Do you have purpose when it comes to your workouts and weightlifting - or are you just going through the motions?

Too many men aimlessly workout, performing the exact same workouts for months (or even years) on end - doing roughly the same weights they did a year ago.

While you hear the word ‘maintenance’ thrown around a lot in the fitness and nutrition world, I believe this is more of a disservice and excuse than it is a real thing for most men.

If you’re focusing on maintenance before you’ve achieved a level of strength and fitness that is near your potential, which most men are far short of, then you shouldn’t be focusing on maintenance.

Because if you focus on maintenance, you’re probably not progressing, and if you’re not progressing there’s a good chance you’re slowly regressing.

We lose a significant amount of muscle mass decade after decade beginning as soon as our 30s.

You should do everything in your 20s, 30s, and 40s to build as much muscle as you can.

After age 50, you need to do your best to simply hang onto the muscle that you built up if your goal is to be fit and healthy as you age.

Even if you just want to be able to play with your grandkids and stay out of the nursing home - muscle and strength building has to be a priority.

This doesn’t mean that you need to be breaking records or setting aggressive goals in the gym, but if you enjoy lifting and plan on doing it for years to come, then it’s worth striving for certain strength standards.

Because when you’re new to the gym, everything is new and exciting and always feels like progress. You can add 5-10 lbs onto your main lifts every single week without flinching.

But as you get a few years into lifting, results slow down and it can become a little more mundane.

It’s at this point it’s easy to settle, and stick at your same 3 sets of 5 reps at the same weight you’ve been working at for a long time.

You don’t have to settle for maintaining (or losing) strength as you get older.

I’ve seen so many men hit their strides on new levels of strength into their 30s, 40s, and even 50s.

I wrongly assumed my college football years were the strongest I was ever going to be, and it led to complacency in the gym.

I noticed my numbers slowly declining, and when I tried to push it I hit a comfort zone ceiling that kept me from working past it.

I realized this was just a limiting mindset that was keeping me from my best, and after addressing that I’m getting close to being just as strong pound for pound, if not stronger, than when I was at my ‘peak’. 

If you’re newer to lifting and you want to know attainable strength standards, or if you feel like you still have a lot left in the tank (physically and mentally) and want to strive for something again in the gym, check out these strength standards every man should be able to work towards based on what we’ve seen from experience and research on other strength standards (5x5, Mark Rippetoe, Tim Henrique). 

*You’ll see relative strength and absolute strength listed below. Absolute strength is the total number of weight you can lift, where relative strength factors in your bodyweight. Absolute strength can be a bit misleading, because it will be greatly affected by age, bodyweight, and other factors.

We like using relative strength, as it’s much more impressive to squat 300 lbs if you weigh 150 lbs than if you weigh 250 lbs. If you are striving for absolute strength numbers, keep in mind that you should be much stronger the heavier you are, and if you’re relatively lean your absolute strength potential might be less (but don’t worry, you’re stronger pound for pound).

Absolute strength standards will be most impressive for an average height male around 185lbs. Unless otherwise noted, the absolute numbers will be a 1 Rep Max.

Squat

The Standard: Thighs parallel to the ground at bottom of squat, high bar or low bar acceptable

Relative Strength:

• Beginner: 1.5x BW
• Intermediate: 2x BW
• Advanced: 2.5x BW

Absolute Strength:

• Beginner: 315 lbs
• Intermediate: 405 lbs
• Advanced: 495 lbs

Deadlift

The Standard: Dead stop from the floor, sumo or conventional acceptable, straps or mixed grip allowed

Relative Strength:

• Beginner: 1.5x BW
• Intermediate: 2x BW
• Advanced: 2.75x BW

Absolute Strength:

• Beginner: 315 lbs
• Intermediate: 405 lbs
• Advanced: 545 lbs

Bench Press

The Standard: Bar touches the chest, butt remains on the bench, no pause necessary (but no bouncing either)

Relative Strength:

• Beginner: 1x BW
• Intermediate: 1.5x BW
• Advanced: 2x BW

Absolute Strength:

• Beginner: 205 lbs
• Intermediate: 315 lbs
• Advanced: 365 lbs

Overhead Press

The Standard: Bar starts touching chest, standing position and no bend of the legs or momentum allowed

Relative Strength:

• Beginner: 0.5x BW
• Intermediate: 0.75x BW
• Advanced: 1x BW

Absolute Strength:

• Beginner: 135 lbs
• Intermediate: 185 lbs
• Advanced: 225 lbs

Barbell Row

The Standard: 45 degree angle, bar pulls to touch abdomen/waist area, minimal leg kick allowed

Relative Strength:

• Beginner: 1x BW x 5 reps
• Intermediate: 1.25x BW x 5 reps
• Advanced: 1.5x BW x 5 reps

Absolute Strength:

• Beginner: 155lbs x 5 reps
• Intermediate: 205 lbs x 5 reps
• Advanced: 265 lbs x 5 reps

Weighted Chin Up/Pull Up

The Standard: From full lock out/dead hang position each rep, weight belt allowed to hold weight, no kipping or momentum allowed

Relative Strength:

• Beginner: 1x BW x 5 reps  (ex: 200 lb man bodyweight only)
• Intermediate: 1.25x BW x 5 reps (ex: 200 lb man + 50 lb weight)
• Advanced: 1.5x BW x 5 reps (ex: 200 lb man + 100 lb weight)

Absolute Strength:

• Beginner: BW x 5 reps
• Intermediate: 50 lbs x 5 reps
• Advanced: 100 lbs x 5 reps

Keep in mind as you set your goals that these strength standards are starting points, but there is a lot of variability in your potential to reach them based on several individual factors.

Factors such as your anatomy, limb length, torso length, etc will greatly affect which lifts you excel at.

While this should never be used as an excuse to not try and improve the lifts that are more difficult for you, it does explain why you might be great at the deadlift but have a really hard time with bench press and squat.

I'm curious, of the 6 standards listed above, how many can you hit at the beginner standard (or better) for your relative strength?

Send me a DM and let me know!