30 Seconds Summary
Who’s The Most Impressive Powerlifter?

April 23, 2023

Strength/bodyweight ratios, commonly used to compare relative strength in powerlifting, are flawed as they favor lighter lifters and don't account for biological differences in body mass distribution.
The Wilks formula, often used to judge powerlifting performances, is outdated and biased against middleweight lifters, favoring both very light and very heavy lifters instead.
Allometric scaling offers a more scientifically supported method for comparing relative strength across different body sizes and weights by taking into account muscle area and body mass volume.
The introduction of the Allometric Scaling Score (ASS) and the Nuckols Index offers new formulas for assessing relative strength based on sounder biological and competition-contextual grounds.
Superheavyweights often have higher body fat levels which skews relative strength measures; formulas tend to overestimate their relative performance when body fat is not accounted for.
The article proposes alternative methods and formulas to more accurately assess and compare lifters' performances across different weight classes, addressing the shortcomings of traditional methods like the Wilks formula.

Stronger By Science

Greg Nuckols

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