§ 00 · powerlifting calculator
Powerlifting calculator
Turn a set into a result.
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§ 01 scores / compete
Competition scores
Compare totals across weight classes. Enter total, bodyweight, sex — three numbers out.
open scoresM · 90 kg · 650 kg total
- DOTS
- 458.9
- Wilks
- 476.2
- IPF GL
- 100.4
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§ 02 rankings / rank
Powerlifting percentile vs meet data
See where your lift stands against real meet data. Three cohorts in parallel, source under each chart.
open rankingsM · 90 kg · 200 kg deadlift
- percentile
- p67
- vs median
- +17 pts
- source
- OpenPowerlifting · 12 mo
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§ 03 nutrition / fuel
Nutrition + strength retention
Plan bodyweight without guessing the cost in the lifts. Kcal, macros, and a 12-week retention curve per lift.
open nutrition90 kg · moderately active · aggressive cut
- energy
- 2380 kcal
- P/C/F
- 180 / 280 / 60 g
- retention
- −2% over 12 wk
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§ 04 method / sources
Method + sources
Every number on the site has a named source. The list below is the register of where they come from.
- 1RM (7 formulas)
- Brzycki · Epley · Lombardi · Wathan · Mayhew · Lander · O'Conner
- RPE → %1RM
- Tuchscherer · Reactive Training Manual
- Prilepin NPL
- Charniga (transl.) · Medvedyev 1986
- DOTS
- Konertz · BVDK 2019
- Wilks 2020
- IPF Coefficient Update
- IPF GL
- IPF Goodlift 2020
- Cohort percentile
- OpenPowerlifting · last 12 mo
- TDEE / macros
- Mifflin-St Jeor · Aragon · Helms
- General population
- NHANES 2011–14 · ACFT · NSCA ratios
calculator
1RM spread
plate-load
Bar-only · target ≤ bar weight.
warmup ramp
Bar-only floor · — kg — early rows can't go lighter.
RPE → load
prilepin
NPL = number of prescribed lifts per session in this intensity zone. Range is the productive band; below it is too little volume, above it is too much.
scores
Federation scores · DOTS / Wilks / IPF GL.
federation scores
DOTS = raw-open standard 2020+. Wilks and IPF GL kept for parity with older write-ups. They use different reference populations — same total, different ranks.
openpowerlifting.org meet-data · 2026-04 percentile-snapshot bundled at build · CC0
rankings
Where your lift sits in three reference populations. Source under each chart.
Most lifters: raw — just bar, belt, knee sleeves. Equipment only changes the powerlifting cohort; the two other modes are unequipped barbell-equivalent comparisons.
how you compare
how long it took others
Powerlifting mode only — lifters who competed at least twice. Other modes are cross-sectional and will say so.
other lifts at your level
nutrition
Calories · macros · strength retention · lift-coupled.
body context
body metrics
| start | wk12 | delta |
|---|
Fat delta includes glycogen and water changes. BF% model: BMI-based estimate.
method
How to read the app, where the formulas come from, what the numbers mean.
§ 0 how to read this app
- /protokoll
- The live calculator. Type a top-set (your heaviest set today) and read out 1RM, plate-load, warmup ramp, and Prilepin volume — all from one screen.
- /arkiv
- Last twelve sessions per lift, with PR-rings on rows that beat every prior estimated 1RM. Federation scores live here too.
- /jamfor
- Where your lift sits in selectable reference populations: competitive powerlifters, active gym-loggers (StrengthLevel users), or the ACFT baseline (US Army fitness standard, not a civilian baseline). Powerlifting mode also shows meet-history trajectory.
- /nutrition
- Energy and macros from goal (cut/maintain/bulk), activity level, and body data. The PLAN tab shows kcal + protein/carbs/fat; STRENGTH shows the per-lift retention curve over 12 weeks.
- /metod
- This page. Formula provenance, citations, and what the abbreviations mean.
- headline 1RM ≈ X kg ± Y %
- The mean of seven 1RM formulas, rounded. ± is the spread between the highest and lowest formula — wider band, less certainty.
- RPE
- Rate of Perceived Exertion. 6 = easy, 10 = max effort. RPE 9 = "one rep left in the tank".
- percentile
- Rank inside the selected reference population. 70th percentile = higher than 70 % of that group — not 70 % of all humans. (No "all humans" mode exists, see /metod § 5.9.)
Other abbreviations. NPL = number of prescribed lifts per session. BW = bodyweight (kg). top-set = the heaviest working set of a session. PR = personal record. raw = no equipment beyond belt, sleeves, wraps; no bench shirt or squat suit.
§ 1 1RM formulas
Spread 8–12 % at rep-range 5+. Trust the band, not the point estimate.
Legend: w = load lifted (kg) · r = reps performed · e = Euler's number (≈ 2.718). 1@10 anchor: at one rep, RPE 10, w = 1RM.
- 1.1Epley
- 1RM = w · (1 + r/30)
- 1.2Brzycki
- 1RM = w · 36 / (37 − r)
- 1.3Lombardi
- 1RM = w · r0.10
- 1.4O'Conner
- 1RM = w · (1 + 0.025 · r)
- 1.5Wathan
- 1RM = 100 · w / (48.8 + 53.8 · e−0.075 · r)
- 1.6Lander
- 1RM = 100 · w / (101.3 − 2.67123 · r)
- 1.7Mayhew
- 1RM = 100 · w / (52.2 + 41.9 · e−0.055 · r)
RPE → %1RM source: Tuchscherer, M. Reactive Training Manual (RTS Press, 2008). RPE-load chart reproduced on /protokoll. Anchor: 1@10 = 100 %.
§ 2 Prilepin's table
The active-row stamp on the table marks the zone matching your current /protokoll input intensity. NPL = number of prescribed lifts per session in that zone; range is the productive band.
Medvedyev, A.S. A System of Multi-Year Training in Weightlifting. Trans. Andrew Charniga Jr. Sportivny Press, 1986. § 3.2.
| intensity (% of 1RM) | reps/set | optimal NPL | range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55–65 % | 3–6 | 24 | 18–30 |
| 70–75 % | 3–6 | 18 | 12–24 |
| 80–85 % | 2–4 | 15 | 10–20 |
| ≥ 90 % | 1–2 | 7 | 4–10 |
§ 3 federation coefficients
Three formulas, three different reference populations — which is why the same total produces three different ranks.
- 3.1DOTS
- Konertz / BVDK 2019. Adopted by IPF as the raw-open standard from 2020+. Replaced Wilks in the raw-open competition class after the Wilks formula showed systematic skew toward lighter lifters (Vanderburgh & Batterham 1999).
- 3.2Wilks 2020
- Wilks (1994), 2020-revision coefficients. Replaced by DOTS for raw in 2020-Q4. Kept for parity with old write-ups.
- 3.3IPF GL
- IPF GoodLift 2020. Replaced IPF Points; raw and equipped tables differ — we expose raw open here.
§ 4 data attribution
openpowerlifting.org · CC0 · last percentile-snapshot bundled 2026-04. We do not show beginner / intermediate / advanced / elite badges. Use percentile or don't.
§ 5 cohort data — /jamfor
The /jamfor view aggregates openpowerlifting meet records into pre-computed cohort cells. The runtime never queries the network — the bundled snapshot lives in the service-worker cache after first load.
- 5.1Source
- openpowerlifting.org public dataset. License: CC0. Schema: Name · Sex · Equipment · BodyweightKg · Age · Best3SquatKg · Best3BenchKg · Best3DeadliftKg · TotalKg · Date · Place.
- 5.2Build
- —
- 5.3Snapshot
- —
- 5.4Cohort axes
- Sex (M/F) × Lift (squat/bench/deadlift/total) × BW class (IPF: M 53/59/66/74/83/93/105/120/120+; F 43/47/52/57/63/69/76/84/84+) × Age (individual years 15–80, or all-ages) × Equipment (raw / single-ply / multi-ply). Leave the age field blank for an age-agnostic comparison.
- 5.5Trajectory
- Built from full lifters' meet histories (not limited to the 12-month window) — de-duped on Name + Sex + bodyweight-bucket. Shows real longitudinal progression: median months from first logged meet to current level, plus months to next 20 kg milestone. Cells with n < 30 are suppressed.
- 5.6Sparsity
- Cohort widening hierarchy: exact year → all ages → ±1 BW class → global. If the requested age + BW class + equipment combination has fewer than 30 lifters in the dataset, the system widens the comparison group until the sample is statistically meaningful. Widening is shown explicitly in the source-row label.
- 5.7Bias
- IPF / USAPL meets are over-represented (more reporting). Retired lifters' last-meet values are frozen — their "current" is whenever they stopped competing. Equipped → raw is never auto-converted (different sport-physics, different cohort).
- 5.8Selectable populations
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Powerlifting cohort — OpenPowerlifting public meet data. Drug-tested + untested, all federations. Judged 1RM. This is the only mode where the lift you compare is a real measured 1RM at a sanctioned competition.
Active gym-loggers — StrengthLevel.com public strength-standards pages (squat / bench-press / deadlift, kg). 153M+ logged lifts from strength-tracking-app users. 1RM estimated from rep work. Population skews stronger than the average gym-goer — the data is labelled "active gym-loggers" rather than "recreational" because StrengthLevel users have already (a) created a strength-tracking account, (b) log consistently, (c) care enough to compare against percentiles. The casual gym-goer is weaker than p50 in this dataset.
ACFT baseline (US Army) — US Army ACFT 4.0 deadlift standard (FM 7-22 / ATP 7-22.01), hex-bar converted to conventional barbell with factor 0.92 (Swinton, Lloyd, Keogh, Agouris 2011, J Strength Cond Res, PMID 21659894). Squat and bench derived from deadlift via published ratios (NSCA Essentials 4e, ACSM GETP 11e). Age resolution from NHANES 2011-2014 grip-strength decline curve (CDC; Strand 2018 PMID 29653890), proxy for multi-joint strength decline (r ≈ 0.70–0.85). Allometric BW scaling exponent 0.60 (Vanderburgh & Batterham 1999 PMID 10613442; Jaric 2005 PMID 18172672; Cleather 2006 PMID 16686573). This is the military fitness baseline, NOT a civilian baseline — 75 % of US 17–24-year-olds are non-recruitable (Mission: Readiness 2009, NBK202010).
- 5.9Civilian baseline — why we don't ship one
- No nationally representative dataset tests barbell squat, bench, and deadlift 1RM directly on civilian adults. This is not a gap — it is a structural constraint of mass fitness surveys: barbell 1RM testing needs spotters, racks, and carries injury risk that disqualifies it from epidemiological fieldwork. Every existing tool that claims "general population" SBD norms is either competitive-lifter data, gym-app self-report, or extrapolation from functional proxies (grip strength, chair-stand, push-up). Liftcalc previously labelled the ACFT-pipeline "general population" and applied a 0.92 Army→civilian shift; the literature (Mission: Readiness 2009; Bopp 2023 PMC9885292; Knapik 2017 PMID 28403029) places the actual civilian/Army gap at 0.6–0.7, so that label was misleading. The shift has been removed and the mode renamed to ACFT baseline. A future civilian baseline mode (separate file) will stack ACSM GETP 11e bench norms + OpenPowerlifting bulk meet-data deflated via ACSM/OPL bench-ratio + NHANES grip + Senior Fitness Test (Rikli & Jones 2013) for 60+, with per-cell provenance.
- 5.10What we don't show
- No predicted next-PR. No "elite / intermediate / beginner" badges. No vanity-thresholds. The numbers are the cohort distribution; interpretation is yours.
§ 6 what we don't do
No accounts. No ads. No newsletter. No "Pro" tier. Numbers stay on your device. If localStorage is unavailable (private browsing), the calculator still works — you just lose persisted preferences.
§ 7 keyboard shortcuts
- ↹1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
- switch view: protokoll / arkiv / jamfor / nutrition / metod (when not typing)
- ↹↑ / ↓
- bump load by 2.5 kg / 5 lb (when load-input focused)
§ 8 nutrition model — TDEE, macros, SNS, retention
The /nutrition view uses published nutrition science for the base formulas but combines them in custom-developed models for strength retention and the Strength Nutrition Score (SNS). This section explains what is published and what is liftcalc-proprietary.
- 8.1Mifflin-St Jeor BMR
- BMR (M) = 10·kg + 6.25·cm − 5·age + 5; (F) = same but −161 instead of +5. Mifflin et al. 1990, Am J Clin Nutr 51:241–247 (PMID 2305711).
- 8.2Activity factors (TDEE multiplier)
- 1.20 sedentary / 1.375 lightly active / 1.55 moderate / 1.725 active / 1.9 very active. Standard ACSM Harris-Benedict revision (ACSM Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 11e 2022, Ch.7).
- 8.3Protein target
- Cut: 2.2 g/kg. Bulk/maintain: 1.8 g/kg. Helms et al. 2014 (J Int Soc Sports Nutr 11:20, PMID 24864135) + Morton et al. 2018 (Br J Sports Med 52:376–384, PMID 28698222) — meta-analysis on protein targets for resistance-trained adults.
- 8.4Fat + carbohydrate split
- Fat: 25 % cut / 28 % maintain / 30 % bulk of target kcal. Carbohydrates = remainder. Within ACSM's 20–35 % fat-of-energy recommendation. ACSM GETP 11e + ISSN Position Stand Aragon et al. 2017 (J Int Soc Sports Nutr 14:16, PMID 28630601).
- 8.5Cut/bulk thermodynamics
- Daily deficit/surplus converted via 7700 kcal/kg of fat tissue. Wishnofsky 1958 constant — accepted first-order approximation, modified by Hall 2008 (Lancet 378:826), which shows the linear model underestimates the plateau after ~6 months. The plateau is approximated inside the projection via a rolling adaptation factor (max 18 %) rather than a separate adaptive-TDEE model, because the view does not log weekly calorie or weight series.
- 8.6SNS — Strength Nutrition Score (proprietary)
- 0-100 score. Base 50, plus a protein bonus (+12 if ≥2.0 g/kg, +6 if ≥1.6), a relative-strength bonus (+10 if bench+DL/BW > 1.5, +5 if > 1.0), a deficit/surplus sanity adjustment (cut: +15 if < 10 % deficit, down to −8 if larger; bulk analogous), maintain +8. Liftcalc-proprietary heuristic — no published calibration. Thresholds derived from Helms 2014 + Aragon 2017 + Morton 2018, but the score weights are hand-tuned. Use as direction, not as an absolute number.
- 8.7BMI-based body-fat estimate
- BF% = 1.20·BMI + 0.23·age − 10.8·sex − 5.4 (sex: M=1, F=0). Published population formula from Deurenberg, Weststrate & Seidell 1991 (Br J Nutr 65:105–114, PMID 2043597). Can misclassify muscular lifters; FFMI and waist/height are shown alongside.
- 8.8FFMI — Fat-Free Mass Index
- FFMI = leanKg/(height_m²) + 6.1·max(0, 1.8 − height_m). The height correction normalises against a 1.80 m reference individual. Class thresholds (untrained <18, ..., elite <26, exceptional ≥26) derived from Kouri et al. 1995 (Clin J Sport Med 5:223–228, PMID 7496846), which identified a "natural ceiling" around 25 based on drug-tested lifters.
- 8.9Strength retention model (proprietary)
- weeklyRetentionRate computes the change in weekly 1RM preservation as the sum of energy-status + protein + bodyfat + cut-duration terms. The bulk side follows Helms et al. 2023: 5–15 % surpluses produced similar squat/bench gains while extra bodyweight tracked skinfold/fat gain more cleanly — so 5–20 % surpluses share a similar strength term and larger surpluses mainly raise fat risk. The cut side is derived from Helms 2014, Garthe 2011, and Murphy & Koehler 2022. Coefficient weights and refusal thresholds are liftcalc-derived safety margins, not published prognostic models. Use retention as direction, not as an absolute number.
Summary: Base formulas (Mifflin-St Jeor, Deurenberg BF%, Kouri FFMI, Wishnofsky thermodynamics) are published and freely verifiable. The SNS score + retention model + refusal thresholds are liftcalc-derived indicators built on top of published thresholds, not absolute predictions.