Kyle Aaron
Active member
The first thing to remember is that these are strength standards. They're standards for people seeking strength and not caring much about other stuff. Some people are taking them as "standards for anyone training whatever their goals," and getting offended.
Of course many people don't want to get bigger. But that will limit their strength. Staying 85kg and wanting to get stronger is like staying 140kg and wanting to be a better gymnast. You want incompatible things, you have to choose between them.
I understand setting goals based on bodyweight rather than absolute weight. That's my own approach. I do it this way because most people have physique goals which will also mean a bodyweight change. For example, the runty 60kg guy wants to be bigger, well if he pursues a bodyweight bench press, by the time he gets to benching 60kg he'll very likely be 65kg or more, so his goalposts shifted. The chunky 100kg woman pursues a 1.5x BW squat goal, but by the time she gets to 125kg - her old 1.25xBW - she's now 80kg, and has achieved her goal. And so on. The pursuit of the strength goals based on bodyweight makes bodyweight change, and changes the goals - and also changes body composition. Runty and chunky people will reach limits in their strength, limits they can only break by eating good food - which will also change their body composition.
However, most people aren't training specifically for strength. And if you're training specifically for strength, well, as Markos says, strong is strong. Your bodyweight is too small to do the lifts? Then get bigger.
If strength is not your goal, then don't worry about strength standards. I mean, running fast is not my goal so I don't worry about 100m, 200m and 400m sprint standards, do I?
The 85kg person can get bigger. Especially since the 140kg person is unlikely to be low bodyfat, so we're not talking about adding 55kg lean mass, more like 25kg.
Of course many people don't want to get bigger. But that will limit their strength. Staying 85kg and wanting to get stronger is like staying 140kg and wanting to be a better gymnast. You want incompatible things, you have to choose between them.
There are certainly natural limits to how much lean bodyweight a person can put on, based on frame size and so on, beyond that they have to take Vitamin T, as Markos calls it. However, I would suggest that most people - including most Vitamin T users - never come anywhere near their natural limits of growth. They simply don't train hard enough or eat enough.trofius said:
I understand setting goals based on bodyweight rather than absolute weight. That's my own approach. I do it this way because most people have physique goals which will also mean a bodyweight change. For example, the runty 60kg guy wants to be bigger, well if he pursues a bodyweight bench press, by the time he gets to benching 60kg he'll very likely be 65kg or more, so his goalposts shifted. The chunky 100kg woman pursues a 1.5x BW squat goal, but by the time she gets to 125kg - her old 1.25xBW - she's now 80kg, and has achieved her goal. And so on. The pursuit of the strength goals based on bodyweight makes bodyweight change, and changes the goals - and also changes body composition. Runty and chunky people will reach limits in their strength, limits they can only break by eating good food - which will also change their body composition.
However, most people aren't training specifically for strength. And if you're training specifically for strength, well, as Markos says, strong is strong. Your bodyweight is too small to do the lifts? Then get bigger.
If strength is not your goal, then don't worry about strength standards. I mean, running fast is not my goal so I don't worry about 100m, 200m and 400m sprint standards, do I?
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