Interesting. These standards, do they include the bar's weight? I ask because in my experience Aussie, Kiwi and Brit lifters don't include the bar's weight when talking about their lifts, but Americans do. For Olympic bars that's 45lbs difference, enough for a couple of these ranks.
Some 1rep maximums estimated. The squats and deadlifts I deliberately limit the weight of because of lower back problems, I do other exercises for the same bodyparts instead.
- Kyle's bodyweight = 78kg/172lbs
- Press - 40kg/88lbs of plates
- Bench - 61kg/135lbs plates
- Squat - 80kg/176lbs plates
- Deadlift - 80kg/176lbs plates
- Clean - 60kg/133lbs plates
Given that, I am somewhere between untrained and novice on most lifts; though if you include the bar, I'm just past novice and approaching intermediate. I should note that their ranks are for weightlifters, weightlifters in the sense of being a footballer, volleyballer, and so on - someone who's focused entirely on that in itself, rather than on having strength for other tasks.
Either way, their description of
novice probably fits me best:
"A person training regularly for a period of 3-9 months. This strength level supports the demands of vigorous recreational activities."
It's hard to say what's "normal" strength, since that varies a lot. I live in a part of Melbourne with lots of Chinese and Indians. Some of the Indians are fairly big, but most are quite small, and almost all the Chinese are small. It's like when I worked in a factory for a bit with Vietnamese, I was the Aussie Hulk in that place.
But then I see my mates of European background, and I'm pretty ordinary. Or I see my mates of my age (close on 38), and lots of them have twig arms and legs, and big bellies, so I'm the Solo man in comparison.
So it's a bit confusing, and that's why my own standard is a personal one - to get back the strength I had at my peak, when I could bench my bodyweight in plates, chin 10-20 reps, leg press 3x my bodyweight, and so on. I use myself as my yardstick.
I think if people could achieve something like the level of strength I'm aiming at, they ought to have sufficient physical strength to deal with anything day-to-day life is likely to throw at them, and do alright in most sports requiring strength. But this is quite a bit stronger than what most city-dwelling people are, I think.
