Not Cathe, but I'll chime in too! I was also feeling pretty intimidated by my first strength DVDs, about a year and a half ago. My strength has doubled since then (literally doubled, and more than doubled for some exercises!), and it's mainly because of Cathe's influence!
The beauty of the 1RM, as I understand it, is that we can each tell what our limits and stretch goals can be, and work safely and steadily within them. Since you're doing gym style already, you should be good to go.
What's been interesting to me on the 1RM is how variable my stats are compared to others. In some, I'm even, in others, on the high side, and others, woefully below the norm. I'm really looking forward to STS/1RM guidelines to help me even things out.