Supposed Strength Standards

[heyzeus909]

The following chart is from this link: http://staff.washington.edu/griffin/maxweight.txt

Apparently, it's from a Robert Kennedy book titled,'Mass'. I've never read the book, nor even heard of it previous to coming across this chart. If you want to buy it, here it is on Amazon for $2.63 used. Robert Kennedy publishes many of the magazines you see on the shelves.

Although this chart is said to be for "bodybuilders," my guess is that it's more geared towards powerlifters; or at least, for "professional" bodybuilders (the cover of the book has a steroid bodybuilder on it, so maybe that's a good clue?) I haven't seen too many 105lb male "beginners" capable of benching 1.48 X's their bodyweight, as this chart suggests (260lb bench divided by 105lbs X's 0.6), so please, with all things considered, take this information with a grain of sea salt. But I was asked if there was a strength chart like this, so here it is, nonetheless.

For your quick reference, I ran some blended average numbers for men and women, just so you can get a quick idea of where you stand based on what this chart suggests.





I averaged 3 of the male weight ranges (136 to 155, 171 to 185, 206 to 225) with the sum average being 173lbs. I then averaged the 1RM of each exercise in those weight ranges, with the theoretical 1RM (1 Rep Maximum) weight for the 173lb man in parentheses:

MEN ("BW" = bodyweight)

Exercise:
Full Squat

X's BW for Advanced: 2.47 (427lbs)

X's BW for Intermediate: 2.08 (359lbs)

X's BW Beginner: 1.51 (261lbs)



Exercise:
Bench Press

X's BW for Advanced: 2.22 (384lbs)

X's BW for Intermediate: 1.83 (316lbs)

X's BW Beginner: 1.33 (230lbs)



Exercise:
Deadlift

X's BW for Advanced: 2.76 (477lbs)

X's BW for Intermediate: 2.27 (392lbs)

X's BW Beginner: 1.65 (285lbs)



Exercise:
Standing Press

X's BW for Advanced: 1.40 (242lbs)

X's BW for Intermediate: 1.16 (200lbs)

X's BW Beginner: 0.84 (145lbs)



Exercise:
Barbell Curl

X's BW for Advanced: 0.79 (136lbs)

X's BW for Intermediate: 0.65 (112lbs)

X's BW Beginner: 0.47 (81lbs)



For women, I averaged 2 of the weight ranges (105 to 120, and 136 to 155) with the sum average being 129lbs. I then averaged the 1RM (1 Rep Maximum) of each exercise in those weight ranges, with the theoretical weight for the 129lb woman in parentheses (since a deadlift is both an upper and lower body exercise, I included both the "X 0.56" and "X 0.72" variables):

Women ("BW" = bodyweight)

Exercise:
Full Squat

X's BW for Advanced: 1.89 (243lbs)

X's BW for Intermediate: 1.56 (201lbs)

X's BW Beginner: 1.13 (145lbs)



Exercise:
Bench Press

X's BW for Advanced: 1.23 (158lbs)

X's BW for Intermediate: 1.02 (131lbs)

X's BW Beginner: 0.74 (95lbs)



Exercise:
Deadlift

X's BW for Advanced: 1.69 (218lbs), 2.17 (279lbs)

X's BW for Intermediate: 1.39 (179lbs), 1.79 (230lbs)

X's BW Beginner: 1.01 (130lbs), 1.30 (167lbs)



Exercise:
Standing Press

X's BW for Advanced: 0.82 (105lbs)

X's BW for Intermediate: 0.68 (87lbs)

X's BW Beginner: 0.49 (63lbs)



Exercise:
Barbell Curl

X's BW for Advanced: 0.37 (47lbs)

X's BW for Intermediate: 0.31 (39lbs)

X's BW Beginner: 0.22 (28lbs)


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My personal note: You will never find a single post or message from me with regard to the weight I use during exercise. "How much do you bench," will go without a response from me, or will be answered with something completely ridiculous if I'm feeling cantankerous. Most of the time, I don't even know or care how much weight is on the bar because, for me, it's irrelevant. I talk about intensity, sets and reps, length of the workout, frequency of workouts, etc; but once you start concerning yourself with how much weight you're using and how much weight the guy next to you is using, or if you start competing with the numbers in this chart, then you'll start bouncing that bar off of your chest during bench presses and using momentum during curls, etc. While that's conducive to lifting more weight, it's not conducive to building muscle. Likewise, lifting like like a powerlifter is fine if that's what your goal is - I'm not discouraging you or looking down my nose at you at all; more power to you (literally). I'm also not saying that strength training doesn't have a place in bodybuilding, because certainly it does; but only if it's done with the ultimate goal of building muscle in mind. Simply put, I lift with the sole purpose of building muscle in mind. For me, I use the weight necessary to feel the muscle work and no more. If you use more weight than what's necessary, then you've blown your mind-muscle connection and you've started lifting with your ego. Exercising your ego will prevent you from exercising your muscles. This may sound completely backwards to you, but an improved mind-muscle connection will likely require you to lift a lighter weight than with a lesser mind-muscle connection. Also, I never advocate doing a 1 Rep Maximum.

[Timpl235]

I'm in the 186-205 range (barely at 187) but according to this My Squat, Standing press, and barbell curl are all above where i'm supposed to be. But my deadlift and bench (bench especially) are supposively lacking.

I like the post it lets some people see where they are in comparison to i guess this is national averages or estimates ? But at the same time i don't think anybody should be comparing themselves to this chart. Everybodies different, for instance my friend he's only 155 lbs, but damn can he squat, squats more than i do, but when it comes to bench and deadlift, shit he can barely throw around half my weight. So in this regard i'd like to agree with MM it should never be about the weight you throw around, long as your working hard and intense you've earned my respect and everyone elses.

[smooch]

I'm in the 186-205 range (barely at 187) but according to this My Squat, Standing press, and barbell curl are all above where i'm supposed to be. But my deadlift and bench (bench especially) are supposively lacking.

I like the post it lets some people see where they are in comparison to i guess this is national averages or estimates ? But at the same time i don't think anybody should be comparing themselves to this chart. Everybodies different, for instance my friend he's only 155 lbs, but damn can he squat, squats more than i do, but when it comes to bench and deadlift, shit he can barely throw around half my weight. So in this regard i'd like to agree with MM it should never be about the weight you throw around, long as your working hard and intense you've earned my respect and everyone elses.

agreed.

I think body type can have a lot to do with it as well, at least for females. My max squat is above "advanced" but I can hardly bench anything worth while to save my life! Thank you mom and dad for the long monkey arms!

[Bocasean]

These figures are eye-popping to me. I work in a gym and see hundreds of people working out, yet I can count on one hand the club members who can bench 300, squat 350, or dead 400. Most of them are MUCH larger than 178 pounds.

As for the women, a 200 pound squat is an extreme rarity with only strength athletes ever even attempting it. Bench press is also rare, and I've yet to see one over 115 pounds.

I believe the figures for Advanced....but I think the definitions of Beginner and Intermediate are a bit of a stretch.

[Rockwild]

Here's a chart with more info I searched and found at this site...

http://www.dennisbweis.com/charts.html

[heyzeus909]

Here's a chart with more info I searched and found at this site...

http://www.dennisbweis.com/charts.html

For our theoretical 173lb male, the numbers change for the 1RM (advanced/excellent):

Squat:
From 427lbs to 367lbs (BW X's 2.12)

Bench:
From 384lbs to 272lbs (BW X's 1.57)

Deadlift:
From 477lbs to 492lbs (BW X's 2.38)

Barbell Curl:
From 136lbs to 135lbs (BW X's 0.78)

[Bocasean]

Nice. Now I feel acceptably manly.

[King_Marmoset!]

FYI: Robert Kennedy co-wrote Vince Gironda's Wild Physique book.

[wushuchic]

alright, I guess I should admit that I don't get it. Of course it could also be that it's still early and I don't want to put in the mental effort to comprehend what I read. I weigh 134....soon to be 125 . Where should my numbers be?

[caseymoe]

I feel realy, really weak after reading this. The only thing I am close on is curls. I guess I have a lot of work to do.