The total went up by 70 lb. The Wilks score went up by 13.21 points. On paper those are two descriptions of the same twelve weeks, and yet one says +7.5% and the other +4.7%.
The gap has a name, and it is body weight. This article follows one strength block from the first set to the last test day and scores it three ways: progress on each lift, the powerlifting total in Wilks points, and the same total in DOTS and IPF GL points. It is an example block with round numbers, not a real lifter, so every figure can be checked in the calculators linked along the way.
The block: what went in at week 0
The starting point is a man who weighs 185 lb and lifts raw, without supportive suits or wraps. His tested maxes at the start are a 315 lb squat, a 235 lb bench press and a 380 lb deadlift. That is a 930 lb total, or 5.03 times body weight.
The plan is simple and quite common. Squat and bench twice a week, deadlift once, track one top set of five on each lift, eat a small surplus and test the maxes again after twelve weeks. The target written down at week 0 is a 1,000 lb total at a body weight of no more than 190 lb.
Why the limit on body weight? Because every points formula in strength sports divides the weight lifted by something that grows with the lifter. Gain weight and the same total is worth less. Most people know that in theory. Fewer people know how much, which is what this block shows in pounds.
| Lift | Top set at week 0 | Estimated 1RM | Tested max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Back squat | 275 lb x 5 | 315.1 lb | 315 lb |
| Bench press | 205 lb x 5 | 234.9 lb | 235 lb |
| Deadlift | 335 lb x 5 | 383.9 lb | 380 lb |
| Total | 933.9 lb | 930 lb |
The estimated maxes in the third column come from the five-rep sets, using the mean of the Epley and Brzycki formulas, the same method the Strength Progress Calculator uses. The example deliberately puts the tested singles at or a little under those estimates. A max estimated from a set of five is an estimate, and on a deadlift a few pounds of difference is ordinary.
Weeks 1 to 12: three lifts, three speeds
Twelve weeks later the top sets of five are 300 lb on the squat, 215 lb on the bench and 365 lb on the deadlift. Put each pair of sets into the progress calculator and the block stops looking like one story. It looks like three.
The squat: 10.4 lb a month
From 275 x 5 to 300 x 5 in 12 weeks moves the estimated 1RM from 315.1 lb to 343.8 lb, a change of +28.6 lb or +9.1%. That is +10.4 lb a month, or +3.20% a month on average. With two squat days a week the block had 24 sessions, so the bar went up 5 lb every 4.2 sessions on average.
The calculator also gives a forecast. A 405 lb squat, the four-plate mark, would come in about 6 months at a steady gain in pounds, or 5 months at a steady percentage. Read both as upper limits. Nobody adds 10.4 lb a month forever, and the note under the result says so too. The same question for other goals has ready answers: how long it takes to squat 315 lb or 405 lb.
The bench press: 4.2 lb a month
From 205 x 5 to 215 x 5 the estimate goes from 234.9 lb to 246.4 lb, which is +11.5 lb and +4.9%. That works out to +4.2 lb a month. Twenty-four bench sessions added 5 lb to the bar only every 10.5 sessions.
That is slow, and part of the reason is arithmetic: the same 5 lb jump is 2.1% of a 235 lb bench but only 1.3% of a 380 lb deadlift. At this rate a 315 lb bench is about 17 months away (or 14 at a steady percentage). For the usual milestones see how long it takes to bench 225 lb, 315 lb and 405 lb.
The deadlift: 12.5 lb a month
One deadlift day a week, 12 sessions, and the top set goes from 335 x 5 to 365 x 5. The estimate moves from 383.9 lb to 418.2 lb: +34.4 lb, +9.0%, +12.5 lb a month. That means 5 lb more every 1.7 sessions, the fastest lift of the block by a distance, with half the training days of the other two.
A 500 lb deadlift is about 7 months away at this pace (6 at a steady percentage). The pages for 405 lb and 500 lb give the same forecast for those two goals.
| Lift | Sets of 5 | Estimated 1RM | Per month | +5 lb every |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Back squat | 275 → 300 lb | 315.1 → 343.8 lb | +10.4 lb | 4.2 sessions |
| Bench press | 205 → 215 lb | 234.9 → 246.4 lb | +4.2 lb | 10.5 sessions |
| Deadlift | 335 → 365 lb | 383.9 → 418.2 lb | +12.5 lb | 1.7 sessions |
The table makes one thing plain. Almost all of the total came from the squat and the deadlift, +63 lb of estimated 1RM between them against +11.5 lb on the bench.
Week 12: the test day
The maxes tested at the end are 340 lb, 245 lb and 415 lb, again a little under the estimates of 343.8, 246.4 and 418.2 lb. The total is 1,000 lb. The goal from week 0 is reached to the pound.
The body weight is not. The scale says 194 lb, so 9 lb more than at the start and 4 lb over the plan. Lifted per pound of body weight, the total went from 5.03 to 5.15 times body weight. Better, but by far less than the headline number suggests.
In the Wilks Calculator the new total gives 292.98 Wilks points, against 279.77 at the start. On the revised Wilks-2 formula it is 352.04 against 336.06. The squat is worth 99.61 points of that, the bench 71.78 and the deadlift 121.59.
Then the DOTS Calculator, which also gives IPF GL points. The same 1,000 lb at 194 lb scores 296.69 DOTS points and 60.98 IPF GL points for raw full power. At week 0 it was 283.04 DOTS and 58.07 GL.
Look at the first row of the goals table in that screenshot. 300 DOTS at 194 lb takes a total of 1,011.2 lb, so the block finished 11.2 lb short of a round number it would have passed at the old body weight. At 185 lb the threshold is 985.7 lb. Is a 1,000 lb total good? For a man of about this size it sits right around 300 DOTS, and the answer moves with every pound on the scale.
Plan against result
Here is the whole block in one table, the way a coach would write it up afterwards. The points in the plan column are what 1,000 lb would score at the planned 190 lb.
| Item | Plan at week 0 | Result at week 12 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squat, top set of 5 | 300 lb | 300 lb | 0 |
| Bench press, top set of 5 | 225 lb | 215 lb | -10 lb |
| Deadlift, top set of 5 | 365 lb | 365 lb | 0 |
| Total | 1,000 lb | 1,000 lb | 0 |
| Body weight | 190 lb | 194 lb | +4 lb |
| Wilks points | 296.31 | 292.98 | -3.33 |
| DOTS points | 299.96 | 296.69 | -3.27 |
| IPF GL points (raw) | 61.61 | 60.98 | -0.63 |
| Total vs week 0 | +70 lb | +70 lb, +7.5% | Wilks +4.7% instead of +5.9% |
Two rows stand out. The bench missed its target by 10 lb, a 5 lb plate on each side, and the body weight overshot by 4 lb. Neither changed the total, which landed exactly on plan, and still the points came in lower than planned on every formula.
And notice the DOTS row in the plan column. Even with the body weight held at 190 lb, the 1,000 lb total would have scored 299.96, which is 0.04 of a point short of 300. Round numbers in pounds and round numbers in points almost never line up.
Four lessons from one block
Lesson 1: the first 25 lb of the gain paid for the body weight
How much of the 70 lb was real progress on the points scale? At 194 lb, a total of 955 lb scores 279.80 Wilks points, practically the 279.77 of the starting 930 lb at 185 lb. In DOTS the break-even is 954 lb, which scores exactly the starting 283.04. So roughly the first 25 lb of the new total only kept the score where it was. The other 45 lb are what moved it.
Put the other way round: the same 1,000 lb at the old 185 lb would be worth 300.83 Wilks and 304.35 DOTS points, comfortably over 300 on both. Nine pounds on the scale cost 7.85 Wilks points and 7.66 DOTS points.
| Total and body weight | Wilks | Wilks-2 | DOTS | IPF GL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 930 lb at 185 lb (week 0) | 279.77 | 336.06 | 283.04 | 58.07 |
| 955 lb at 194 lb | 279.80 | 336.20 | 283.34 | 58.23 |
| 1,000 lb at 194 lb (week 12) | 292.98 | 352.04 | 296.69 | 60.98 |
| 1,000 lb at 190 lb (the plan) | 296.31 | 356.02 | 299.96 | 61.61 |
| 1,000 lb at 185 lb | 300.83 | 361.35 | 304.35 | 62.44 |
This is not an argument against gaining weight. A heavier lifter usually gets stronger faster, and this block is an example of exactly that: the squat and the deadlift both moved about 9% in twelve weeks. It is an argument for scoring the block in points, not just in pounds, when the scale is moving too.
Lesson 2: the bench sets the pace of the total
A plate jump every 10.5 sessions on the bench against every 1.7 sessions on the deadlift. Over the next block that difference compounds. If the plan for the following twelve weeks is again +70 lb on the total, the bench will contribute something like 12 lb of it at the current rate, and the rest has to come from the lower body. Planning a total without planning the bench separately is planning on the two lifts that already move fastest.
Lesson 3: compare sets with the same reps
All three pairs of sets in this block are fives against fives, and that was deliberate. Compare a set of eight in week 1 with a set of three in week 12 and the progress figure depends partly on which formula is used, because Epley and Brzycki drift apart as reps go up. The calculator says as much in its note when the rep counts differ. One rep range per lift, kept for the whole block, makes the monthly rate a number worth trusting.
Lesson 4: a points goal needs a body weight next to it
"1,000 lb total" is a complete goal. "300 DOTS" is not, until it says at what body weight. At 185 lb that is 985.7 lb, at 194 lb it is 1,011.2 lb, and the difference of 25.5 lb is about two and a half months of squat progress at 10.4 lb a month. In Wilks the same 300 points take 997.2 lb at 185 lb and 1,024.0 lb at 194 lb.
If you want to see where a total sits for other sizes, the DOTS pages for a 198 lb man cover 1,000, 1,100, 1,200, 1,300, 1,400, 1,500 and 2,000 lb totals.
If the block started again
The block worked. The total hit its number, two lifts out of three hit theirs, and nothing in the logs suggests anything went wrong. What would change on a second run is the order of the questions. First the body weight for the end of the block, then the points goal at that body weight, then the total that goal requires, and only then the weights for the sets of five. Done that way round, the plan at week 0 would have asked for about 1,011 lb at 194 lb, or held the scale at 185, and the question of why the points lagged behind the pounds would have been answered before the first session rather than after the last.
Tools discussed in this article
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