280518 Relative strength-are you really as strong as you think you are?

280518 Relative strength-are you really as strong as you think you are?

Does your relative strength match these standards? In the following chart* you will find commonly accepted values for determining whether or not your strength is good, excellent or elite in the three power lifts.

Squat	Male	Female
Good	greater than 2 x bdwt	greater than 1.5 x bdwt
Excellent	greater than or equal to 2.5 x bdwt	greater than or equal to 2 x bdwt
Elite	greater than or equal to 3 x bdwt	greater than or equal to 2.5 x bdwt

Bench Press	Male	Female
Good	>1.25 X bdwt	>0.8 X bdwt
Excellent	greater than or equal to 1.75 X bdwt	1 X bdwt
Elite	greater than or equal to 2 X bdwt	greater than or equal to 1.25 X bdwt

Deadlift	Male	Female
Good	greater than 2 x bdwt	greater than 1.5 x bdwt
Excellent	greater than or equal to 2.5 x bdwt	greater than or equal to 2 x bdwt
Elite	greater than or equal to 3 x bdwt	greater than or equal to 2.5 x bdwt

Relative strength means balancing out your lifting.  This requires adequate attention to each of the lifts; which in essence means your lifting should be in a ratio of one to the other across the board. It has been suggested by practitioners of the sport and the scientists who support these lifters that a ratio of 1:1.5:1.5 will provide the ratio for success. In this case the first number represents the bench press followed by squat and the dead lift 1 repetition maximum numbers.

*Adapted from Encyclopedia of Muscle and Strength by Stoppani, J Human Kinetics 2006