Running a testing day.

You are not looking for a maximum. You are looking for each athlete's load-velocity line: how fast they move a range of sub-maximal loads, on this lift, today. That line gives you an estimated 1RM, the velocity you should expect at every prescription load, and a reference point you can re-check in a warm-up any week for the rest of the season.

No athlete goes above roughly 90 percent. Nobody needs a spotter psyched up. Nobody is wrecked tomorrow. This is why testing days can happen in-season.

Plan around throughput, not enthusiasm. One station with one sensor, one bar and one loader handles an athlete every 8 to 10 minutes on a five-load ladder.

Group athletes of similar strength at the same station. Loading is then a plate change, not a rebuild, and you recover two minutes per athlete.

Five loads, spread across the usable range, two reps each at maximum intent, full recovery between.

1. ~45% of estimated max — technical, fast, sets the top of the line.
2. ~60%
3. ~72%
4. ~82%
5. ~88–90% — one rep is enough here; the last load anchors the bottom of the line.

Rest 2 minutes on the light loads, 3 on the last two. Record only the fastest rep at each load. If an athlete's velocity does not fall consistently as load rises, the intent was wrong on one of the sets — repeat that load rather than keeping bad data.

1. Minute 0–12: whole group warm-up, general then specific to the test lift. No sensors yet.
2. Minute 12–15: assign stations, pair each athlete to their sensor, confirm the profiling workout is loaded from the calendar.
3. Minute 15–60: ladders run. Athletes who are not lifting are loading or resting, never watching.
4. Minute 60–70: nothing else. No accessory circuit, no conditioning finisher. Fatigue you add here contaminates the numbers you just bought.

Assign the profiling workout in the Coach Portal beforehand so every athlete's reps land against the right exercise and loads without anyone typing anything on the floor.

• Maximum intent on every rep, including the light ones. A submaximal-effort light set flattens the line and inflates the estimated max. Say it out loud before every set.
• Same technique as competition or training. No touch-and-go changes, no tempo experiments, no belt on some loads and off others.
• Same sensor position throughout. Mount it once and leave it.
• Full range of motion. A short rep is a fast rep, and a fast short rep is a lie you will program off for six weeks.
• Do not test an athlete who is beaten up. Reschedule them. One athlete's bad day is not worth a wrong profile.

Twenty minutes with the roster view turns raw ladders into next week's plan. Three questions, in order:

1. Where is each estimated 1RM relative to what you were programming? More than 5 percent out in either direction means the last block's loads were wrong. Fix them tonight.
2. How steep is each line? Athletes who lose velocity fast as load rises are strength-limited; athletes who stay fast into heavy loads but cannot go heavier are speed-dominant with a force deficit. That distinction drives who gets heavy work and who gets speed work.
3. What velocity does each athlete hit at your key prescription loads? Write those numbers into the templates. They become the target velocities for the block.

A full ladder every 8 to 12 weeks, or at the start and end of each block. In between you do not need it: the warm-up reference set at a fixed load tracks change well enough to re-anchor loads week to week, which is the entire reason to keep that reference load fixed.