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Bodyweight PL 1RM Max Estimates from Calisthenics

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Okay, I'll play:

SQ: 275
BP: 225
DL: 315+

I actually think @305pelusa can beat all those numbers if he goes all out, but i would advise not to (except possibly on the DL.) With a couple months of dedicated practice I think he'd eclipse those numbers. Looking forward to hearing the results!
 
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Ah that's neat that you remember. I had forgotten about that.
For my degree, we had to take a PE class this past Spring. I chose weight training. I was very excited to try out DLs and made a thread to see what I should do. However, the instructor didn't let me. He would only approve Squats or RDLs (I guess that's the curriculum). I didn't care for either so I just stuck to my own Pistol Squats.

That's actually why I didn't post on that thread after February 2nd. I just never did any of it. I wish I had, would've been fun.

My actual training that Spring was purely BW. Go ahead and click on my signature (which details Feb 13th onwards).

I throw the figure around of a max 350 lb DL because it just seemed to me like I could pull 2.5x BW (idk, seemed reasonable). I actually never pulled it but just wrote it as a max just to give a very rough idea of what the program would be like. I also threw the figure of reaching 420 which would be triple BW. Looking back at those numbers, they seem a little excessive (not sure what I was thinking... 70 lbs in 24 workouts? lol). Oh well dream big or go home haha.

I think I did DL 250 at some point in the past year (so maybe 350 is a mistype?) but I honestly don't remember.


Anywho, if you have any guesstimations, I'm all ears :)
 
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I'm in for that prize.

DL 150 kg (about 330)
Squat 120 kg (about 265)
Bench press 100 Kg (about 220)

It would be fun to know what are you betting with your friends...
 
I'm in for that prize.

DL 150 kg (about 330)
Squat 120 kg (about 265)
Bench press 100 Kg (about 220)

It would be fun to know what are you betting with your friends...
Same prize as here. Eternal bragging rights :)

My friends have 30 and 50 lbs on me just on BW so we're going to judge it all with a Wilks Score. Theoretically, it should even the playing field out. We'll see how it goes.
 
Also yes, I Pistoled a 105 lb DB about a year ago. I could most likely do it with a 70 lb DB currently if that helps. I haven't done a Pistol in about 6 weeks though (I don't really train much legs lol).
That changes the perspective, but I'm not going to change my original estimations :)
 
You should feel free to change your estimation if you believe in a better one. And if you have any questions about Calisthenics, lmk. I guess I forgot about the Pistols just because I haven't done them in ages and I'm certainly far from 100 lbs right now. I'm not trying to hide any info, I'm just not sure exactly what is relevant.

Also, don't be afraid to really try to make your best guess. I don't mind if I end up disappointing most of the thread haha. That's not what it's about anyways.
 
If you really have been lifting the powerlifts before, like mentioned here and the other thread @Steve Freides linked; what are your previous bests and how much exactly have you been lifting? It kind of makes a world of difference. To be honest it takes the taste away from the whole thing.
 
If you really have been lifting the powerlifts before, like mentioned here and the other thread @Steve Freides linked; what are your previous bests and how much exactly have you been lifting? It kind of makes a world of difference. To be honest it takes the taste away from the whole thing.

Last time I worked on them (or even did a single rep of Bench or Squat that I can remember) was 5 years ago, where I ran SS for 3 months. This is what I meant by "I've learned the technique in the past".

I have (pretty much) never Benched, DLed or SQed. I did learn the technique a few years ago, so I know how to do them. But haven't done them at all otherwise. We can do warm-up sets and that's about all the practice I'll get.

I think I've DLed since then, but just fun 1RM things in the odd hotel. I attempted 100 kilos just bc it seemed like a good number and that went up.

I'm sorry if that takes away from it. I'm not trying to confuse or trick anybody (there's nothing even in it for me).

Since I've done 4 workouts*50 weeks*5 years = 2000 workouts (roughly) since then of pure calisthenics (and been making progress), I personally 100% will attribute my numbers on Saturday to those 5 recent years of consistent Calisthenics (OAPUs, OACUs, FL, HS Press, HSPUs, heavy Pull-ups/Dips, Pistols, etc) and not some routine I followed 5 years ago. So it didn't even occur to me to mention this.

Once again, sorry that such info changes everything. If you want to re-do your estimations based on that info, be my guest. If you need the poundages I used (which I don't even recall) I'll have to scavange for my 2012 Log. It's somewhere. I've gone through 2 more logs since then so.
 
I'm not even going to guess, although I am very curious what happens.

I think your body (your muscle tissue) would be strong enough to put up bigger numbers, but the lack of familiarity with the lifts (neural component) and especially the feeling of having a heavy object above you (bench) or on your shoulders (squat) can be overwhelming.

I agree with all the people who are predicting a relatively higher DL and lower BP and SQ (relative to your theoretical current strength potential in each lift) for exactly this reason. I would expect having the bar ON you in the BP or SQ when you are not used to/trained for it to have a big inhibitory effect, whereas I would expect you to be able to express more of your current strength pulling a DL off the floor.
 
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Mkay I looked and I couldn't find the old log. I think it must be back home in FL. I'm not really sure about the weights so I guess all the info I got for you is that I did SS for a couple of months summer of 2012. If that elevates your guesses, that's fine. Elevate it by however much you think a beginner cycle of 3 months of SS 5 years ago elevates it by. Does that make sense?

I still think by far the most relevant parameters are height/weight/age/sex and the training in calisthenics but this way is fairer. Not trying to hide anything.

Anywho, hopefully that puts an end to that topic.

I agree with all the people who are predicting a relatively higher DL and lower BP and SQ (relative to your theoretical current strength potential in each lift) for exactly this reason. I would expect having the bar ON you in the BP or SQ when you are not used to/trained for it to have a big inhibitory effect, whereas I would expect you to be able to express more of your current strength pulling a DL off the floor.
Yeah that makes a lot of sense to me.

Just curious, how much lower do you guys think the Bench and Squat need to be proportionally to the DL such that that hypothesis is proven correct?

I'm looking for a statement like "if your squat is X percentage or low than your DL and your Bench is Y percentage or lower than your DL, then we can generally agree that having a weight ON you is inhibiting. But if the percentages are higher, then I guess that just wasn't the case".

Just a tiny bit of scientific method thrown in there haha.
 
Last time I worked on them (or even did a single rep of Bench or Squat that I can remember) was 5 years ago, where I ran SS for 3 months. This is what I meant by "I've learned the technique in the past".



I think I've DLed since then, but just fun 1RM things in the odd hotel. I attempted 100 kilos just bc it seemed like a good number and that went up.

I'm sorry if that takes away from it. I'm not trying to confuse or trick anybody (there's nothing even in it for me).

Since I've done 4 workouts*50 weeks*5 years = 2000 workouts (roughly) since then of pure calisthenics (and been making progress), I personally 100% will attribute my numbers on Saturday to those 5 recent years of consistent Calisthenics (OAPUs, OACUs, FL, HS Press, HSPUs, heavy Pull-ups/Dips, Pistols, etc) and not some routine I followed 5 years ago. So it didn't even occur to me to mention this.

Once again, sorry that such info changes everything. If you want to re-do your estimations based on that info, be my guest. If you need the poundages I used (which I don't even recall) I'll have to scavange for my 2012 Log. It's somewhere. I've gone through 2 more logs since then so.

Three months can be a long time. Let me take myself as an example:

If I had made the same question as you did before I started barbell training, I would have probably got about a 150kg/330lbs deadlift on my first day. That's something that many would have guessed. If I took a break after a couple of months, and then came back to barbell and again asked how much do you think I can DL as I only did a couple of months in the past. What would you guess? Would I have to post the PRs I made in those couple of months? Would it matter that I got 230kg/500lbs up right after two months? Of course it would.

I'm not trying to be mean or have any hard feelings or so. Maybe I got up on the wrong foot or whatever. I look forward to seeing your numbers.
 
@Antti : I'm confused. So you're still claiming that 3 months of SS 5 years ago will have a bearing on my maxes (or a "world of difference" as you put it) or you're just saying that you saw "a couple of months", thought that defeated the purposes, but once you saw it was years ago and what I meant by "learning techniques" you thought it was fine?

I think your post means the latter but it's hard to be sure.
 
@Antti : I'm confused. So you're still claiming that 3 months of SS 5 years ago will have a bearing on my maxes (or a "world of difference" as you put it) or you're just saying that you saw "a couple of months", thought that defeated the purposes, but once you saw it was years ago and what I meant by "learning techniques" you thought it was fine?

I think your post means the latter but it's hard to be sure.

I'm saying, that depending on the person, one can achieve a lot in the three months. And if one achieves a lot, it can affect the outcome of the original question. I don't know if I achieved a lot, but I think that my experience, for example, would skew the results. If I now took a break of say, three years, but still exercised with kettlebells and bodyweight, I would certainly lift more than the original 150kg after the break, since I had already done 230kg.

Now, in your case, if you say the three months didn't help, I believe the three months didn't help. It's just that it would have been nice to know beforehand. Nothing else. No hard feelings.
 
305pelusa said:
I'm looking for a statement like "if your squat is X percentage or low than your DL and your Bench is Y percentage or lower than your DL, then we can generally agree that having a weight ON you is inhibiting. But if the percentages are higher, then I guess that just wasn't the case".

Just a tiny bit of scientific method thrown in there haha.

As fun as the exercise is, it will just be anecdotal, not scientific. Percentages between lifts depend of many factors, not just age, weight and height (limb size, body structure, personal preference, fear factor, etc). You can find some guidelines of what you could expect for all lifts at different stages of a lifter career. Guidelines, not rules. Not even statistics.

You already know the strength principles (tension, irradiation, etc), so I expect a big result, given your high level in calisthenics.

The only real limitations you can have is the technical aspect of the lift. You are young, move well, I think you can learn them pretty fast. A back squat is rarely something you can excel right away, though.

I also think that 3 months of S&S a few years ago can, indeed, do a lot of things. And you have performed heavy pistols. You have been moving under an external load. .At your age, I do not think your body forgot.

That said, it is for fun, not research, so:
have fun, keep on the safe side (ensure your spotters know their job), and report back!
 
I will play along strictly for the fun of it....

DL = 295
SQ = 245
BP = 205

I cant wait to read what you actually lift!
 
I'm saying, that depending on the person, one can achieve a lot in the three months. And if one achieves a lot, it can affect the outcome of the original question. I don't know if I achieved a lot, but I think that my experience, for example, would skew the results. If I now took a break of say, three years, but still exercised with kettlebells and bodyweight, I would certainly lift more than the original 150kg after the break, since I had already done 230kg.

Now, in your case, if you say the three months didn't help, I believe the three months didn't help. It's just that it would have been nice to know beforehand. Nothing else. No hard feelings.

Ah well all right. I figured it was so far removed that all it helped with was to learn. The technique but not that I retained any improvements in particular from it.

Like I said, if 3 months of SS 5 years ago change your mind by more than "I know how to perform them does", I encourage you to bump up your guesses by however much.

So far the guesses have been helpful. I think I have a general idea of what to shoot for now :)
 
I still think by far the most relevant parameters are height/weight/age/sex and the training in calisthenics but this way is fairer. Not trying to hide anything.
Body proportions are a big factor, too.
Look at Lamar Gant.
Don't get me wrong, I have mad respect for the man and what he has achieved (especially with that severe scoliosis), but he has ape arms. The ROM on his deadlifts is the same as me doing a rack pull from above the knees. On the flipside the bench press is very hard for him.
Just looking at your height (-> likely shorter arms) and the fact that you have a lot of pushups, dips etc. in calisthenics I think the BP might even end up being your proportionally strongest lift.
 
So I found online some basic proportionality constants between the 3 lifts:

If the Back Squat is 100%, then a Bench of 75% and a DL of 120% are considered "proportional".

I'm gonna add some % leeway for the assumptions. 5% can be a ~10 lb difference, which I think is significant.

If the Back Squat is 100% then:
- A Bench of <70% is considered low.
- A Bench of >80% is considered high.
- A DL of <115% is considered low.
- A DL of >125% is considered high.

I think a lot of guesses have been attempted as to what will be the "proportionally" strongest/weakest lifts, so I'm just gonna go with the above.

Hence, to those who estimate the DL to be proportionally stronger (and BP and SQ weaker because of bar inhibitions), I'll agree with you if:
1) DL is considered high by those standards^
2) Bench is considered normal or low by those standards^

To those who estimate the Bench being proportionally stronger to the other two (@Kettlebelephant for instance), I'll buy it if:
1) Bench is considered high by those standards^
2) DL is considered normal or low by those standards^

The edge case is when Bench and DL are considered BOTH high/low, in which case it just means the SQ itself was low/high respectively. So all "proportionalities" are covered.

Feel free to agree/disagree with those percentages but it's just a crude way to put some targets to the claims.
 
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