About the standards
Every number on this site comes from one of the seven things below. None of it is a secret, so here is the whole of it.
Estimating your one-rep max
A set of five at 185 lbs says something about your single, and the Epley formula is the usual way to say what:
1RM = weight × (1 + reps / 30)
So 185 lbs for 5 reps estimates a 216 lb max. A single rep is returned as it stands, with no formula needed.
The estimate is a straight line through a curve, and it is at its most honest under about ten reps. Past that, endurance starts doing the work instead of strength and the formula reads high, so enter your heaviest sets rather than your longest ones.
Where the standards come from
For the squat, bench press, and deadlift, the Advanced and Elite levels and the records are calculated from the competition results published by OpenPowerlifting, which places its data in the public domain. The Beginner, Novice, and Intermediate levels, and every overhead press figure, are the site’s own baseline, and they are being revised as more data becomes available.
Standards depend on two things about you: your sex and your bodyweight. Each lift has its own table for men and for women, listed in 10 lb bodyweight steps from 120 to 310 lbs for men and 100 to 260 lbs for women. Bodyweights outside those ranges use the nearest row in the table.
A bodyweight that lands between two rows is interpolated: at 175 lbs you get exactly halfway between the 170 lb and the 180 lb thresholds. Everything is held in pounds internally and converted only for display, so switching to kilograms never moves a threshold.
How the levels are calculated
Five thresholds split each table into levels. The label is a percentile among people who lift:
- Beginner — top 95% of lifters
- Novice — top 80%
- Intermediate — top 50%
- Advanced — top 20%
- Elite — top 5%
Your level for a lift is the highest threshold your estimated max reaches or passes. Below the Beginner standard the lift is shown as Untrained, which is a starting point rather than a verdict.
The bar under each lift is divided into five equal segments, one per level, running from zero up to the Elite standard. Within a segment the fill is proportional: a max exactly halfway between the Novice and Intermediate thresholds fills half of the third segment. At or above Elite the bar is full. Because the segments are equal but the thresholds are not, the bar shows progress through your current level rather than progress in pounds.
The 5/3/1 cycle
5/3/1 is four weeks long and four days a week, one main lift per day: overhead press, deadlift, bench press, then squat. Every percentage below is a percentage of your training max, not of your one-rep max.
- Week 1 — 5s: 65% × 5, 75% × 5, 85% × 5+
- Week 2 — 3s: 70% × 3, 80% × 3, 90% × 3+
- Week 3 — 5/3/1: 75% × 5, 85% × 3, 95% × 1+
- Week 4 — Deload: 40% × 5, 50% × 5, 60% × 5
The plus sign is the point of the programme. That last set is an AMRAP: as many reps as possible with good form. Stop when a rep would break down, not when you fail one; the extra reps are what tell you the training max is set correctly.
Weeks 1 to 3 open with three warmup sets at 40%, 50% and 60% of the training max, which you can hide if you warm up your own way. Week 4 has no AMRAP and no warmups, because its three light sets are the deload itself, which is why they are labelled "Deload sets" rather than "Warm up". Assistance work follows the main lift: Two Accessories (two exercises a day), 5x10 Volume (five sets of ten at 50% of the training max), or none.
Training max, bar weight, and plates
Percentages are taken from a training max of 90% of your estimated one-rep max, not from the max itself. Working slightly under your best leaves room to add reps every week instead of grinding singles.
If the numbers still feel heavy, the "Use 90% of training max" option takes a second 90%, or 81% of your estimated max in total. Starting lighter is the conventional advice: the cycle is built to be repeated with more weight, not survived once.
Every weight is rounded to something a bar can actually hold: the nearest 5 lbs, or the nearest 2.5 kg. The bar itself counts: choose a standard bar (45 lbs / 20 kg), a light bar (35 lbs / 15 kg), or a technique bar (15 lbs / 10 kg), and the plate maths follows your choice.
Plates are listed per side, loaded heaviest first from a standard home-gym set of 45, 35, 25, 10, 5, 2.5 lbs, or 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, 2.5, 1.25 kg. When a target cannot be made exactly the closest loadable weight is shown instead; when it sits at or under the weight of the bar, the set is the bar on its own.
What we measure
The site counts visits and which features get used, with Plausible, an analytics service that sets no cookies and keeps no record of who you are. That is what tells us whether a change helped and what to build next.
It never sends your weights, your bodyweight, or anything that identifies you. Where a number matters, it travels as a broad range, such as a 10 kg bodyweight band, and nothing more precise than that.
If your browser sends a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal, nothing is counted at all. There is no banner because there is nothing to consent to.
Affiliations and safety
Lift Calculator is an independent tool. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the author or publisher of the 5/3/1 program, OpenPowerlifting, or any other organization named on the site. Names and trademarks belong to their owners and are used only to describe what the tool does.
The numbers here are estimates for general information, not medical or professional coaching advice. Lifting heavy weights carries a risk of injury. Talk to a doctor before starting a training program, use safety equipment and a spotter, and stop if something hurts.