula, published in full: Table: load for N reps via Brzycki % = 36/(37−N). Anything you can read, you can reproduce in a spreadsheet, and that reproducibility is the whole point of printing it rather than hiding it behind a button.
1RM (kg) (example value 220) is a measured number in the unit named by the label; the formula does not convert for you. Stay in one unit system top to bottom; conversion rounding is where small errors enter.
Reps target (example value 5) is a quantity rather than a category — precision here is cheap and worth having. Replace the example with the figure from your own records — the tool recomputes instantly and the printed steps follow your numbers.
A fully worked Rep Max Table example
Rather than describe the calculation, here it is end to end — every substitution in order, starting from the inputs above. Starting figures: 1RM (kg), Reps target. The endpoint of that chain is 247.5 kg of load for 5 reps, sitting in the “Brzycki’s table says 5 reps at 220 kg max = 247.5 kg (112.5 %); the companion rows: 3 × 232.9, 5 × 195.6, 8 × 171.1, 10 × 165.0” band.
- % = 36/(37 − 5) = 1.125
- × 220 = 247.5 kg
- Same curve read across: 1 × 100 %, 5 × 88.9 %, 10 × 75 %
% for this rep count — 112.5%. Read next to the headline, this is the figure that shows the shape of the trade-off.
5-rep load — 195.6 kg. Compare it against the main result of 247.5 kg before drawing conclusions.
8-rep load — 171.1 kg. Read next to the headline, this is the figure that shows the shape of the trade-off.
10-rep load — 165.0 kg. If your inputs change, this is usually the first companion figure to move.
Overwrite any input above and every line of this example updates with it — the substitution is live, not a screenshot of somebody else’s numbers.
How far Rep Max Table can reasonably move
Read this table as the practical error bar on the headline figure. It answers the question people actually have after seeing a single number: how wrong could this be if the main input is off by ten or twenty percent?
| 1RM setting | Load for 5 reps |
|---|---|
| 80 % of the example value | 198.0 kg |
| 90 % of the example value | 222.8 kg |
| example inputs | 247.5 kg |
| 110 % of the example value | 272.3 kg |
| 120 % of the example value | 297.0 kg |
That spread — 198.0 kg at the low end, 297.0 kg at the high — is what a careful read of Rep Max Table looks like: a band you can state out loud, with the reason for each edge. Reproduce it in the form above by editing 1RM alone; the substitution steps will follow your figures exactly.
Sensitivity: which inputs change Rep Max Table the most
This list was computed for this specific engine just now: each numeric input was nudged ±10 % while every other field held its example value, and the load for 5 reps was recalculated from scratch. For Rep Max Table the ranking is measured rather than guessed, and it belongs to these defaults: shift the starting point and the order can shift with it.
- 1RM: ten percent up gives 272.3 kg, ten percent down gives 222.8 kg — ≈10.0 % of the load for 5 reps either way
- Nudge Reps target by ±10 % and Rep Max Table lands between 243.7 kg and 251.4 kg (sensitivity ≈1.6 %)
1RM is the dominant lever here: ten percent either way moves the result by about 10.0 %, from 222.8 kg to 272.3 kg. Measure that input from a document rather than from memory, and treat Reps target as the second priority (≈1.6 % per ten percent). The rest of the inputs earn only a rounding-error of attention, and that asymmetry is the practical payoff of measuring rather than asserting.
Reading the result: bands, zones and thresholds
The value above only becomes useful the moment you know what it is being measured against. On the example inputs the band reads “Brzycki’s table says 5 reps at 220 kg max = 247.5 kg (112.5 %); the companion rows: 3 × 232.9, 5 × 195.6, 8 × 171.1, 10 × 165.0”; your own figures place you on a different rung of the same ladder. Before treating the band as fact, note its width: ten percent either way on 1RM already spans 222.8 kg to 272.3 kg. The practical reading rules: compare against your own history before comparing against other people; treat band boundaries as zones, not walls — one point on the wrong side of a threshold rarely changes a real outcome; and when a companion output contradicts the headline, believe the pair.
Where Rep Max Table sits next to similar measures: this tool answers “how much is the Rep Max Table”, while the related calculators answer “what do I do about it”. Reading the result alone tends to over-weight a single snapshot; pairing it with the companion tools above turns the number into a decision.
Common mistakes with Rep Max Table (and the fix)
Tables assume fresh lifters and full depth — the first rep after a bad weekend is worth 5 % less than the paper says. This calculator gives an estimate based on standard formulas; it is not professional financial, medical, legal or engineering advice. Verify anything you plan to act on with a qualified professional and your own records.
Chasing precision in Reps target while 1RM (kg) is still a guess. The sensitivity ranking above shows exactly where the accuracy budget should go.
This model has its own particular trap: 1RM carries ≈10.0 % of the response per ten percent of error, so effort spent elsewhere is largely decorative.
Another is comparing across contexts: a Rep Max Table computed with one set of conventions should never be lined up against a figure computed with another. Check the inputs behind both before ranking them.
Six things to confirm before acting on Rep Max Table
- Compare the result with one independent method or published benchmark.
- Record the date and the inputs alongside the number so future-you knows what was assumed.
- Check 1RM before anything else: it is the measured dominant input, ≈10.0 % of Rep Max Table per ten percent.
- Check that every field the formula needs actually arrived from a document, not from recollection.
- State, in one sentence, which convention each rate, unit or period in the form is using.
- Run the ±10 % stress on the top two levers and check that your conclusion survives both.
Step by step: getting a trustworthy Rep Max Table out of this tool
The tool does the arithmetic; the routine below is what makes the arithmetic trustworthy. Five steps, a minute total — and afterwards you will know not just what the number is, but which assumption produced it.
Step 1 — collect, then type. Everything this tool asks for is listed above (1rm (kg), reps target). Pull each figure from something you can point at — paperwork, a dashboard, a label — before touching a field. Guesswork at the input stage cannot be repaired at the interpretation stage. The input you reach for first is usually the one you measured longest ago.
Step 2 — start from the case you can defend. Enter pessimistic-but-honest figures first; the optimistic run is a ceiling, not a plan. A conclusion that holds on conservative inputs holds everywhere. A figure with a date beside it becomes evidence; without one it stays an anecdote.
Step 3 — change one input at a time. Nudge a single field by ten percent, watch the headline and its companions move, then undo it. Two or three fields will dominate — the sensitivity table above already ranks them for this engine. Write the figure down before moving on; memory flatters whichever number you saw last.
Step 4 — stress before you commit. A decision that survives a ten-percent squeeze on its two biggest inputs needs no luck to be sound. One that does not survive is a decision about hope, not about arithmetic. Repeating a calculation with the same numbers proves only that the arithmetic is reliable — which is worth knowing.
Step 5 — schedule the next run. In Fitness & Sports the inputs drift quietly. Put a reminder a quarter out, re-enter the same fields, and read the change rather than the level. Estimates improve most when the worst case is written down in ink.
From calculation to decision: where Rep Max Table earns its keep
Fitness & Sports arguments end at arithmetic or they do not end. Rep Max Table is the arithmetic: 247.5 kg on the example inputs, reproducible by anyone who types the same numbers. When two sources disagree, it is almost never the arithmetic that differs.
Professionals in Strength Training use this style of calculation as a screening filter before spending real money or effort: a quick Rep Max Table check eliminates weak options in minutes, and the survivors earn the deeper, slower analysis. Most surprises in numbers are surprises about inputs, not about formulas.
There is a personal-administration use people overlook: periodic self-checking. Rep Max Table quietly drifts as life changes — rates move, bodies change, costs compound — and re-running it a few times a year catches drift while correction is still cheap. Say the answer out loud before you save it; if it sounds wrong, the model did not change, your understanding did.
Quick answers: what searchers ask about Rep Max Table
What affects Rep Max Table the most?
Rep Max Table is driven above all by 1RM. Perturbing only that field by ten percent either way produced 272.3 kg against the 247.5 kg baseline — a ≈10.0 % response, while Reps target manages ≈1.6 %.
Which matters more: reps target or 1rm?
By the numbers, 1RM: a ten-percent change in it moves the result ≈10.0 %, versus ≈1.6 % for Reps target. Spend your measuring effort in that order — precision on the weaker lever buys almost nothing.
What is a typical Rep Max Table?
There is no honest universal average for Rep Max Table, but there is a reference point: the defaults on this page produce 247.5 kg (Brzycki’s table says 5 reps at 220 kg max = 247.5 kg (112.5 %); the companion rows: 3 × 232.9, 5 × 195.6, 8 × 171.1, 10 × 165.0). Replace the inputs with your own and compare — that comparison is the useful meaning of “typical”.
How do I calculate Rep Max Table by hand?
Table: load for N reps via Brzycki % = 36/(37−N) is the entire method. Work the inputs in that order — % = 36/(37 − 5) = 1.125 — and you will reach 247.5 kg on the default figures, the same number this tool prints.
What happens to Rep Max Table if 1rm changes by 10 %?
Try it in the form above and the printed substitution will follow you; the pre-computed answer for the defaults is 222.8 kg to 272.3 kg across the ten-percent probe, i.e. ≈10.0 % sensitivity on the load for 5 reps.
Is the Rep Max Table result of 247.5 kg good or bad?
Good and bad are comparisons, so the honest test is three questions: where does your own Rep Max Table sit against the 247.5 kg reference above, how far would a plausible input error move it (≈10.0 % per ten percent on 1RM), and what does the alternative option compute to?
Is Rep Max Table accurate?
The arithmetic is exact: Table: load for N reps via Brzycki % = 36/(37−N) is evaluated with full floating-point precision and every substitution is printed in the worked example. What limits accuracy is input quality and the model’s assumptions, so treat the 247.5 kg result as the correct answer to the question you typed — and check the assumptions section before acting on it.
Is Rep Max Table individualized?
Partly — the tool is mechanical on the inputs you provide (1RM (kg), Reps target); what varies person-to-person is the response. Start at the computed 247.5 kg, adjust by results within a few sessions.
Different lifts, same table?
Approximately — big barbell lifts track the curve; isolation machines and short ROM do not.
Use Epley instead?
At ≤10 reps the two are within a few percent; consistency beats perfection.
Does this Rep Max Table tool store my numbers?
No. The entire calculation runs in your browser session; nothing entered above is transmitted or saved, which is the correct behaviour for sensitive Fitness & Sports figures and the reason you can re-run this page as often as you like.
What the labels on this page mean
- % for this rep count
- 112.5% in the default Rep Max Table calculation — one of the secondary figures an experienced reader checks before trusting the primary number.
- 5-rep load
- 195.6 kg in the default Rep Max Table calculation — one of the secondary figures an experienced reader checks before trusting the primary number.
- 8-rep load
- 171.1 kg on the example inputs — a companion figure printed beside the headline of Rep Max Table so that no result is read in isolation.
- Load for 5 reps
- The primary output of this tool: 247.5 kg for the default inputs, computed exactly from Table: load for N reps via Brzycki % = 36/(37−N).
- Worked example
- Every substitution in order, from the example inputs to 247.5 kg — the audit trail for the headline figure.
- Verdict band
- A named zone on the range of plausible results; the example inputs land in “Brzycki’s table says 5 reps at 220 kg max = 247.5 kg (112.5 %); the companion rows: 3 × 232.9, 5 × 195.6, 8 × 171.1, 10 × 165.0”, and your inputs may not.
- Sensitivity (±10 %)
- How far the Rep Max Table moves when a single input is nudged ten percent either way; the ranked list on this page is computed live from this engine.
Method, sources and what this tool cannot tell you
The model is published arithmetic implemented exactly as written: Table: load for N reps via Brzycki % = 36/(37−N). Source of record: Brzycki/NSCA rep-percent table tradition. Any other implementation of this model should return the same figure for the same inputs. If one does not, the difference is in its assumptions — which this page prints and that one probably does not.
Nothing here replaces a qualified professional, and nothing here is approximate either — the arithmetic is exact, and the honesty is in the inputs you supply. The design constraint was set by usefulness rather than by comfort: an estimate you can interrogate beats an answer you have to trust.
After the number: what to do with it
Save the number together with its inputs and today’s date; a Rep Max Table figure without context is unusable the moment an input changes.
The audience here is people who need one trustworthy number before their next decision. Everything you need to defend the result — formula, substitution, sensitivity, source — is printed above, so the only remaining variable is the honesty of your inputs.