Protocol for determining repetitions performed at 30 per second (standard YMCA test):
(1) A barbell weighing 80 lbs (36.4 kg) for men and 35 lbs (15.9 kg) for women is placed on the chest with the hands grasping the bar.
(2) The barbell is raised and lowered to the beat of a metronome with a tempo of 1 beat per second (a complete cycle of raising and lowering is done in 2 beats = 2 seconds).
(3) The person raises and lowers the barbell until the person can no longer raise the bar or the person cannot maintain the lifting tempo. The number of complete repetitions is recorded.
Protocol for determining repetitions performed at 60 per second (modified YMCA test):
(1) A barbell weighing 80 lbs (36.4 kg) for men and 35 lbs (15.9 kg) for women is placed on the chest with the hands grasping the bar.
(2) The barbell is raised and lowered to the beat of a metronome with a tempo of 2 beats per second (a complete cycle of raising and lowering is done in 2 beats = 1 second).
(3) The person raises and lowers the barbell until the person can no longer raise the bar or the person cannot maintain the lifting tempo. The number of complete repetitions is recorded.
For men:
predicted 1 RM in kilograms =
= (1.55 * (number of reps at 30 per minute)) + 37.9
predicted 1 RM in kilograms =
= (1.34 * (number of reps at 60 per minute)) + 40.8
For women:
predicted 1 RM in kilograms =
= (0.31 * (number of reps at 30 per minute)) + 19.2
predicted 1 RM in kilograms =
= (0.30 * (number of reps at 60 per minute)) + 22.3
Performance:
• The r values ranged between 0.87 and 0.94.
• The coefficient of variation is about 9%.
