Strength Performance Standards for Barbell Lifts

"How much should I be able to squat?" is one of the most common questions in any gym, and most of the answers floating around come from tables of uncertain origin that label lifters untrained, novice, intermediate, advanced or elite. Those tables are useful as motivation but they are not data. In the last few years, researchers have mined the results of hundreds of thousands of drug-tested powerlifting competitions to build benchmarks that actually describe what people lift. This article sets out what those benchmarks look like, how they are changing, and how to use them sensibly for someone who does not compete.

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