How we calculate

This page lists the formulas the calculators use and explains how our own tables were built. Every result is an estimate for healthy adults, not medical advice.

One rep max

The headline number is the average of three formulas: Epley (1985), weight × (1 + reps ÷ 30); Brzycki (1993), weight × 36 ÷ (37 − reps); and Lombardi (1989), weight × reps^0.10. A single rep counts as the max itself. We also show Mayhew (1992), O'Conner (1989), Wathen (1994) and Lander (1985) so you can see the spread. Studies find these formulas work best for sets under about 10 reps.

For rep maxes (the weight for a given number of reps) we turn Epley and Brzycki around and average them. The RPE calculator counts reps in reserve: a set at RPE 8 is treated as two more reps to failure, then the same average is used.

Powerlifting scores

DOTS and the original Wilks formula divide 500 by a polynomial curve of bodyweight, with separate coefficients for men and women, and multiply the total by the result. We clamp bodyweight to the range each formula was built for (DOTS: 40 to 210 kg for men, 40 to 150 kg for women).

FFMI

Fat-free mass index = lean mass in kg ÷ height in meters squared. The height-adjusted version adds 6.1 × (1.8 − height in meters), as in Kouri and colleagues (1995). Lean mass comes from the body fat percentage you enter.

Strength standards

We read the full OpenPowerlifting results file and kept results from 2016-2026 that were valid (no disqualifications, no guest lifters), with a recorded bodyweight, from adults (anyone known to be under 18 is left out). For each lifter we kept one best result per lift and equipment type, so frequent competitors do not count many times. Raw means no squat suit or bench shirt; equipped means single-ply or multi-ply gear. Lifts in knee wraps or other categories are not in either group.

Bodyweight classes (upper limits in kg): men 59, 66, 74, 83, 93, 105, 120, over 120; women 47, 52, 57, 63, 69, 76, 84, over 84. For each class we report the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles, and only when at least 200 lifters are behind the number. Your position between two percentiles is a straight-line estimate.

Bodyweight ratios use the same raw results: for each lifter we take the result with the highest lift divided by bodyweight, then report the 10th to 90th percentiles of that ratio by sex and bodyweight class, again only with at least 200 lifters behind each number.

Grip strength

From the CDC NHANES 2013-2014 survey we took each adult's best single squeeze of either hand (three tries per hand on a handgrip dynamometer) and computed percentiles by sex and ten-year age group, weighted with the survey's exam weights so the numbers represent U.S. adults. Each group has 371 or more people.

The grip strength standards page pools two survey cycles, NHANES 2011-2012 and 2013-2014, which gives enough people for five-year age groups (every group has more than 250 people). Following the survey's guidance for combined cycles, each person's exam weight is halved. Besides the best single squeeze we also report the combined grip: the best of each hand added together.

Running

Pace and speed are plain arithmetic (1 mile = 1,609.344 m). Race predictions use Riegel (1981): time2 = time1 × (distance2 ÷ distance1)^1.06. Treadmill incline uses the ACSM running equation, VO2 = 0.2 × speed + 0.9 × speed × grade + 3.5 (speed in meters per minute); the flat-ground equal effort is speed × (1 + 4.5 × grade).

VO2 max estimates: Cooper 12-minute run (1968), (meters − 504.9) ÷ 44.73; 1.5-mile run, 3.5 + 483 ÷ minutes; Uth and colleagues (2004), 15.3 × max heart rate ÷ resting heart rate; 20 m shuttle run (Léger and Gadoury, 1989), 6.0 × speed in km/h − 27.4, starting at 8.5 km/h and adding 0.5 km/h per level.

Threshold pace is estimated as the pace you could hold in a race of about one hour: we turn Riegel's formula around to find the distance your race result predicts for 60 minutes. The tempo band runs from your predicted 10K pace to your predicted half marathon pace. Treadmill elevation gain = belt distance × grade ÷ √(1 + grade²). The treadmill and road comparison uses Jones and Doust (1996), who found a 1% grade matched outdoor running at most speeds they tested.

Walking and steps

Walking step length is estimated as 0.415 × height for men and 0.413 × height for women. A running step is about 1.3 times a walking step in our tables; this is our own planning assumption, since running stride changes a lot with speed. For the best number, count your steps over a measured distance.

Heart rate

Max heart rate: Tanaka (2001), 208 − 0.7 × age; Gellish (2007), 207 − 0.7 × age; Nes (2013), 211 − 0.64 × age; and the classic 220 − age. Zones use the heart rate reserve method (Karvonen): resting rate + (max − resting) × percent. Real maximums often differs from any formula by about 10 to 12 beats per minute, sometimes more.

Target heart rate bands use an estimated max of 220 − age: 64 to 76% (moderate) and 77 to 93% (vigorous) as given by the CDC, and 50 to 70% and 70 to 85% as given by the American Heart Association. Zone 2 is 60 to 70% of max in the common five-zone scheme, also shown with the heart rate reserve method.

Leg press

On a sled that runs on rails at an angle θ, the part of the weight that pushes along the rails is the weight × sin θ (about 71% at 45°); the rest is carried by the rails. Friction lowers the load further and differs by machine.

Cycling and jumping

Gear inches = wheel diameter in inches × chainring ÷ cog; distance per pedal turn = wheel circumference × chainring ÷ cog. FTP is estimated as 95% of the average power from a hard 20-minute effort. Jump power uses Sayers (1999): 60.7 × jump height in cm + 45.3 × body mass in kg − 2,055.

Rounding

Loads are rounded to 5 lb or 2.5 kg when they are meant to go on a bar. Times are shown to the second. Conversions use 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg exactly.

Masters standards and other meet tables

The masters tables use the same OpenPowerlifting file and rules as the strength standards, but group raw results by five-year age groups from 40 to 44 up to 75 and over. For each lifter we keep the best result inside each age group, so someone who competed at 44 and at 51 can appear once in each group. A cell needs at least 200 lifters.

The DOTS and Wilks charts score each lifter's best raw full-power result (squat, bench press and deadlift in one meet) with the formulas above and report the 10th to 99th percentiles. The lift ratio tables divide the lifts inside that same result. The milestone tables give the share of lifters whose best raw lift or total reached a round number of pounds. The attempt tables use raw full-power entries with all nine attempts recorded (guests, no-shows and doping disqualifications left out): the share of attempts made, the jump from a made attempt to the next one in percent, and the opener as a percent of the heaviest lift made that day.

Rep maxes, charts, sets and pyramids

The 3, 5 and 10 rep max calculators first estimate a one rep max from your set (the average of Epley, Brzycki and Lombardi), then turn Epley and Brzycki around for the target number of reps. The max charts apply the same average to a grid of weights and reps. Sets and reps pages use the load, rep, set and rest ranges of the 2009 ACSM position stand. Pyramid sets space the percentages evenly between your first and top set and round each load to 5 lb or 2.5 kg. Time under tension is seconds per rep (lowering, pause, lifting, pause) times reps.

Weightlifting and meet rules

Sinclair total = snatch + clean and jerk, times 10^(A × (log10(bodyweight ÷ b))²) below bodyweight b, and times 1 above it. We use the 2021-2024 values (men A = 0.722762521, b = 193.609 kg; women A = 0.787004341, b = 153.757 kg), the latest set published. Weight classes are those of international drug-tested open powerlifting: men 59, 66, 74, 83, 93, 105, 120 and over 120 kg; women 47, 52, 57, 63, 69, 76, 84 and over 84 kg.

Walking times, hiking and incline walking

Walking time = distance ÷ speed. Breaks are entered as minutes per hour, so the moving time is divided by (60 − breaks) ÷ 60. Step counts for a distance are shown as a range of about 2,000 to 2,300 steps a mile, or from height where the page asks for it. Incline walking uses the ACSM walking equation, VO2 = 0.1 × speed + 1.8 × speed × grade + 3.5 (speed in meters per minute), and METs = VO2 ÷ 3.5.

Hiking time uses Naismith's rule (1892): one hour per 3 miles plus one hour per 2,000 ft of climbing. Tobler's hiking function (1993) gives speed = 6 × e^(−3.5 × |grade + 0.05|) km/h. To apply it, we split the trail into a climbing part and a descending part in proportion to the gain and loss you enter and assume an even grade on each; this split is our own simplification.

More running, rowing and cycling

Running steps per mile = cadence × minutes per mile. Interval paces come from your 5K pace and from Riegel's formula for the mile and the 10K. The weekly mileage planner multiplies each normal week by your percentage; its optional easier week, 20% below the current level, is our own planning feature, not a published rule. Track lanes beyond lane 1 add about 2π × 1.22 m (7.67 m) per lap.

Rowing power uses the formula shown on rowing machine monitors: watts = 2.80 ÷ (seconds per meter)³, where seconds per meter = the 500 m split ÷ 500. Wheel circumference is estimated as π × (bead seat diameter + 2 × tire width), with diameters from the ISO 5775 tire and rim system. Cycling cadence = speed ÷ distance per pedal turn. VAM = meters climbed per hour. Grade = rise ÷ horizontal distance × 100.

More heart rate and field tests

The women's max heart rate formula is Gulati and colleagues (2010), 206 − 0.88 × age, from exercise stress tests of 5,437 women. The one-mile walk test uses Kline and colleagues (1987): VO2 max = 132.853 − 0.0769 × weight (lb) − 0.3877 × age + 6.315 (men only) − 3.2649 × time (minutes) − 0.1565 × heart rate at the finish. The Queens College step test (McArdle and colleagues, 1972) uses a 15 second pulse count times 4: men 111.33 − 0.42 × heart rate, women 65.81 − 0.1847 × heart rate. Jump height from flight time = 9.81 × time² ÷ 8 (Bosco and colleagues, 1983). Sprint speed is distance ÷ time; 40 yards = 36.576 m.