Kind of subjective but I am curious to hear the boards opinions. 1x body weight in big three? I think I am strongish but have come off my highs by more than I would like. I found this chart in several places. Obviously there are several other factors and this is just one lift, but this doesn't talk about how many Americans are in each lifting category. I think someone that trains a few times a week is probably going to be above average.

Age Total Weight
20-29 100 percent of your body weight
30-39 90 percent of your body weight
40-49 80 percent of your body weight
50-59 75 percent of your body weight

Which lift does this pertain to? Bench, Clean, Snatch, etc?

General strength. I'm not talking 1 lift numbers, just what you would consider strong. I think it varies by culture, age, gender, genetics etc etc. For instance at work I see the lankiest Indian dudes hauling heavy crap back and forth for hours for days on end. It is honestly pretty incredible. Those same dudes probably couldn't bench a bar. My wife who squats 70 lbs could probably carry my meatball kid for 3 days straight without food or sleep. I would consider both strong but you wouldn't think it by looking at them.

I thought about it while working out at this gym in brazil that was light on weights but is full of fit people that would probably be considered strong. My gym at home has squat racks and deadlift stations, my last one had Olympic lifting stations. These are suburban/urban family fitness centers, so not some crazy powerlifting places.

I certainly could have been more clear in the OP, and I apologize about being scant. I guess it is almost a cultural question mixed with your personal opinion. I doubt 2 people will have the exact same answers.

My guess is that they appear fit because they are not on a standard American processed food diet.

Strength is relative to your goal. Most people are strong but not to the extent of being able to lift obscene amounts of weight. Their bodies are adapted to the requirement of their surroundings or lifestyle. My guess is a lot of strength training is atypical of a human's needs even dating back a millennia.

Of course diet plays a major role in appearance and wasn't really talking about their appearance, just that my surrounding made me think about peoples perception of strong.

Age Total Weight
20-29 100 percent of your body weight
30-39 90 percent of your body weight
40-49 80 percent of your body weight
50-59 75 percent of your body weight

I'm confused. What is this suppose to represent? Percent of your body weight doing what?

Sorry, I thought I mentioned the context, thst was taken from an article talking about a bench press. I saw it in several articles when searching for average strength of Americans. We love the bench in America and you can find tens of thousands of people doing it every Monday at your local gym.

Thanks for the clarification. I do think there is definitely different strengths. On a personal level, when I was in high school I worked for an electrical supply company. I hauled wire and 4'' rigid the same as all my coworkers who were much bigger and older than me (I probably weighed 110# or so) but if I were to try to bench press weight, I probably couldn't do 100#s.

I think you can factor endurance into strength too. I can lift twice as much weight as my wife (who I consider very strong) but given a timed workout, she'll complete it well before me. She's not sandbagging the weight so relatively speaking, we should finish around the same time but she almost always kicks my butt.

I think people get accustomed to what they regularly lift (the guy that carries 200#s of pipe to and from may not be able to lift or squat 100#s; someone that does Olympic lifts every workout may struggle to unload a refrigerator ).

I do kind of like the chart you posted though. It means I'm strong .

Interesting question, and no idea what the answer is. The age/% is also an interesting measure.

On one hand, it does recognize the obvious….that age does diminish strength (and everything). But as a guy in my 50's I hate to see that decline.

So I do dips. All. The. Time.

13B said:

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Thanks for the clarification. I do think there is definitely different strengths.

I think you can factor endurance into strength too.

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Agree with this. My family (wife and 2 20-something kids who work out regularly) have discussion about working out. My philosophy is that being 'in shape' means having some level of;

raw strength
muscular endurance
cardio stamina
(maybe flexibility?)

I guess it come down to what is important or necessary for you? Do you want to look good? Cut weight? Perform better at your job? Do you want to do, or do better, a specific sport or activity? Or just overall health as we age?

1988PA-Aggie said:

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13B said:

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Thanks for the clarification. I do think there is definitely different strengths.

I think you can factor endurance into strength too.

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Agree with this. My family (wife and 2 20-something kids who work out regularly) have discussion about working out. My philosophy is that being 'in shape' means having some level of;

raw strength
muscular endurance
cardio stamina
(maybe flexibility?)

I guess it come down to what is important or necessary for you? Do you want to look good? Cut weight? Perform better at your job? Do you want to do, or do better, a specific sport or activity? Or just overall health as we age?

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I didn't account for flexibility but I definitely believe it plays into "strength" and fitness. I am not flexible which is very frustrating. I need to stretch more for sure.