Relative intensity
Relative intensity is a set's load expressed as a percentage of the 1RM for that lift, rather than in kilos. Training at 80% means moving 80% of the estimated maximum, whether that is 60 or 160 kilos. It is the unit that lets one programme be written for clients at different levels and executed by each with their own load.
Relative intensity is a set's load expressed as a percentage of the 1RM for that lift, rather than in kilos. Training at 80% means moving 80% of the estimated maximum, whether that is 60 or 160 kilos. It is the unit that lets one programme be written for clients at different levels and executed by each with their own load.
Also written as: percentage of 1RM · % of 1RM
In practice
It is what makes a programme written once scalable. It is also the first thing to break: the percentage rests on a 1RM that ages, and a client who progressed for two months is training lighter than the paper says.
The common mistake
Prescribing it on a 1RM nobody re-estimated. Without recalculating it from logged sets, the percentage describes the client of three months ago.
