Strength Calculator

What is a Strength Calculator?

A strength calculator compares your strength level to the established standards. Those standards are based on people's lifts of various exercises, body weight, gender, and sometimes age. A strength calculator can be used by everyone from the beginner to the advanced level lifter. It can help you figure out realistic goals for your strength level or help you understand where you stand in terms of your overall strength level.

The strength calculator uses the information from the strengthlevel.com and other similar resources.

How to Use the Strength Calculator

Using our strength calculator is easy:

1. Indicate your gender: male or female.
2. Indicate your body weight: use a precise measurement in pounds.
3. Indicate your 1RM for each of the following lifts: bench press, squat, deadlift, and overhead press. If you do not know your 1RM, you can use our Bench Press Calculator to find your 1RM for the bench press. You can find your 1RM for other lifts using the same principle.
4. Click the button "Calculate Strength Level" and get your results.

Strength Standards for Men

This table shows the standard of strength for men of different experience levels. The number indicate a multiple of body weight.

Level	Bench	Squat	Deadlift	Overhead
Beginner	0.5x	0.75x	1x	0.35x
Novice	0.75x	1x	1.25x	0.5x
Intermediate	1x	1.5x	1.75x	0.65x
Advanced	1.5x	2x	2.5x	0.85x
Elite	2x	2.5x	3x	1x

Strength Standards for Women

Level	Bench	Squat	Deadlift	Overhead
Beginner	0.3x	0.5x	0.75x	0.2x
Novice	0.5x	0.75x	1x	0.35x
Intermediate	0.65x	1x	1.25x	0.5x
Advanced	1x	1.5x	1.75x	0.65x
Elite	1.3x	2x	2.25x	0.85x

Why Strength Standards Matter

Strength standards are the reference point for you to see how strong you are and what goals you should set for yourself. For example, if you are a 180 lbs male with an intermediate strength level, the goal you should set for yourself in bench pressing would be 180 lbs (1 x body weight). Once you reach that goal, you can set a new one based on the next level of standards (1.5 x 180 lbs = 270 lbs).

Strength standards help you identify the areas where you need improvement. If you are way stronger in some exercises compared to other exercises, your standards for those low-performing lifts will be lower than the ones for high-performing lifts. For example, if you can bench press twice as much as you can deadlift, your standards for the bench press will be lower than the ones for deadlift. The same goes to other lifts: if you are not as strong in your squat, you will want to spend more time on it. The strength standards should serve as your guidelines for what needs to be improved.

Strength Standards and Progression

There is a clear progression from one level to the next level of standards. For example, the novice standard for bench pressing is 0.75 x body weight, and the intermediate standard is 1 x body weight. This means that to improve from novice to an intermediate lifter, you need to increase your bench press by 1.33 times (1 / 0.75 = 1.33). The same progression applies to other levels and exercises.

How to Improve Your Strength Level

To improve your strength level, you can follow these general tips:

• Increase the weight, sets, or number of repetitions for each exercise as you get stronger (progressive overload).
• Use compound exercises such as deadlifts, squats, bench press, and overhead press.
• Use a wide variety of rep ranges from 1-5 to 15-20.
• Focus on perfecting your form and technique.
• Eat enough protein (1.6-2.2 g per kg of body weight) and do not undereate.
• Get at least 7-9 hours of sleep per night.
• Workout consistently and do not burnout.

Strength Calculator vs 1RM Calculator

A strength calculator is slightly different from a 1RM calculator. The 1RM calculator will help you find out your estimated one repetition maximum for a given exercise (bench press, deadlift, etc.). A strength calculator, on the other hand, will take your 1RM estimates and use them to determine your overall strength level. Our Bench Press Calculator is a 1RM calculator for the bench press, and our Max Bench Calculator estimates the 1RM for the bench press based on the set of 8 repetitions. The strength level bench press calculator aspect of this tool will use your lifts or estimated lifts and give you the strength level for each exercise.

The "Big 3" vs. The "Big 4"

The Big 3 (bench press, squat, deadlift) are the foundation of powerlifting. The overhead press (OHP) is not considered in powerlifting, but it is often included in programs such as Starting Strength or StrongLifts 5x5 to develop upper body strength. The OHP is a good way to check out your actual upper body strength because you cannot use your legs or back to help you press the barbell. If your OHP is significantly weaker than your other lifts, it may be an indication that your shoulders and/or core are not as strong as they should be.

The Role of Body Weight and Height

Strength standards are based on body weight, but your height plays a significant role in your lifts. Taller people have a disadvantage when compared to shorter people because the range of motion (ROM) on most lifts is longer. For example, a 5'6" person will have a significantly shorter ROM on the bench press than a 6'4" person, which will give the shorter person a significant advantage. Because of that, it is generally a good idea not to compare your absolute lifts (180 lbs on the bench press) to other people's lifts and use the multiple of your body weight when comparing your lifts to others' lifts. The shorter person will have an advantage in all lifts, but they will not be able to exceed the standards of bigger and taller people based on their body weight.

What is a "Novice" vs. an "Intermediate"?

Those terms refer to the rate at which a person gains strength, not the length of time they have been working out. A novice lifter is someone who has been able to add weight to the bar almost every single time they go to the gym (also known as linear progression). A novice lifter phase can last from 3 to 9 months on average. An intermediate lifter is someone who is no longer able to simply add more weight to the bar. They may be able to add more weight once every week or once every month. The intermediate phase can last for several years, and the progression is no longer linear: that is why it is important to use a periodization program. An advanced lifter is someone who is close to their genetic potential, and almost every additional pound on the bar is a huge accomplishment.

Why Your Deadlift Should Always Be Your Heaviest Lifting

Looking at the numbers in the strength standards table, you can see that the numbers for deadlifts are the highest. That is because deadlifts use almost all of your major muscles. They also engage the most amount of muscle mass of any other exercise. Because you have to pull the barbell from the floor to above your waist, you should always be able to deadlift more than you can bench press or squat. If your squat or bench press is stronger than your deadlift, there is a good chance that your form on the deadlift is incorrect or that your lower back is not strong enough.

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