Strength Standards

How strong are you?

Strength Standards by Kilgore, Rippetoe, and Pendlay

There are other standards out there, such as:

• these, from ExRx (very similar to those shown above, but also includes power snatch)
• or these, developed specifically for women, from "Gubernatrix"
• or these, developed by Rob Shaul at Military Athlete (scroll down to the bottom of the page)
• a more comprehensive list of Crossfit Athletic Skills Standards
• and Crossfit LA's Athletic Levels and Milestones

How to test your 1RM:

• Before you start, use this 1RM calculator to get some idea what you should be able to do.
• Start with a set that easily allows you 5-10 repetitions (~70% of your estimated 1RM)
• Rest about 1 minute.
• Do 3-5 reps at about 80% of your estimated 1RM.
• Rest 1-2 minutes.
• Do 1-2 reps at about 90% of your estimated 1RM.
• Rest 1-2 minutes.
• Go for it!
• If you successfully get the estimated 1RM, keep going!  Be conservative in your increases, but not *too* conservative, since your chances of success decline with each attempt.

Of course, if this is all too math-y, you can just go by feel.  Just do 2-3 ramping warm-up sets, increasing the weight and decreasing the reps with each successive set.  You should feel primed but not fatigued.  Then, go for it!