Strength Standards: How Strong Are You, Really?

Methodology

Your lift is compared against Lon Kilgore's Strength Standard Tables (2023 edition), which grade squat, bench press and deadlift performance across five stages (physically active, beginner, intermediate, advanced and elite) by sex and bodyweight. Kilgore built the tables from scientific data, published drug-tested classic/raw competition results and decades of coaching records; they represent reasonable expectations at each stage of training progression, deliberately not population averages.

This page uses the kilogram tables for the 20 to 29 age band as its anchor. Between the published bodyweight rows we interpolate linearly, and we clamp at the table edges rather than extrapolating. Below the physically-active threshold we report "untrained".

How the overall rank works

Each lift is classified on its own, then your headline rank is the median of the three, deliberately not the best and not the average. One enormous deadlift shouldn't promote you a tier, and one lagging lift shouldn't drag you down a tier either; the middle value is the honest description of where you actually sit. Your powerlifting total (squat + bench + deadlift) is shown alongside it, and each lift tells you the exact weight to its next threshold.

Interpreting your result

The levels describe training progression, not worth. Moving from beginner to intermediate typically takes months of consistent training; from intermediate to advanced, years. The next-level threshold shown under your classification is the concrete number to chase.

Standards differ across websites because no official standard exists. Each site derives bands from different data and philosophy. We show our source, its derivation and its limits openly so the comparison is meaningful.

Limitations

• The 20 to 29 anchor band overstates expectations for older lifters, Kilgore's full tables (linked in Sources) cover ages 15 to 89 and are the better reference well outside that band.
• Standards assume full-range, unequipped lifts; high-bar vs low-bar squat or pause vs touch-and-go bench all blur comparisons.
• A classification says nothing about technique quality or injury risk. Chase the next threshold with both intact.

Sources

Pull the receipts, 2 cited sources

FitTools · sources

1. 01 Kilgore L. Strength Standard Tables (© 2023, Kilgore Academy)
2. 02 Kilgore L. Resources page (full tables, ages 15 to 89, further lifts)

Every formula cited ✓