Strength calculator: how strong are you for your age?

How the strength calculator works

The calculator turns each set into an estimated one-rep max, divides it by your body weight and compares the result with strength standards for your sex and age. A one-rep max, or 1RM, is the heaviest weight you could lift for one clean rep.

1. It estimates your one-rep max

It uses the Epley formula: 1RM = weight × (1 + reps ÷ 30). A set of 100 kg for 5 reps gives an estimated 1RM of 116.7 kg. A set past 12 reps counts as 12, because the estimate drifts the more reps you do.

Pull-ups, chin-ups and dips lift your whole body, so the calculator adds your body weight to anything on a belt. The dumbbell bench press counts both dumbbells, so type the weight of one.

2. It divides by your body weight

A 1RM of 116.7 kg at 80 kg of body weight is 1.46 times body weight. The ratio lets you compare a 60 kg lifter with a 100 kg lifter, and it comes out the same in kilograms or pounds.

3. It compares you with 5 levels

Each lift has 5 lines: beginner, novice, intermediate, advanced, elite. These are the lines for lifters aged 18 to 29, as multiples of body weight.

Men:

Women:

The table is Trackist’s own. It is written from the bodyweight-relative standards published in Kilgore, Rippetoe and Bradford’s ‘Practical Programming for Strength Training’ and from masters age coefficients, then rounded. It describes people who train, not the general population.

4. It adjusts the lines for your age

Every line drops with age. Each age band has one age where its share applies exactly. Between 2 of those ages, the calculator blends the 2 lines, so your line moves a little each birthday instead of jumping at 30 or 40. Under 24, the 18 to 29 line applies. Over 65, the 60 and over line applies.

5. It scores each lift out of 100

Half the beginner line scores 0. The beginner line scores 20, novice 40, intermediate 60, advanced 80 and elite 100, with a straight line between each. Your Strength Score is the average of the 4 lifts, rounded.

A lift you leave empty gets a start estimate from how long you have trained: the beginner line for less than a year, novice for 1 to 3 years and intermediate for over 3 years. It counts in the Strength Score but not in the Strength Age.

6. It works out your Strength Age

Your Strength Age starts at your real age. For every point your entered lifts average above the intermediate line, which scores 60, it drops one year. For every point below, it rises half a year. It stays between 18 and 70.

The line under your result names the smallest weight increase that reaches a new level, and how many years it takes off your Strength Age.

Strength standards in kilograms

For an 80 kg man aged 18 to 29:

For a 65 kg woman aged 18 to 29:

Our guide to strength standards explains how to read a table like this without chasing a label.

A worked example

A 30-year-old man weighing 80 kg, who has trained for 1 to 3 years, enters 4 sets: back squat 100 kg × 5, deadlift 130 kg × 5, bench press 80 kg × 5, and 8 pull-ups at body weight. These are the numbers already in the calculator above.

• Squat: 1RM 116.7 kg, 1.46× body weight, intermediate, 60 points.
• Deadlift: 1RM 151.7 kg, 1.9× body weight, novice, 58 points.
• Press: 1RM 93.3 kg, 1.17× body weight, intermediate, 68 points.
• Pull-up and row: 1RM 101.3 kg, 1.27× body weight, intermediate, 73 points.

The Strength Score is the average of the 4: 65. The lifts average 4.75 points above the intermediate line, so the Strength Age is 25, 5 years under the real age of 30. The smallest step is +4 kg on the deadlift, which reaches the next level.

What the calculator cannot tell you

• One set is one day. A good day or a bad one moves the result. The Trackist app reads your best set on each lift from the last 90 days instead.
• An estimate is not a tested max. Rep-max formulas are most reliable on sets of 10 reps or fewer.
• The levels describe people who train. Intermediate here means intermediate among lifters, not among everyone.
• It says nothing about your health. If something hurts when you lift, the number is not worth chasing: read what to do when a lift hurts.

To move the number, add weight in small steps. Progressive overload explains how.