ARE YOU STRONG ENOUGH?

How strong is strong enough?

The ability to lift objects has always been a fascination for humans. Contests of strength have been a rite of passage for adolescents and a test of metal in human vs human or human vs object battles.

Extremes of performance in both the endurance, speed, power and strength fields are demonstrated in many of our favourite sporting contests.

As a child one of my favourite memories was the yearly tradition of watching The World’s Strongest Man competition which was broadcast in the U.K. in the days between Christmas and New Year. Little did I know at the time that the various events that made up the contest would feature heavily in my later life as a cornerstone of my own workouts.

Over the years many people have tried to introduce “strength standards.” In other words how much a man should be able to lift over a variety of different movements. This approach is often flawed however as the “standards” presented are often interpreted through the eyes of an athlete who competes in various sports who needs to be stronger than the average man.

For instance, a powerlifter who presents a list of “standards” or expected lift values in the squat, deadlift and bench press would probably expect you to lift a lot more than average Joe if you’re entering the world of the powerlifter. Not to mention the proliferation of doping in all powerlfting events would alter the results.

So the question is this. What is a reasonable level of strength I should look to attain and maintain over a variety of lifts that would serve real world purpose?

Functional Warrior Workouts Strength Standards

Strength comes in many forms. The following standards are meant as a reference point and something you can measure your own strength against and aim to improve.

I’m including two categories which you can decide yourself where you best fit. The first is what I would expect any man up to his late 50’s to be able to achieve. A 55 year old novice will struggle but it’s not my fault you’re 55 and still a novice.

The second category is the powerhouse level. This means someone, whatever age, who feels they are their physical peak or has had extensive lifting experience. Both categories are testing general standards not elite standards.

Usually people are great at one or two movement types and suffer on others. Here you can see where you stand.

The lifts are based on our basic movement patterns. Upper body pressing and pulling; lower body pressing and pulling and finally carrying. There are obviously other important movements to consider. For example the ability to get up and down off the floor or core strength for example but here will just stick to the basic lifts.

A couple of things to consider here are that the expected standards might not seem that high and that it’s important to have a well balanced portfolio of strengths rather than be awesome at one. This simply means that the lifts are about balance. It’s probably better to be slightly above average on all rather than be mediocre on all but one lift.

It’s also worth noting that these aren’t standards used to access whether you should start powerlifting. These would be higher because you are looking to assess how gifted you already are.

The Big Five

The Big Five will contribute to the overall readiness score featured in my upcoming 12 skills book. The lifts are scored individually but combined into one score for the final.

For the heavier individual these standards would be tougher to achieve than for the lighter lifter due to the relative/absolute strength difference. There are plenty of other resources available online to test your lifting ability in your weight class but they are beyond the scope of this book and aimed at powerlifters.

Upper body pressing and pulling

Big Five 1 - Bench press

You could argue that it’s more practical from a “real world uses” aspect to include the overhead press rather than the bench press. The reason I didn’t is twofold.

The overhead press is a tougher movement on the shoulders and needlessly risks injury doing maximal testing. The second reason is that the bench press recruits more muscle fibres and is a truer test of overall pushing strength. Strength in the bench press easily transfers to the overhead press.

Expected – 1 x Bodyweight for 1 rep

Powerhouse – 1 x Bodyweight for 10 reps

Big Five 2 – Pull up

The pull up and chin are often called the “King” of back exercises. They are great test of upper body pulling strength as they take to muscles through a full range of motion and have real world implications.

I used to joke with my clients and say that “you aren’t a real man until you can do a chin up”. In hindsight this was a little harsh on the heavier people due to the relative strength difference between smaller and taller people. It wasn’t as easy for the larger folks to complete the movement but regardless; there is a lot of truth in my original argument. A chin up or pull up is a real test. The ability to pull yourself up over a wall or ledge is an essential survival skill as far as I’m concerned.

Expected – 1 x Bodyweight for 1 to 2 reps

Powerhouse – 1 x Bodyweight for 10 reps

Lower body pressing and pulling

Big Five 3 – Squat

Just like other Big Five exercises, the back squat is a lift you are unlikely to mimic exactly anywhere except for the gym. Most real world objects don’t come conveniently pre-loaded on a barbell. But the squat is still the truest test of overall leg strength.

I class the squat as a lower body pressing movement as for most people the limiting factor is the strength of the quadriceps. However, there is also a tremendous amount of glute and hamstring activation.

Regardless, good squatting requires four things. Good technique, mobility, strength and guts. Squatting heavy with a loaded bar on you back is one of the more risky exercises but can be done safely proving you tick the boxed already mentioned, have a good spotter and ideally a proper squat rack equipped with safety bars.

A string and efficient squat will transfer over to many of the other skills needed in this book. Sprinting speed, jumping distance, height and deceleration will all benefit from proper squat training.

Expected – 1 x Bodyweight for 5 reps

Powerhouse – 1.5 x Bodyweight for 1 rep

Big Five 4 – Deadlift

When it comes to practical strength and overall lifting ability nothing will test you more than the deadlift. It’s the most basic lift you can perform but also one of the most demanding. This lift works primarily on the “posterior chain.”

The reason the deadlift is called a deadlift is because you are lifting a “dead” weight off the floor. Unlike almost all other lifts the body is already pre-loaded when it comes to the positive part of the moment.

Think of the bench press. You take the bar off the rack at the top, the easiest part of the lift, lower the weight eccentrically (the negative) which is easier, take advantage of the stretch reflex at the bottom of the movement and then press concentrically (the positive).

In the deadlift you don’t have the advantage of pre-loading which makes the movement much tougher. But this is good for the real world where you probably won’t have the advantage of taking an object from a mechanically advantageous position and moving it.

Expected – 1.5 x Bodyweight for 1 rep

Powerhouse – 2 x Bodyweight for 1 rep

Big Five 5 – Farmers walk (take the score from the carrying chapter)

The ability to use your strength to carry and object is extremely important. Carrying weight is an example of strength in motion. The farmers walk is one of the best exercise you can do for a combination of lifting ability and anaerobic fitness. You can do it in almost all gyms with advanced or basic kit. There is lots of anecdotal support for what a good basic standard is and finally it’s a great lift with real world implications.

All gyms are different so I've included standards for three different pieces of kit. You can chalk your hands if needed but lifting straps obviously aren't allowed.

Expected - Trap bar – 30 seconds @ 1.5x bodyweight

Powerhouse Trap bar – 30 seconds @ 2x bodyweight

Expected - Farmers walk bars – 30 seconds @ 1.2x bodyweight

Powerhouse - Farmers walk bars – 30 seconds @ 1.2x bodyweight

Expected – Dumbbells – 30 seconds @.50x bodyweight

Powerhouse - Dumbbells – 1 minute @.50x bodyweight