( 01 ) — Articles · AUG 12, 2026 · 6 MIN
How strong is strong, actually?
Everyone asks it about the bench first. The honest answer isn't a number — a 100 kg bench means completely different things at 60 kg and at 110 kg of bodyweight. Strength that can be compared is strength measured against what you weigh.
( 02 ) — Why ratios
Absolute numbers brag. Ratios tell the truth.
Bodyweight multiples are the standard the lifting world settled on because they travel: a bodyweight bench press is roughly as hard for a light lifter as for a heavy one, in a way “100 kg” never is. They also self-update — gain or lose weight and your targets move with you.
They're not perfect. Long arms make deadlifts kinder and benches crueler; age and training years matter; the tails of the bodyweight range bend every curve. Treat the thresholds as mile markers on a road, not a judgment.
( 03 ) — The reference points
The big five, anchored.
These are the intermediate and advanced anchors from our strength standards tables — a synthesis calibrated against the commonly used published references, with five levels from beginner to elite and full bodyweight tables for men and women. Two things worth noticing: intermediate is genuinely strong — a bit past bodyweight on the bench, one-and-a-half times on the squat — and the overhead press runs on the smallest numbers with the hardest bragging rights.
( 04 ) — How to use them
A target, not a verdict.
The wrong way to use a standards table is as a test you take once, ego-load for, and feel bad about. The right way: find the next threshold above you, turn it into kilograms with our checker, and let it quietly set the direction of your next months of training. Thresholds are motivating precisely because they don't move — you do.
Getting there is the boring, reliable loop from our progressive overload piece: see last time, beat it a little, write it down. A standard is just a place that loop eventually arrives.
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