Strength Standards Calculator

How Strong Are You, Really?

"How much do you bench?" is the eternal gym question — but raw numbers don't tell the full story. A 100kg bench means something different for a 70kg lifter than a 120kg lifter. Strength standards normalize your lifts against bodyweight, giving you an honest assessment of where you stand.

Our Strength Score system evaluates 5 compound lifts — bench press, squat, deadlift, overhead press, and barbell row — and produces a single 0-999 score with a classification from Beginner to Elite.

The 5 Lifts and Why They Matter

These 5 movements cover every major movement pattern and muscle group:

• Bench Press (horizontal push): Chest, front deltoids, triceps. The most popular lift and the one people ask about at parties.
• Squat (knee-dominant legs): Quadriceps, glutes, core. The king of lower body strength.
• Deadlift (hip-dominant pull): Posterior chain — hamstrings, glutes, erectors, lats, traps. The heaviest lift for most people.
• Overhead Press (vertical push): Shoulders, upper chest, triceps. The strictest test of upper body pressing strength.
• Barbell Row (horizontal pull): Lats, rhomboids, rear deltoids, biceps. Balances out all the pressing work.

Strength Standards by Bodyweight

The table below shows approximate 1RM thresholds for each classification level. These are expressed as bodyweight ratios (e.g., 1.25x means your 1RM is 1.25 times your bodyweight).

Bodyweight ratio thresholds for each strength level

Lift	Beginner	Novice	Intermediate	Advanced	Elite
Bench Press	<0.5x	0.5-0.75x	0.75-1.25x	1.25-1.75x	1.75x+
Squat	<0.75x	0.75-1.25x	1.25-1.75x	1.75-2.5x	2.5x+
Deadlift	<1.0x	1.0-1.5x	1.5-2.0x	2.0-2.75x	2.75x+
OHP	<0.35x	0.35-0.55x	0.55-0.8x	0.8-1.1x	1.1x+
Row	<0.5x	0.5-0.75x	0.75-1.0x	1.0-1.4x	1.4x+

Real-World Numbers: 80kg Lifter

To make these ratios concrete, here's what each level looks like for an 80kg (176lb) male lifter:

Absolute weight standards for an 80kg lifter

Lift	Beginner	Novice	Intermediate	Advanced	Elite
Bench	<40kg	40-60kg	60-100kg	100-140kg	140kg+
Squat	<60kg	60-100kg	100-140kg	140-200kg	200kg+
Deadlift	<80kg	80-120kg	120-160kg	160-220kg	220kg+
OHP	<28kg	28-44kg	44-64kg	64-88kg	88kg+
Row	<40kg	40-60kg	60-80kg	80-112kg	112kg+

How the Strength Score Works

RepStack's Strength Score (0-999) aggregates all 5 lifts into a single number:

1. Calculate BW ratio: For each lift, divide your 1RM by your bodyweight (e.g., 120kg squat / 80kg BW = 1.5x)
2. Map to sub-score (0-200): Each ratio is interpolated against the thresholds above. A ratio at the bottom of a range scores lower within that band; at the top, it scores higher.
3. Average and scale: Sub-scores are averaged and multiplied by 5 to produce the final 0-999 score.

The classifications break down as:

• Beginner (0-199): First 0-6 months of training. Learning the movements.
• Novice (200-399): 6-18 months. Linear progression still working. Rapid gains.
• Intermediate (400-599): 1-3 years. Need periodized programming. Progress slows to monthly.
• Advanced (600-799): 3-5+ years. Significant training knowledge required. Progress measured in months.
• Elite (800+): Competitive-level strength. Top 1% of gym-goers. Years of dedicated, intelligent training.

Why Balanced Strength Matters

The Strength Score rewards balanced development across all 5 lifts. A lifter with a 2x bench but 1x squat will score lower than a lifter with 1.5x across the board — even if the first lifter's best single lift is more impressive.

This isn't arbitrary. Research on injury prevention consistently shows that muscle imbalances between opposing groups (e.g., strong pressing, weak pulling) increase injury risk. The push-pull balance between bench/OHP and row, and the upper-lower balance between pressing and squat/deadlift, both matter for long-term health and performance.

How to Improve Your Score

Identify your weakest lift (the one with the lowest BW ratio) — that's where you'll get the most score improvement per kg of strength gained. Common weak points:

• Low OHP ratio: Most common weakness. Add a dedicated pressing day or more overhead volume. Programs like 5/3/1 BBB work well.
• Low Row ratio: Add barbell rows or Pendlay rows as a primary movement, not an afterthought. Match pulling volume to pressing volume.
• Low Squat ratio: Squat more frequently. A full body program with squats 3x/week drives rapid improvement.
• Bench lagging behind deadlift: Normal — bench has the smallest muscle groups. Add bench-specific accessories (close-grip, incline, dips).

Use the 1RM Calculator to estimate your current maxes from recent training sets, then plug them in above to see your score. Track it monthly — that's the best frequency for seeing meaningful changes.

Data Sources and Methodology

Our strength standards are derived from aggregated data across multiple sources:

• StrengthLevel.com — crowdsourced data from 40+ million lifts across all bodyweights and experience levels.
• Symmetric Strength — normalized strength scoring system with bodyweight-ratio-based classifications.
• Scientific literature: Standards aligned with data from Rippetoe's Practical Programming (3rd edition) and Kilgore, Rippetoe & Pendlay's strength standard tables.
• Powerlifting competition data: Elite thresholds validated against IPF/USAPL competition results by weight class.

The thresholds represent male standards. Female lifters should expect ratios approximately 60-70% of these values for equivalent classification levels — for example, an intermediate female bench is roughly 0.5-0.8x bodyweight.