Training guide · 3 min read · MyoAmigo
Picking a Starting Weight
How to find your working weight on any unfamiliar lift
The most common mistake on a new lift is loading too much too soon. It looks unimpressive to work up slowly. It also means you finish the session with clean data, a body that learned the movement, and no injury to explain to anyone. The alternative, guessing high, usually produces sloppy reps, no useful data, and a soreness that lingers.
MyoAmigo estimates a starting range for lifts you have not performed by drawing on the weights you have logged on similar movements. Treat that estimate as a ceiling for your first session, not a target.
Ramp sets: the standard approach
Start at roughly 50% of what you think your working weight will be and do 5 easy reps. Rest 90 seconds, add weight, do 3 reps. Add weight again, do 2 reps. Keep stepping up until you reach a weight where 1 rep feels genuinely effortful but still fast and controlled. Then back down slightly. That neighborhood is your working weight for today.
Ramp sets serve two purposes: they groove the movement pattern before fatigue sets in, and they give you real feedback rather than a guess.
How hard the first set should feel
MyoAmigo logs effort as Easy, Medium, or Hard, not a number on a scale. Easy means you stopped with about three good reps still in the tank. Medium means about two. Hard means one, maybe none. For a first session on an unfamiliar lift, aim for Easy to Medium: you finish every rep, the last one is clearly harder than the first, and you walk away certain you had two or three more if you had needed them.
That is not sandbagging, it is data collection. You are finding a number to build on, not testing your limit. Even if Easy feels too easy, that is fine. You will have a clean baseline to add to next time, and you can save Hard for lifts you already know well.
Signs you went too heavy
- You had to change your technique to complete the reps (bar path shifted, back rounded, knees caved)
- The speed of the bar slowed dramatically on the last rep or two
- You needed more rest than planned between sets to complete the next one
- Your form cues disappeared: you stopped thinking about the movement and just survived it
If any of these apply, strip weight for the next set. There is no benefit to logging a heavy sloppy set. There is real benefit to logging a moderate clean set: you know exactly where to start next time, and you can add to it.
The one-session rule
Give yourself explicit permission to spend one full session just finding the number. Not every session needs to be a PR attempt. A session where you identify your working weight, move well, and leave feeling confident is a productive session. The weight you write down today is the floor you build everything else on.
