Strength Standards
Benchmarks categorizing lifting strength from beginner to elite levels.
Updated
Strength standards categorize lifts relative to body weight from beginner to elite. Common benchmarks include 1x body weight bench, 1.5x body weight squat, and 2x body weight deadlift for intermediate lifters. These provide goals and context for where your strength falls compared to training populations.
Where the tables come from
Strength standards are tables that place a lift, usually as a multiple of bodyweight, on a scale from beginner to elite, split by sex and often by bodyweight class. There is no single official set. Some are built from competition results, some from coaching experience and some from numbers users enter into apps and websites, so the same lift can rate intermediate on one table and advanced on another. Expressing strength as a multiple of bodyweight is also crude, because strength does not rise in step with bodyweight; heavier lifters lift more in total but less per kilogram. Competitive powerlifting uses scoring formulas such as Wilks, DOTS and IPF GL points to correct for that.
How to use them
They are most useful for spotting a lift that is out of line with the others. For most lifters the deadlift is the strongest lift, then the squat, then the bench, then the overhead press, so a squat that sits well below the bench in bodyweight terms, or a deadlift barely above the squat, points to where extra work may be worth putting. As a worked example, an 80kg lifter squatting 120kg is at 1.5 times bodyweight. Used as a distant target, a table can also give structure to a long training block.
Limitations
Self-reported data skews upward, because people round up and the strongest users are the most likely to post. Competition data skews the other way towards a selected, specialised population. Tables also assume a standard of performance they rarely spell out: depth on the squat, a pause on the bench, conventional or sumo on the deadlift. Age, limb length and how long someone has trained all shift what is realistic, and the labels do not map onto years of training. The most meaningful comparison remains your own numbers against your own numbers a year ago.
Examples
- Intermediate bench: ~1x bodyweight
- Intermediate squat: ~1.5x bodyweight
- Intermediate deadlift: ~2x bodyweight
Related Terms
Compound exercises
Put this into practice with exercises from the library.
One Arm Floor Press
Strength · Barbell
One Arm Lat Pulldown
Strength · Cable
One Knee To Chest
Stretching · None
One Leg Barbell Squat
Strength · Barbell
Open Palm Kettlebell Clean
Strength · Kettlebells
Otis-Up
Strength · Other
Overhead Slam
Plyometrics · Medicine Ball
Overhead Squat
Olympic Weightlifting · Barbell
Common questions
What is Strength Standards?
Benchmarks categorizing lifting strength from beginner to elite levels. Strength standards categorize lifts relative to body weight from beginner to elite.
What exercises train the Strength Standards?
Good options include One Arm Floor Press, One Arm Lat Pulldown, One Knee To Chest, One Leg Barbell Squat, Open Palm Kettlebell Clean. Each links to a step-by-step guide with demonstration images.
What are examples of Strength Standards?
Intermediate bench: ~1x bodyweight; Intermediate squat: ~1.5x bodyweight; Intermediate deadlift: ~2x bodyweight.
Put it into practice
12-Week Muscle Building · £29
A 12-week, four-day hypertrophy plan in three phases, with a modest calorie surplus