Strength calculators

Everything here runs the same seven equations and shows you all of them, because they disagree by 6% at five reps and 10% at ten.

A one-rep max estimate exists so you can programme training as percentages without testing a true max every session. Every calculator in this section runs Epley, Brzycki, Lombardi, O'Conner, Wathan, Lander and Mayhew, reports the median, and shows the spread — because the spread is what tells you how much the estimate is worth.

Calculators in this section

65 to 135 lb

Empty-bar and light working sets — the loads people learn a lift on.

155 to 225 lb

The band most intermediate lifters spend their working sets in.

155 lb × 2
155 lb × 3
155 lb × 4
155 lb × 5
155 lb × 6
155 lb × 7
155 lb × 8
155 lb × 9
155 lb × 10
165 lb × 2
165 lb × 3
165 lb × 4
165 lb × 5
165 lb × 6
165 lb × 7
165 lb × 8
165 lb × 9
165 lb × 10
175 lb × 2
175 lb × 3
175 lb × 4
175 lb × 5
175 lb × 6
175 lb × 7
175 lb × 8
175 lb × 9
175 lb × 10
185 lb × 2
185 lb × 3
185 lb × 4
185 lb × 5
185 lb × 6
185 lb × 7
185 lb × 8
185 lb × 9
185 lb × 10
195 lb × 2
195 lb × 3
195 lb × 4
195 lb × 5
195 lb × 6
195 lb × 7
195 lb × 8
195 lb × 9
195 lb × 10
205 lb × 2
205 lb × 3
205 lb × 4
205 lb × 5
205 lb × 6
205 lb × 7
205 lb × 8
205 lb × 9
205 lb × 10
225 lb × 2
225 lb × 3
225 lb × 4
225 lb × 5
225 lb × 6
225 lb × 7
225 lb × 8
225 lb × 9
225 lb × 10

245 to 315 lb

Heavy for most people, ordinary for a strong one.

245 lb × 2
245 lb × 3
245 lb × 4
245 lb × 5
245 lb × 6
245 lb × 7
245 lb × 8
245 lb × 9
245 lb × 10
265 lb × 2
265 lb × 3
265 lb × 4
265 lb × 5
265 lb × 6
265 lb × 7
265 lb × 8
265 lb × 9
265 lb × 10
275 lb × 2
275 lb × 3
275 lb × 4
275 lb × 5
275 lb × 6
275 lb × 7
275 lb × 8
275 lb × 9
275 lb × 10
285 lb × 2
285 lb × 3
285 lb × 4
285 lb × 5
285 lb × 6
285 lb × 7
285 lb × 8
285 lb × 9
285 lb × 10
295 lb × 2
295 lb × 3
295 lb × 4
295 lb × 5
295 lb × 6
295 lb × 7
295 lb × 8
295 lb × 9
295 lb × 10
315 lb × 2
315 lb × 3
315 lb × 4
315 lb × 5
315 lb × 6
315 lb × 7
315 lb × 8
315 lb × 9
315 lb × 10

335 to 495 lb

The top of the plate rack.

335 lb × 2
335 lb × 3
335 lb × 4
335 lb × 5
335 lb × 6
335 lb × 7
335 lb × 8
335 lb × 9
335 lb × 10
365 lb × 2
365 lb × 3
365 lb × 4
365 lb × 5
365 lb × 6
365 lb × 7
365 lb × 8
365 lb × 9
365 lb × 10
385 lb × 2
385 lb × 3
385 lb × 4
385 lb × 5
385 lb × 6
385 lb × 7
385 lb × 8
385 lb × 9
385 lb × 10
405 lb × 2
405 lb × 3
405 lb × 4
405 lb × 5
405 lb × 6
405 lb × 7
405 lb × 8
405 lb × 9
405 lb × 10
455 lb × 2
455 lb × 3
455 lb × 4
455 lb × 5
455 lb × 6
455 lb × 7
455 lb × 8
455 lb × 9
455 lb × 10
495 lb × 2
495 lb × 3
495 lb × 4
495 lb × 5
495 lb × 6
495 lb × 7
495 lb × 8
495 lb × 9
495 lb × 10

Why 216 pre-worked pages and not 800

The weights in this index are loads that can actually be plated on a 45 lb bar. There is no page for 228 lb for 5 reps, because nobody has ever loaded that barbell. Reps stop at ten because every one of the seven formulas degrades above that and they stop agreeing on the direction of the error — publishing a page whose own methodology note says the answer is unreliable would be worse than not publishing it.

How to use an estimate

Programmes are written as percentages of one-rep max: fives at 85%, a heavy triple near 92%, volume work around 70%. Round the result to what you can load. The precision these equations imply does not survive contact with a plate rack, and it does not need to.

Common questions

Do I have to test a true max to use these?

No — that is the point of them. Enter your best recent set taken close to failure and the estimate is your programming number. Testing a true single is where a large share of gym injuries happen, and nothing here recommends it.

Does the same estimate work for squat, bench and deadlift?

Roughly, with a caveat. Most of these equations were fitted on bench press data, so bench estimates are the most reliable. Deadlift rep sets degrade faster — grip and lower back fatigue arrive before the prime movers do — so a ten-rep deadlift tends to under-estimate your true single. Squats sit in between.