I had/have a slightly different version of this: I wanted to be strong enough to at least deadlift the world record for the clean & jerk. A few logical milestones (585 = six plates, and then the obvious allure of an even 600) are just beyond that, so that’s what I really shoot for, but I will be proud to know that I’m strong enough to at least “pick up” the weight that the strongest O-lifter in the world can put overhead.
So if we use a 148lbs female lifter as an example, that would be 1RPM lifts of:
Squat- 225lbs
Bench- 162.5lbs
Deadlift- 281lbs
Seems like a good gauge to me at least for the general compound movements. Could probably use the same parameters with Oly WRs, but I am not as familiar with Oly lifting in general.
There’s one girl I’ve read and I think she’s Hispanic but she has a 290lbs clean and jerk and I think that’s extremely good for women. That’s the most I know about her or strength standards for Olympic lifts in general
Correct. Although with SHW classes I guess that measurement can be a bit skewed. Maybe just use 198 class if your weight falls close to the low end of 198+
I just put this up in my training log. Love it and need to visit it frequently to remind me what I need to be doing. It almost gives you an annual training plan. I’m one of the rare people who can power clean more than I can front squat…although my form needs a bit of work to make it pretty.
I like the 50% world record rule for women (and men) rather than bodyweight multiplier. The bodyweight multiples are easier the less you weigh for both men and women. The world records include weight class so it scales accurately because its what people can actually do.
And it doesn’t have to be exact, the world record for any lift is probably for a person with leverages for it. If you are not built for bench pressing and can get 45% of the WR, that’s good enough.
Im not the biggest fan of breaking things down by weight class. Yeah, a 150lb man squatting 600 is more impressive than a 300lb man doing the same, but 600 pounds is always going to be 600 pounds, and the man who can lift it is strong either way.
I always dislike 1 rep maxes. I feel like they are so dependent on form, cns, mental, etc. Perfect for powerlifting, but I dont think that is always the best way to judge pure “Brute” strength.
I relate so much to @T3hPwnisher with this. I never played sports, was born with the most fucked hips in the world that render my left leg 3/4 inch shorter than my right, and I was just a chubby nerd in middle school that started taking lifting more seriously in high school, even though I ate hot pockets and drank soda while bench pressing like 350 but only deadlifting 405.
Now I can deadlift close to 700, although sumo, front squat close to 500, and my overhead is 360+ depending on the day, and I weigh 220ish.
Sadly, in my eyes this isn’t even that strong, even considering I’m natural. There’s always freaks out there. I mean look at Ben Rice. Deadlifting 800lbs naturally? Fucking incredible. The bar just keeps rising and rising.
This was something I meant to bring up earlier, but the moment passed, but now here we are.
Isn’t it odd how you can get accused of being genetically blessed, yet at the same time people will criticize how you train because it’s going to get you hurt and broken when you get older?
There is something to be said about the progress you can make when you train so hard that it’s most likely going to be destructive when you get older. Something about the trade off between safety and progress.
I think it is the other side of the same coin. Both are ways for people to justify to themselves why they are not performing as well as others.
On one hand, people can say that others just naturally have an advantage, and that is why they are better.
On the other, they can say that those people are performing better because they are “stupidly” training in a way that while effective, causes injury, and thus you are not performing as well because of your perceived intellectual superiority.
Either way, just a justification for not getting what you want.
50% of that would be
SQUAT : 130kgs
BENCH: 97.5kgs
DEADLIFT: 139.25kgs
Either ways, I would consider the numbers to be more than reasonable. In fact, I would consider them to be a baseline strength which everyone should aim for. The same can be probably said for the olympic weightlifting numbers but I’m simply too lazy to go check it out. 177 and 214 if I recall correctly. Considering I’ve been dabbling in weightlifting on and off (injuries and other stuff setting me back) and I’m still able to come pretty close to 50% of their numbers, it seems feasible to me too.