Strength Standards Calculator

You find out by dividing each lift by your bodyweight and comparing the ratio with the tables on this page. If you weigh 80 kg and you squat 120 kg, you divide 120 by 80, you get 1.5 times bodyweight, and you sit at the intermediate squat band for men. You repeat that check lift by lift — one overall label will not tell you the whole story.

You test each lift with good form, you write down your bodyweight and your best lift in the same unit, and you divide the lift by your bodyweight. You then read your level from the table for your lift and your sex. If you change the unit, the lift standard, or the bodyweight between tests, you cannot compare the results.

You earn a level for each lift separately. You reach a band when your ratio meets or passes that band’s multiplier. If you squat 1.5 times bodyweight as a man, you sit at intermediate for squat. If you bench press 0.67 times bodyweight as a woman, you sit at novice for bench press until you reach 0.75 times bodyweight.

A good level depends on your goals, your training age, and your bodyweight. For most gym lifters, intermediate across the big lifts is a strong, healthy place to be. Advanced is a serious achievement that takes years of focused training. Elite is a competitive level, not a normal gym goal, and you should not treat it as a requirement.

You calculate them from a bodyweight ratio. You divide your one rep max — or your best gym lift — by your bodyweight, and you compare that ratio with a band table. The calculator on this page does that division for you, lift by lift, in kg or lb, as long as you keep one unit throughout.

You judge a squat by its ratio, not by its raw weight alone. For men, a squat at 1.5 times bodyweight sits at intermediate, and a squat at 2.0 times bodyweight sits at advanced. For women, a squat at 1.0 times bodyweight sits at intermediate, and a squat at 1.5 times bodyweight sits at advanced. You only count a squat you take to full depth with control.

You judge a bench press the same way. For men, a bench press at bodyweight — 1.0 times bodyweight — sits at intermediate, and a bench press at 1.5 times bodyweight sits at advanced. For women, a bench press at 0.75 times bodyweight sits at intermediate, and a bench press at bodyweight sits at advanced. You count only a controlled touch and a full lockout.

You judge a deadlift by its ratio too. For men, a deadlift at 2.0 times bodyweight sits at intermediate, and a deadlift at 2.5 times bodyweight sits at advanced. For women, a deadlift at 1.5 times bodyweight sits at intermediate, and a deadlift at 2.0 times bodyweight sits at advanced. You count only a clean pull from a dead stop to a full lockout.

You judge an overhead press by a strict press to lockout overhead, without leg drive. For men, a press at 0.75 times bodyweight sits at intermediate, and a press at bodyweight sits at advanced. For women, a press at 0.5 times bodyweight sits at intermediate, and a press at 0.75 times bodyweight sits at advanced. A bodyweight overhead press is a serious lift in either table.

You judge a barbell row by a controlled pull to your torso with a flat back. For men, a row at bodyweight sits at intermediate, and a row at 1.25 times bodyweight sits at advanced. For women, a row at 0.75 times bodyweight sits at intermediate, and a row at bodyweight sits at advanced.

You use the same method — lift divided by bodyweight — but you compare the ratio with a different table. Women’s bands sit lower than men’s bands at the same bodyweight, because the strength distribution differs. You never judge a woman’s lift against the men’s table, and you never judge a man’s lift against the women’s table.

A beginner learns the movements and lifts with good form, usually in the first months of consistent training. A novice handles the lifts confidently, adds weight regularly, and trains with a basic plan, usually in the first year. The line between them is a guide, not a test — you move up when your ratio reaches the next band, not when a calendar tells you to.

You can use an estimated 1RM from a hard set of 3 to 10 reps, and for most lifters that estimate is safer and good enough. A tested true max gives you a cleaner number, but you do not need to test a max to use this calculator. You do need to use the same method each time, or your level will jump for the wrong reason.

You multiply kilograms by 2.205 to get pounds, and you divide pounds by 2.205 to get kilograms. You convert bodyweight and lift together, before you divide, and you keep one unit for the whole calculation. An 80 kg lifter weighs about 176.4 lb, and a 120 kg squat weighs about 264.6 lb.

You multiply your bodyweight by the next band’s multiplier, and you subtract the lift you have today. A 60 kg woman who benches 40 kg needs 45 kg for intermediate bench press, so her gap is 5 kg. A 60 kg woman who presses 35 kg overhead needs 45 kg for advanced overhead press, so her gap is 10 kg.

You use them with extra care at both ends of the age range. Teenagers are still growing, so their ratios move as their bodies change. Masters lifters, typically age 40 and above, often hold impressive strength, but their peak ratios usually sit below their younger selves. You compare yourself with lifters at a similar stage, and you judge your own progress against your own last result first.

No — not directly. The guide bands on this page describe raw, or classic, lifting, without a squat suit or a bench shirt. Equipped lifting adds kilograms, so you never compare an equipped lift with a raw standard. If you lift equipped, you need an equipped table, and you judge equipped lifts against equipped lifts only.

You should treat the guide bands on this page as general, raw-lifting guides, not as a certified drug-free table. At beginner and intermediate levels, training and technique explain most of the difference. At advanced and elite levels, whether lifters compete drug-free or not moves the top bands by a lot, so you read the elite band as a competitive guide, not as a promise.

Different publishers build their tables from different lifters, different lifts, and different rules for what counts as a good lift, and some tables adjust for bodyweight in a different way from a simple ratio. A table that flatters you is not automatically the right table. You pick one consistent method, you track your own progress against it, and you do not jump between tables to find a better label.

You recheck every 8 to 12 weeks, or after a dedicated training block, not after every session. You raise a level by training your weakest lift first, by practising that lift to the standard you want to count, and by recovering well enough to repeat the work. You close small gaps first — 5 kg and 10 kg gaps move faster than 40 kg gaps — and you keep the other lifts maintained while you do it.