About Us

Who We Are

Hi, I’m Michael Swan, and I built One Rep Max Calculators. This site started as a personal project in 2026 — a set of calculators I wanted to exist for my own training, built the way I actually wanted them to work: fast, accurate, and free of clutter. Today it’s grown into a small but focused resource for strength athletes and coaches who need a reliable way to estimate a one-rep max without stepping under a bar they haven’t tested yet.

Our Mission

Most lifters don’t test a true 1RM every week — it’s fatiguing, it carries injury risk, and for a lot of training styles it just isn’t necessary. But knowing roughly where your max sits matters for programming percentages, tracking progress, and setting realistic goals. Our mission is simple: give strength athletes and coaches a fast, trustworthy way to estimate that number using formulas that are actually grounded in exercise science, explained clearly enough that you understand what the number means and where its limits are.

What We Offer

At the core of the site is our one rep max calculator, along with lift-specific calculators for bench press, squat, deadlift, overhead press, and more. Alongside the tools, we publish guides that walk through how 1RM is calculated, how to test it safely, how the different estimation formulas (Epley, Brzycki, and others) compare, and how to actually use your number in a training program — whether that’s setting training maxes, working out percentage-based sets, or benchmarking yourself against strength standards.

Why Trust Us

Every calculator on this site is built on published, peer-reviewed 1RM estimation formulas rather than anything we invented ourselves — we’re transparent about which formula is being used and why it was chosen. We treat these tools as estimates, not guarantees, and we say so plainly on the calculator pages themselves, because a good resource tells you the limits of its own numbers. Content on this site is written and reviewed by me directly, updated as formulas or best practices evolve, and corrected quickly if a reader points out an error — which is exactly why the contact link below exists and gets checked regularly.

Our Story

I’ve spent years training in commercial gyms, home setups, and everything in between, and I got tired of 1RM calculators that either buried the tool under ads and pop-ups or gave a number with zero explanation of where it came from. So I built the calculator I wanted to use myself, then kept adding to it — lift-specific versions, formula comparisons, strength standards — as I ran into questions in my own training that I couldn’t find a straight answer to anywhere else. That’s still how this site grows: I add what I wish existed when I needed it.

Meet the Author

Michael Swan is the founder, developer, and primary writer behind One Rep Max Calculators. He builds every calculator on the site himself, writes and maintains the guides, and keeps the formulas and content up to date as the site grows. His background combines hands-on strength training experience with hobbyist web development, which is why the tools are built the way they are: practical first, polished second.

Get in Touch

Found an error, have a suggestion, or just want to say the calculator helped your training? I’d genuinely like to hear from you. Reach out through our Contact page, or email me directly at info@onerepmaxcalculators.com.