Uh oh. I found a page of Weightlifting Performance Standards. And it turns out... I'm weak! Oh no!
In my last workout I did three sets of ten squats at 95 lbs and nearly three sets of ten bench presses at 70 lbs. According to this calculator that makes my theoretical one rep max 127 lbs and 93 lbs, respectively.
But according to the charts that squat weight and that bench press weight put me barely above novice. Novice!
Okay, I've been pretty haphazard in my weight lifting for the past, um, wow, over a year. Not intentional or directed or focused at all. Kind of like my running training was for a while. Time to dust off that awesome book I have and create a weightlifting plan again.
2 comments:
The first link there seems pretty simplistic. Only body weight is taken into consideration, not age or height (arm length), which can both have an effect. And is this max bench? How many reps/sets? What kind of bench press, barbell or dumbell?
I try to use dumbells as much as possible, because a fuller range of motion is possible, allowing you to work out the entire muscle and not just the peak.
Those are "one rep maximum"s, and I presume it's standard bench press and standard squat, meaning weight plates on a long bar.
Sure, any chart or standard is going to be simplistic. I'm certainly not thinking that I'm suddenly a weakling just because of one table. I hope nobody else does either. I bet this set of data is based on people in their physical prime, which I still am, and so are you for that matter. Thing is, that chart is for hard core weight lifters, and in a competition nobody cares how tall you are or how long your arms are, they care how much you can lift.
I like the barbell for squats and bench press, but I totally agree about dumbells for most things. Not only can you get a wider range of motion, but all the stabalizing muscles get worked too.
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