20 Feb The Big 3 Lifts: What are they? Why does it matter and how do I stack up?

When it comes to gauging how fit, strong and healthy you are there are many ways to test it.

But if you’re trending towards middle-age or are already there, the metric you want to measure and track is not how flexible you are or that you can out cardio anyone.

The key performance indicator you want to track is Strength.

After the age of 30, we are estimated to naturally lose 3-8% of our muscle mass each decade. And after the age of 60, that percentage increases.

Why is this important?

Because strength is closely correlated to muscle mass.
The greater the percentage of muscle mass that you have, the stronger your bones will be and the less susceptible you’ll be to typical age-related changes such as loss of balance, loss of power and age-related hormonal changes.

The more muscle you keep on your body, the more you’ll be able to move and maneuver your body to stay flexible and do all the cardio you want. #thereisnoweaknessinstrength

So how do you measure your strength?

By testing your performance in the Big 3 Lifts which are the Deadlift, Squat and Bench Press.

While some may not agree, these 3 movements are significant because they apply to many of the movements and shapes that we put ourselves into on a daily basis.

The Deadlift transfers into being able to pick things up from the floor such as cases of water, a young child or working in the garden.

We Squat everyday when we get off our chairs & toilet. Climbing up and down stairs is considered a series of one legged squats.

Bench Pressing is a stronger expression of the pushup which demonstrates that we have the upper body strength necessary to lift ourselves off the floor.

So what are the standards for the Big 3?

Men should be able to Bench 1.2x their body weight (BW), Squat 1.5x BW and Deadlift 2x BW.

Women should be able to Bench .8x BW, Squat 1.2x BW and Deadlift 1.5x BW.

For one rep.

So if you are a man who weighs 175 lbs, you should be able to bench press 210 lbs, squat 262 lbs and deadlift 350 lbs. And if you are a woman who weighs 125 lbs, you should be able to bench press 100 lbs, squat 150 lbs and deadlift 187 lbs.

Want to know the crazy part? If you are able to hit those standards, that only means that you are stronger than 50% the population that weigh the same as you. Which is also a nice way of saying that you’re “average”.

For some of us reading this, this expectation may sound unreasonable or really be unrealistic, especially if you are a newbie to lifting weights. So give yourself some grace.

For now …

These standards & expectations apply more to someone with at least 2-3 years of consistent weight training under their belt. And even then you may encounter the occasional hiccup or disruption in your weight training life.

So if your weight training experience is limited, our suggestion to you is to obsess less with adding more weight too quickly and solely focus on technique and form until your proficiency matures.

Allow me to share some things about my personal fitness journey.

I’ve never been one to push my limits with heavy weights, but I can tell you that I’ve been consistently lifting weights and learning new ways to load, move and physically challenge my body for over 20 years. And during that time I’ve gone through several major life transforming events like all of us do that have either added or taken away my ability to invest time into my fitness bucket – marriage, graduate school, kids, building a business, surgery to name a few. Life happens. During specific seasons of my life I was able to workout as many as 5-6 days a week or down to 0-1 day a week.

Yet I was recently able to set personal records in my deadlift and bench press since I “tested” myself against these standards more than 5 years ago.

This is just a reminder that consistency even with the occasional change in your life’s trajectory will carry you a long way.

Hope this serves as an encouragement & reminder that you already possess the ability to find strength. And you have us in your corner rooting for you to find it.

Here’s to all of us being Savagely Average.

You got this.

Kingsley