Criteria for being STRONG

I think about this A LOT....there is no weight class in the jungle. We seem to think in terms of sub categories, weight classes etc but out in the food chain none of that exists. Nonetheless, here is MY list and some reasoning behind my choices.

Let's start by establishing standards. These standards aren't meant to easy, I think it's important to maintain high standards. I think the list should include feats of strengths in all planes of movement for both upper and lower body exercises. When I think about strength, I think about force expression. There are 2 types of force expression: Force expression without time constraints and force expression WITH time constraints. Force expression without time constraints include your absolute max strength on barbell exercises, and expression with time constraints includes jumps and sprints. In a jump and sprint the force you produce MUST be done fast and I think it's important to include so we weed out the non movers who perform well on a barbell but not so much with athletic performance markers. Another priority for me is pull ups and push ups. It wouldn't make sense if you meet the criteria on all the barbell lifts I'm going to list but can't do pull ups or push ups. Again, weeding out the non movers. Not being able to move is the ultimate weakness. Here is my list...

Back Squat: 2x BW

Front Squat: 1.5x BW

Deadlift: 2x BW

RDL: 2x BW

Standing Military Press: 1x BW

Bench Press: 1.5x BW

Incline Bench Press: 1.25x BW

Single Arm DB Bench Press: .5x BW

Pull Ups: >15

Push Ups: >30 in 30 seconds

Jump: >33 inches

Sprint: <4.8 40 yard sprint

Picture the person that could check all these boxes, are they overweight? No which is part of my reasoning. I think the ultimate strong person is able to move. You might be able to check a lot of the barbell boxes, some of the hardest ones you might think are RDL, Standing Military Press, Single Arm DB Bench but not for any other reason than you simply don't train those movements heavy like you do the others.

RDL is the same as Deadlift, why? First off, 2x Deadlift is not very hard to achieve, honestly it's one on this list I might have too low. RDL is the same, because RDL has something a Deadlift doesn't, and that is a stretch shortening cycle from the eccentric phase to the concentric phase. Generally for a deadlift, there is no eccentric phase. So I really think it's reasonable to hold the RDL at the same standard. Many of my powerlifters train RDL as heavy and hard as Deadlift and most of them are eventually using the same or even MORE weight on RDL compared to Deadlift.

Standing Military Press, no one trains hard. It's one of those exercises that was demonized for being "bad for you". In 2013 I started literally doing the opposite for MANY traditional norms in training, to make my own decision on and one of those things was to overhead press. I've been training the overhead press from a seated, standing position with barbells, dumbbells and even single arm overhead presses every 4 days for more than a decade now. My shoulders have never been stronger, healthier and bigger. I learned that overhead pressing is one of the lowest hanging fruit for anyone looking to add maximum size and strength to their physique. The density you create is unmatched. I say all that to say, overhead pressing is not bad for you or dangerous. The only dangerous lift out there is the lift that you use improper weight, range of motion or technique. Just like any exercise, if you do it wrong sure it can be dangerous. 1x bodyweight is very achievable, you just have to commit the time to learn the technique and build the strength just like any other exercise

Single arm db bench press, same story. You might think it's hard because you've never done it or you've never trained it as hard or heavy enough to achieve .5x BW. But it is also very doable. I wrote an entire article on single arm pressing, the benefits and when to do it you can read about it by clicking HERE.

Quick defense for my running and jumping criteria. The mindset of squatting and deadlifting is to literally improve athletic performance. With this mindset the speed of the lifts are the priority as well as training "max strength" at different speeds. Strength is measured in speed, and with this mindset I want to increase the speed of my barbell with 30%, 60%, 80% all the way to 100%. Sure the weight is great but if I prioritize the amount of force I can produce as well as the speed at which I can create it then my maxes WILL go up. This mindset also encompasses training at ALL intensities along the strength continuum. What do you call a squat where your feet leaves the ground? You call it a jump. On one side you've got 1 rep maxes. On the other you have a vertical jump. This mindset will also weed out the big guys that can't move, which would be an oxymoron for me, I think the power to body weight ratio is important to include. No hate on sports and positions that require different body weight ratios. Linemen, powerlifters yes all don't need to jump 33 and sprint 4.8 each has it's own unique priority. So this is no hate against those categories.

Summary

Human performance IMO should be well rounded. That's the goal of my list, to reward the most well rounded athletes. It may not be as challenging to do a lot of these, the biggest challenge is to do ALL of them. Do I meet my own criteria? No not currently. I have recently jumped over 33 inches, I haven't run sub 4.8 in the last year or so. For me I would have to improve my body composition to get back to that, same for my pull ups. I've done 13-14 very recently but at 282 I would need to get down to 270 to get back over 15 reps. But that's the challenges and the reasons to love training. Always something to work on, and always barriers to overcome.

The mindsets I describe around the weight room and athletic performance can be found on ALL of my athletic programs including programs within College Prep Athletes, 5 Tool Strength and Power, Custom Programs, and for all my team training programs. I also have created a VERY detailed Performance Testing Guide that is for field athletes that's only $5.99. You can buy that in PDF form by clicking HERE, or browse my programs below and start a free 10 day trial today!

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