The Ultimate Measure of Strength
In the sport of powerlifting, nobody cares about your best set of bicep curls or how much you can leg press. The entire sport boils down to exactly three movements, executed with strict, judge-mandated form: the Squat, the Bench Press, and the Deadlift.
Your "Total" is the absolute sum of your heaviest successful attempts in each of these three lifts during a sanctioned competition.
Building the Total
A powerlifting meet is an exhausting, all-day event. You are granted three attempts for each lift.
The Formula
To calculate your total, you simply add your best valid attempt from each discipline:
Total = Max Squat + Max Bench Press + Max Deadlift
Where:
Max Squat=
Heaviest successful squat attemptMax Bench Press=
Heaviest successful bench attemptMax Deadlift=
Heaviest successful deadlift attemptThe Strategy of the Total
Powerlifting is highly strategic.
- The Squat sets the tone for the day. You want a safe opener to get on the board.
- The Bench Press is typically the lightest lift, but a missed command from the referee can ruin your score.
- The Deadlift decides the meet. Competitors will often monitor their rivals' totals and load the exact amount of weight onto the deadlift bar required to beat them by a single kilogram.