May 11
14

Squat, Deadlift and Bench Press Guidelines for Women…

45 Comments

Woman Deadlifting

In my last video blog on Westside and CrossFit, I mentioned the 300/400/500 Bench Press/Squat/Deadlift numbers Stuart McRobert advocates as a guideline for male athletes. At the time, I wasn’t sure what the numbers were for WOMEN. So, I did a little digging and came up with some answers. (Oh, BTW, by “Squat” I mean the Back Squat :-) )

As Stuart says on page 88 of “Beyond Brawn:”

“The 300-400-500 figures are based on the prototypical, experienced and successful [drug-free male athlete] who weighs about 190 pounds and is around age 30, at about 5ft 9in height.”

I think that 300/400/500 is about right for any natural (not using steroids) male athlete with reasonable work and life commitments outside the gym. I know mostly CrossFitters (as opposed to Powerlifters) and can’t think of any off the top of my head who greatly exceed those numbers.

So, what does all this mean for women?

Stuart goes on to say that women should expect to achieve around 55-70% of these numbers depending on age and body weight. He also says that women tend to be weaker in the bench press relative to the Squat and Deadlift, in general. That might indicate that the Bench Press number below needs to be adjusted down even a bit further.

Here are the lower and upper limits for the three Powerlifts – for women – based on Stuart’s suggestions:

Bench Press: 165-210 pounds

Squat: 220-280 pounds

Deadlift: 275-350 pounds

These numbers are just a guideline…

I’d be very curious to hear what all the women who read this blog and follow Strong is the New Skinny on Facebook have to say about the numbers above.

  • Are they accurate in your experience?
  • How far away from or above them are you?
  • Are you working toward them as goals?

Either way, hopefully these numbers give you something to think about and – possibly – a reasonable standard to keep in mind as you work toward your training goals.

ttys

Adam

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Posted in Goal Setting Paleo and Training Q&A Powerlifting Women by Adam 45 Comments

45 Responses to "Squat, Deadlift and Bench Press Guidelines for Women…"

  • Squat, Deadlift and Bench Press Guidelines for Women… | Paleo Digest says:
    May 14, 2011 at 10:45 am

    [...] Deadlift and Bench Press Guidelines for Women… PracticalPaleolithic.com / Posted on: May 14, 2011PracticalPaleolithic.com – In my last video blog on Westside and CrossFit, I mentioned the 300/400/500 Bench [...]

  • erika m says:
    May 14, 2011 at 11:06 am

    I think those are very reasonable given that body frame for a non powerlifter… if your a powerlifter you better get your ass back in the gym instead of reading this blog.

  • Adam says:
    May 14, 2011 at 11:07 am

    Thanks, Erika!

    Adam

  • tom says:
    May 14, 2011 at 11:22 am

    I don’t think you will find 300/400/500 in many crossfit men weighing 190…unless they did a solid 6 months to a year of strength biased work. Now among a drug free, raw powerlifter at 190 those are pretty good but fairly attainable numbers.

  • Holly says:
    May 14, 2011 at 11:27 am

    I don’t know if they’re super reasonable. Crossfit is always this constant balance between building muscle and being lean and fast. I guess those are good goals for about the heavier lifting girls in the gym. I’m one of our heavier lifter in my gym. I’m striving to break my 300# deadlift, 200# backsquat (my weakness) and 145# bench. I have by a good bit the highest deadlift and bench in a gym with a good majority women. When I start running more though and doing more cardio related WODs these numbers plummet!

  • tom says:
    May 14, 2011 at 11:28 am

    And when I say a solid 6 months to a year, I don’t mean where it is 80% crossfit, I mean pretty much drop crossfit except for maybe a couple of short wods a week to retain GPP and do Starting Strength for 3 months and then transition to Westside when you stall.
    But it all depends on ones goals, do you want to be more ‘fit’ or do you want to be really ‘strong’? To think doing crossfit will make one a competitive power lifter, is insane…just like thinking doing crossfit will make one an elite marathon runner. Crossfit is a great GPP program and in my view for making one very fit. But it isn’t for specialization in a particular area.

  • Irene says:
    May 14, 2011 at 11:43 am

    How many reps at that weight

  • sara goodson says:
    May 14, 2011 at 11:54 am

    I believe those are perfect. To someone who truly commits themselves. I have a 155 bench and 265 squat and a 320 dead. And I weigh 123. So….

  • Adam says:
    May 14, 2011 at 12:03 pm

    Thanks for the input, Sara!

    Adam

  • Sarah says:
    May 14, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    I’m 5’5″, 145 lb. Deadlift 300, back squat 195 (although haven’t tried a pr in over a year), bench 130 (but we do it maybe once a year). I would be one of the stronger girls in our gym – I would say for the most part, our good female lifters would have a 250 deadlift, 175 back squat, 120 bench maybe. As others have said though, CrossFit isn’t specifically a lifting program – a lot of these numbers are for lifts that are only done once every few months or less – sometimes due to how often they come up & rest days, etc. I don’t think those numbers would be out of line for someone who focused more on lifting.

  • Adam says:
    May 14, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    Max Single, Irene.

    Adam

  • Adam says:
    May 14, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    Thanks, Tom!

    Adam

  • Adam says:
    May 14, 2011 at 12:06 pm

    Thanks a lot, Sarah!

    Adam

  • Susan says:
    May 14, 2011 at 1:26 pm

    I’m in my mid fifties,weigh 145,bench pressed 95,back squat 145,deadlift 205 and I’m working on getting more,i’ve been doing cf less than a year

  • Adam says:
    May 14, 2011 at 1:31 pm

    That’s not bad at all for less than a year of CrossFit, Susan! Nice going!

    Adam

  • Saturday Gross-ies. « sweat and dirt; says:
    May 14, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    [...] Squat/Deadlift/Bench Press Guidelines for Women [...]

  • Emily says:
    May 14, 2011 at 2:40 pm

    I think the squat and dead are reasonable numbers for a woman to hit within 3 years of training, perhaps slightly on the high side. I believe in Olympic lifting the top-level women are generally lifting about 75% of their male counterparts at the same weight, so you may want to adjust those numbers slightly down. Especially the bench–a 210 bench is no joke for females.

    However, I think the reason we don’t see more women approaching those numbers is not due to lack of capability but lack of focus on strength training. A lot of women would probably find their Crossfit performance would be enhanced by working strictly on their strength numbers for a bit, since that is generally a particular weakness for them.

  • Adam says:
    May 14, 2011 at 4:19 pm

    Good points, Emily! Thanks for the comment.

    Adam

  • Allison says:
    May 14, 2011 at 7:00 pm

    I started CrossFit in March 2010… I think the bench might be high, or maybe that’s just a weakness of mine! I’m 5’9″, 165 and hit 125/205/310… but when do we ever bench press in CrossFit? Our box usually does shoulder press instead, and on my best day I hit 105. Still, good goals to strive for!

  • Adam says:
    May 14, 2011 at 8:23 pm

    125/205/310 is a great accomplishment, Allison! Keep it up!

    Adam

  • Amy Selleck says:
    May 15, 2011 at 12:08 am

    I think those numbers are right on for both men and women.

    My husband weighs about 210 and is 6′ 2″ and can hit all three of those numbers. He’s been Crossfitting for about 2 years now to build up to those awesome numbers. His crossfit total number is 995 (shoulder press instead of bench press).

    I’m 135# and 5′ 6″ and have only been doing CF for about 6 months, but I came in with a torn muscle in my shoulder, which is now healed. So, I’m just now starting to get into heavier weights. My dead is only 155#, but my goal is 300. Haven’t found my ME Bench, but I have a feeling it’s around 125#, and my back is 125#.

    I have a ways to go, but I know the top female CF athletes numbers are all in the numbers you have listed.

  • Rachel says:
    May 15, 2011 at 3:26 am

    jesus. . .i’m only at about 70/175/175. . .got a long way to go ;-(

  • Adam says:
    May 15, 2011 at 7:07 am

    Don’t get too discouraged, Rachel. Just keep at it!

    BTW, if nothing else, at least take away the idea that your deadlift probably has some more gains in it relative to your squats. You could probably get 20-50 pounds on the deadlift pretty quickly with some extra work :-)

    Adam

  • Adam says:
    May 15, 2011 at 7:08 am

    Thanks a lot for the great input, Amy!

    Adam

  • Dana McMahan says:
    May 15, 2011 at 9:18 am

    I’m not a fan of a set of one-size fits all numbers. My 180 back squat doesn’t sound like much unless you know I weight 106. I’ll be thrilled when I get to a 100 bench and 200 deadlift, so these numbers don’t mean anything for me. I go by the CrossFit strength standards for my goal setting. http://www.crossfit.com/cf-journal/WLSTANDARDS.pdf. My overall goal is 500 pounds combined all three lifts.

  • Adam says:
    May 15, 2011 at 5:20 pm

    Thanks for adding the link, Dana!

    Adam

  • Christine M. says:
    May 15, 2011 at 5:27 pm

    I think those numbers are reasonable. I’ve been Crossfitting for a little over a year and I’ve got a 70 shoulder press (not sure on bench), 145 back squat, and 225 deadlift. I think in another couple of years, I could hit your suggested numbers, especially if I worked on bench & shoulder press more. I’m 5′ 7″, 165#.

  • Leslie Heywood says:
    May 15, 2011 at 5:53 pm

    I agree with the person who says that your numbers plummet depending on the kind of training you’re doing. I seem to be reversed from the people who have posted, in that my max bench right now is 195 (about 10 years ago I got 235 in a contest), DL is 215, and back squat is 215. But to get back up to these numbers I had to stop marathon training–when I was doing that, my max bench was 165, DL and squat around 185. As soon as my mileage goes below 25 miles/week my strength goes back up, but anything over that and I have no explosive power. So if you’re doing CF endurance the numbers would be lower, and with regular CF, depending on how your box emphasizes the WODs, it would be higher or lower. It makes a huge difference how much endurance training you are doing in my experience.

  • Liftingkid says:
    May 15, 2011 at 9:42 pm

    I’m 14 and just got 145 on my bench on call. I’ve been lifting since i was 12 and I want to know what a realistic goal might be for my bench to increase. I weigh 123. Any help please? I don’t train in squat and dead due to injuries. I just train support work for my back, legs, and shoulders.

  • April says:
    May 16, 2011 at 1:05 am

    Love this! I think these numbers are very reasonable as a general guideline for women in the sense that they are attainable, but you do have to be dedicated towards working to achieve them. I’m 5′ 0.5″, weigh 130 lbs, and hit a 225# squat and 315# deadlift in about a year and a half of starting CF with no prior weight training experience . My bench is a bit behind (135#) most likely because I didn’t start training it until recently.

  • Lauren says:
    May 17, 2011 at 12:02 am

    Those numbers are completely too high for general crossfitters. I agree with Dana, Rippetoe knows what he is talking about http://www.crossfit.com/cf-journal/WLSTANDARDS.pdf
    Unless you are doing a powerlifting program don’t beat yourself up if you can’t hit these numbers, just focus on your form.

  • Shelly says:
    May 18, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    I’ve concentrated on strength training instead of CF for the last 18 months and at 5’4 145lbs have a 165# bp, 235# back squat, and 235# deadlift. I’m planning on starting CF and focusing on that for awhile. Do you feel it’s more of an advantage to start CF with more strength or endurance (running) experience?

  • Adam says:
    May 19, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    Shelly, the strength training very likely could be an advantage for you!

    Adam

  • Carrie says:
    May 20, 2011 at 1:34 pm

    5’8″ 160 here. Only been doing Crossfit for a short time, but weight trained for years so I may have some advantage. Bench is 165, back squat is 225 and DL is 275. I just started DL’ing on any regular basis. I am not currently practicing any strength programs but am looking to start one soon.
    I am probably one of, if not the strongest women in my box. I’d say those numbers are on the high side for most Crossfit women unless they have a background in strength or use Crossfit as an accesory to weight training.

    My .02.

  • Drew says:
    May 20, 2011 at 1:34 pm

    As the strongest female lifter in my gym (5’7″, 170 pounds), I have a 200 pound bench press, a 265 pound squat and a 340 pound deadlift. I know that I am an anomaly at my gym, particuarly on the bench press. I think the most I’ve seen another woman do is 155# on BP, but we really don’t test it as a max lift. We have one other woman who has broken 300# on the deadlift (the same one with the 155# bp). After that, the vast majority of our female lifters are camping out in the 200-250 range on their deadlifts and between 175 and 200 on their back squats.

    That said, many of these women are stronger than their numbers; they just get scared of maximal loads.

  • Tula says:
    May 20, 2011 at 1:55 pm

    I am 5′ 1″, 61 years old and weight 120 lbs…started CrossFit in September 2009 …My Bench Press is 95, Back Squat 140, Deadlift 200 lbs…have been active all my life … I will continue to try for new PR’s …

  • Amanda says:
    May 20, 2011 at 11:10 pm

    Those aren’t too bad of standards, but like it was mentioned, these are guidelines based on someone who is not gym obsessed and has other commitments. Right now, my bench press is sitting a little under the minimum, my squat is almost out of the max, and my deadlift is near the lower side. But only for now. I don’t see those numbers as my goal. For the way I am, that would be cutting myself short. I don’t have a specific goal, I just see myself wanting to constantly improve. I’m sitting at a 155 bench, 275 squat, and a 285 deadlift, and I’m not going to stop if I hit the maxes that are set. I want to blow those maxes out of the water.

  • John says:
    May 21, 2011 at 10:27 am

    I have to say I agree with Dana in that I prefer a scale based on body weight. I’m sure this is because I am outside of the “average” range. For me at 5’4″ 135# a 500# DL would be almost 4 times body weight. If I achieve this it would feel pretty extraordinary not “within average guidelines”.
    As for reasonable guidelines for women, I don’t feel qualified to say but, I imagine we have to figure “relative to body weight” into the formula somehow.

  • Tuesday 5/24/11 • Derby City CrossFit – Louisville, KY says:
    May 23, 2011 at 10:02 pm

    [...] You Lift Things Up and Put Them Down? Squat, Deadlift and Bench Press Guidelines for Women Partial Movement Training For The Deadlift New Starting Position “Is the ‘Most [...]

  • Michelle says:
    June 19, 2011 at 3:36 pm

    I think the key is to keep the ratio in mind where ever you are in your pursuit. Being a powerlifter it is good to see these numbers as confirmation. So many i have trained with think the squat should be more than the DL but i have always disagreed. This ratio fits well with my numbers though i am above them all it is still a good guidline.

  • Adam says:
    June 19, 2011 at 6:11 pm

    Thanks a lot for the input, Michelle!

    Adam

  • Kathleen says:
    August 23, 2011 at 1:40 pm

    I just started Crossfit three weeks ago. Last night we worked on our 1RM and I got 245 lbs. I would say that’s pretty darn good for just starting.

    I would love to get over 300 and my goal for 2012 is to do a power lifting competition or an Olympic lifting competition.

  • Adam says:
    August 24, 2011 at 7:54 am

    That’s GREAT for just starting, Kathleen! Keep us posted when you compete next year!

    Adam

  • Ariel says:
    October 31, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    I agree with Lauren- I think the amounts listed are certainly attainable for some (few), -and- you have to be training specifically for lifting. I’ve been CrossFitting for 3 years now, having breaks of 3-5 months here and there because of school and am at DL: 190 (though doing 1RM tomorrow), squat: 165 and press 75 or 80. I’m a woman, 28 years old, 125# and 5’7″. Granted, my box does 1RM sporadically, but I think you have to balance the “heavy” with staying quick for the metcons. Kudos if you can reach those #s, but I think it’s not realistic for most.

  • Erin says:
    February 17, 2012 at 12:04 am

    I started CrossFit about 3 months ago. 2 months in, I was at 145 bench, 210 squat and 245 deadlift, (I think my deadlift is actually a lot higher. I could have done that 245 many times more, but I had already jumped 60lb and got scared of somehow hurting my back. Hoping for 300+ next time.)

    I would love to reach 200/300/400

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