Strong Enough?

When I talk to females (and men) about getting strong, I often find that we are not talking about the same thing. For most people it simply means "I am using weights." Unfortunately, they really have no way of quantifying whatever that means. There is a big difference in performing a hip bridge for 30 seconds and performing a barbell hip bridge with 200lbs on the bar. They are night and day.

I have established the HTS Strength triathlon as a minimum criteria for relative (to your body weight) strength, which includes: pull-ups, push-ups, and single-leg squats. Addtionally, I wanted to give some other criteria for what strong is so you can gauge where you are at. These criteria are for most healthy adults, not high-level strength athletes.

1. Bench Press: 95lbs for women, 200lbs for men.

2. Kettlebell Press: 12kg women, 20kg men:

3. Deadlift: 150lbs women, 275lbs men

4. Barbell Hip Bridges: 150lbs women, 275lbs men.

5. Front Squat: 115 lbs females, 185lbs men.

6. Pull-ups: at least as much as you bench press (your body weight + external resistance).