Back in April, I created a fresh look at the strength standards charts - instead of viewing the numbers as an objective standard to hit to achieve a certain level, I framed them as something more like: “How strong can you expect to get in a certain timeframe, if you train/eat/recover properly, given your genetic potential?” After all, just like height or ability at any other athletic endeavor, people have vastly different potentials. Strength standards charts don’t take this into account. Someone who could squat 850 is ill served by being told at 500 that he’s already very strong, and already elite at 650. Likewise, someone who is doing everything right but is just very unathletic at the left side of the genetic potential bell curve, is ill served if told he’s a failure unless he squats 405 after a few years. 315 is solid and 365 is excellent for such a person!
That being said, most people are definitionally near the average, so it’s still useful - or at least enjoyable - to have some objective standard to compare to. Some hard numbers that say you achieved a certain level of accomplishment. The average person won’t ever achieve the elite lifter level even with 5+ years of training under his belt, but the upper levels are there for fun and to have points of comparison and motivation.
In that case, the following standards for the big 4 lifts are for you. They’re for 1 rep maxes for an approximately 200 lb male, for the 4 main lifts: Squat, Bench, Deadlift, and Press. They’re all round numbers, mostly plate-milestone numbers, which means approximate - just to give you a ballpark, not an exact prescription down to the pound.
Basic Lack of 1st World Frailty
An average person will achieve this quickly, with ~a few months of proper and consistent training. Those with less fortunate genetics will take longer, but I have not yet met a man, aside from the elderly and very ill, who can’t eventually achieve approximately these numbers if he trains consistently. This is about enough to tackle any normal task that living in the first world will throw at you, and to have a basic level of robust health.
Squat: 315
Bench: 185
Deadlift: 350
Press: 135
Regular Person Strong
This means what it implies: Strong for a regular person. Not a serious lifter, but strong for a regular person. This is achievable for people with around the average genetic potential with a few years of very consistent and proper training and nutrition/recovery, in something like 60-90 minutes, 3 days per week. No need to organize your whole life around lifting. It can be something you fit into your life, rather than something you bend your whole life around, and an ~average person should still be able to achieve this in something like 2-4 years.
Squat: 405
Bench: 225
Deadlift: 455
Press: 155
Really Strong
This level is still in the realm of regular person and not competitive lifter, but represents a well above average achievement for a regular person who fits training into life, rather than organizes his life around his training. So we’re still talking someone who trains something like 3 days a week for 60-90 mins, not a gym rat who spends hours upon hours in the gym.
Squat: 455
Bench: 275
Deadlift: 500
Press: 185
Recreational Lifter
This level represents someone who dedicates a little more time and effort, who is a bit more into training as a lifestyle rather than something he just fits into his life. Someone who occasionally competes in powerlifting meets for fun. Lifting is still not the absolute center of his life, but this typically represents a higher level commitment than any of the previous levels. Typically spends a little more weekly training time than the 3-4.5 hours of the previous levels, more like 5-7 hours, perhaps spread over 4 days instead of 3.
Squat: 500
Bench: 315
Deadlift: 545
Press: 225
Competitive Lifter
This level represents someone who is competitive at local meets and might place or even win them. Lifting isn’t necessarily his whole life, but he definitely organizes much of his life around it, to ensure he can train and eat properly no matter what. He plans travel around places that have fully equipped gyms, not skipping or even “doing whatever is in the hotel gym.” Typically spends more time in the gym than any of the previous levels, moving towards something like 7-10 hours over, usually, 4 days per week. Is into lifting as a whole lifestyle.
Squat: 550
Bench: 365
Deadlift: 600
Press: 250
Elite Lifter
This typically represents someone for whom lifting is at the center of his life. Not necessarily to the exclusion of anything else, but that everything else is organized around being able to train, eat, and recover as optimally as possible. He likely spends upwards of 10 hours a week training, and probably brings a big ol’ gym bag with more gear in it than the average person even knows exists. These numbers aren’t among the very best in the world, but for a 200 lb man, would put you in an elite tier of the top 1% of competitive lifters at this size, who are already a self selected group much stronger than your average casual lifter.
Squat: 600+
Bench: 405+
Deadlift: 700+
Press: 275+
Been finding the “Lack of Basic 1st World Frailty” both hilarious and motivating.
Is the thinking still generally that your 1RM is about 15% more than whatever you can do 3 sets of 5 at?
Where does age fit in out of curiosity? I’m right in the “Really Strong” window and train about 3x / wk 60-90 mins per day and a year or so from 50.