Strength Standards: Are You Strong?

Self Made.

 These are what I believe constitutes a strong male. See where you rank!

Squat
2.0 x body weight - Great
2.5 x body weight - Excellent

Deadlift
2.5 x body weight - Great
3 x body weight- Excellent

Barbell Bench Press
1.5 x body weight - Great
2 x body weight - Excellent

Bent-Over Barbell Row
Equal to Bench Press

Strict Overhead Press (standing)
.75 x body weight - Great
1 x body weight - Excellent

Power Clean
1.3 x body weight - Great
1.7 x body weight - Excellent

Pull-Ups
20 reps at body weight- Great
25+ reps at body weight - Excellent


Dips
60+ reps at body weight - Great
80 reps at body weight - Excellent


Single Leg Squat
If you can do them- Great
20 reps at body weight - Excellent

 Prowler Pushes
10 x 40yd x 90lbs sprints - Great
Anything above that! - Excellent

400m Sprint
<60 seconds - Great
<51 seconds - Excellent

500m Swim (any stroke)
<9:00 minutes - Great
<8:00 minutes - Excellent

This is not by any means derived from a national strength and conditioning source or competitive list directly.  We all have different contributing factors that may make us weaker or stronger in a given area. However, I believe these are very true judgements of someones athletic ability. Here is my reasoning:

The Squat. The only other exercise that might beat this is the front squat, where your numbers will be slightly lower. Both exercises are a true test of someones total body strength, stability, flexibility, and mobility. In order for someone to reach proper depth they must encompass all of these traits. It is outstanding the number of gym goers who lack the ability to perform the squat with a heavy load. Remember, it is not a squat if you do not reach parallel or lower, meaning hip crease below the knee joint.

The Deadlift. Seriously, how strong are you if you can not pick up something heavy off the ground? The deadlift is another excellent test for someones total body strength. It requires tremendous leg, back, grip, and core strength to perform this exercise using heavy weights.

The Bench Press. This is the famed exercise you see 90% of the population perform. Some coaches argue that the bench serves no purpose in the athletic arena... I agree and disagree with this. I believe it is an important exercise for overall shoulder stability and health, plus building upper body mass. There literally is not another exercise you can perform with the same poundage in the horizontal pushing plane. For that reason, I believe it is a great measure of upper body strength-- however, it is one of the lesser important ones. I personally do not focus on my bench, I treat it more as a supplemental movement. A lot of folks get into trouble with this exercise for not performing equal back work in proportion to there bench. Which brings me to the next one...

The Bent-Over Barbell Row. I feel this exercise should be performed with the torso at almost 90 degrees to the floor. Too often I see guys performing "rows" with an almost complete upright posture... this is a shrug at best not a row. Most trainees can not perform this exercise because they lack sufficient hamstring, glute, and lower back strength when the weights get challenging. What I always try to remember is that your row should be a mirror of your bench. Your back muscles are unbelievably strong and can take a lot of volume, if you lack this in your training regimen, injuries will eventually occur.

Strict Standing Overhead Press. This exercise is extremely difficult for me, and most others. It is slow to progress if performed correctly and is very taxing on the body. For shoulder strength this is an admirable exercise. No leg drive!

Power Clean. Another difficult exercise that tests total body power. Albeit there is a huge learning curve with the technique of it, once learned it can be a game changer for an athlete's or gym rat's strength development. It also builds a ridiculous back.

Pull-Ups. This is one of those "man exercises" that every guy should be able to do. Most guys, like other super challenging exercises, use excuses on why they can not do them. There is not an excuse. I've seen 250 lbs big boned guys perform 20 pull-ups and not even break a sweat. Like the squat, this is an exercise that simply a lot of guys can not do. If you cannot pull your own body up multiple times, this should be a huge indication of your relative strength to weight ratio.

Dips. Simple, it is another test if you suck at the bench! Dips are another excellent exercise that evaluates true upper body strength and endurance.

Single Leg Squat. I can still remember the first time I tried a single leg squat, it was humbling to say the least. I perform them periodically to make sure I can still do them. I use a box when I do them so when I squat down my free leg does not touch the ground. This way I can never cheat and all of my body weight stays on the working leg. These, in my opinion, are a better option than box step-ups for that reason.

Prowler Pushes. If you have done them, you know why... These always make me feel extremely out of shape!

400m Sprint. I am a huge fan of the 400m sprint. It tests both anaerobic and aerobic functions of an athlete. If performed as an all out effort one most utilize both components. I believe long duration runs are not meant for humans to do. It breaks down joints and causes atrophy in the muscles. I could write an entire article on this subject, for later perhaps.

500m Swim. Swimming is widely influenced by technique. I throw this one in here because swimming is a fundamental skill for humans. If you can not swim, you can not independently function on 71% of the planet. For this test, any stroke will do. Just like sprinting, squatting, doing pull-ups-- swimming falls in line with these skills, because they are all just that, skills. However, swimming is also a great test of how a person performs in a semi hypoxic environment and can control their breathing under physical stress.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, we all have our personal limiting and contributing factors. Keep in mind too, when I write "great" or "excellent," it can be relative. You know? If you come close to "great," that is pretty friggin awesome. Keep shooting for higher goals. We all have other things going on in our lives. I personally just keep striving for more in my life. Whenever I find I fall short on something, I try to take a hard honest look at myself and ask if I am making an honest effort or if I am just accepting my weaknesses. Sometimes we must accept a weaker quality of ourselves, but I truly believe that 95% of the time, we can transform those in to strengths.