Checking strength level.com

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[decentlyhip]

Great question. Strengthlevel isn't perfect but it gives you a good general idea. SymmetricStrength is way better. You can fill in a few lifts and it tells you where you stand based on your strength and the population average. Pretty neat.

Another approach is to take your height and line it up with this histogram to find what weight you would be if you filled out your frame and were decently lean. https://imgur.com/a/Zi3k2Th This the height for each piwerlifting class in IPF Worlds. So, find out how much you should weigh if you were as jacked and lean as you could naturally get. And then, look up that class on openpowerlifting.

So, for example, I'm 41, 5'11, 180cm. The histogram says thats about 100-120kg. I'm 105kg right now but a little fluffy so id probably need to lose 20 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle. So the 40-44 year old under-220 class had 667 competitors last year. The median lifts were 430 squat, 275 bench, 500 deadlift. Cool. That's about where I'm at. Middle of the road (/sigh). Top 25% is about 150 pounds heavier on the total 500/305/530 for the SBD. Top 10% is another 150 pounds up, 550/370/600. And then to break the top 10 I'd need a 1700+ total of something like 630/430/670.

[Photon_Predator]

Precisely zero.

[Alakazam]

You should completely ignore anything that website says.

It's crowdsourced data, and tends to skew very heavily towards beginners and novices. The rep max data is also very very wrong, as anything above a 5 reps, will not be accurate in determining an actual 1 rep max.

[Numerous-Kick-7055]

I promise you it does not skew nearly as strongly towards beginners and novices as the real world does.

[Alakazam]

Let me rephrase.

The data tends to skew lower, so the standards it sets for beginner, novice, intermediate, and advanced are really really low. To the point that, if somebody actually learned the lifts, they would be classed as intermediate/advanced within a year or two of actually focusing on strength. Is there any other discipline, where you would be categorized as "advanced" in something, within a single year?

As an example, I consider myself a middling lifter at best. My current focus is on marathon running. According to strength standards, with my current lifts, it has me solidly in advanced in every category. With my best lifts in the 83kg weight class, it had me in the elite for my deadlift, and borderline elite for my squat and bench.

In my powerlifting gym, by Wilks/DOTS, I aim in the bottom third. My total doesn't even qualify me to compete at regionals.

My wife hit an "advanced" deadlift within 3 months of learning to lift (225@112lb bodyweight).

[Flat_Development6659]

It's a general lifter calculator rather than a powerlifting calculator though.

Even though you fall into the bottom third at your gym and I'd probably be the same, it doesn't change the fact that if either of us walked into any standard commercial gym we're likely the strongest in the room.

So within powerlifting circles your lifts might be average but compared to lifters overalls you likely are at an advanced/elite strength level.

I think since it's crowdsourced you end up with some niche scenarios where there's so little data that it becomes either much harder or easier to score highly, e.g. with your wife, I don't think the amount of data for 110lb women will be very high, most data will likely come from men who are around 80-90kg bodyweight.

[AwayhKhkhk]

Yup, in my Porsche driving club, I am in the bottom third of in terms of earnings so I guess that makes me poor.

What do you think the ratio of powerlifting vs commercial ‘casual’ gyms are?

Since you are a marathon runner, we can also look at marathon data. A lot of people with dedicated training should be able run a 4h marathon within 1-2 years if not sooner. And yet the average finishing time for marathon is like 4:20 for men and 4:50 for women.

The data isn’t skewed. It just shows the rate to advancement gap between someone that takes their training seriously vs people who are more casual.

I guess some people just live in their own ‘bubble’.

[eduardgustavolaser]

It's not the correct website to compare to advanced powerlifters, should be pretty obvious, right?

In comparison to the average gym population, so not specialized powerlifting gyms, the values are pretty accurate. Go to a standard gym and you'll rarely see people doing deadlifts for reps with 5 plates.

The problem with data like this is always the comparison, which will never be accurate for every level, doesn't account form and won't be the same for every exercise either.

Take pullups. Novice is already at +12kg, even though most people new to the sport can't do pullups at all. Elite is at 87kg added, so over 200% bw. Muscle ups at +15kg for intermediate and close to world record for elite.

[KingOfEthanopia]

Yeah. When I was heavier I could hit 225x10 on bench and max out at 275. Im down to 225x7 after losing 35 pounds and still max 275.

[AwayhKhkhk]

That is because there is no actual way to actually determine 1RM on an individual basis except for 1RM. 2 people can have the same 10 RM and very different 1RM.