I am embarrased to say this, but at 5’7 and 16 years old, I only weigh 66 kgs (145 pounds) . But don’t be so fast to judge, I’ve been training for about a year and a half, and my PRs include:
140 kgs ( 308 lbs) × 4 in the deadlift
130 kgs (286 pounds) ×1 in the squat
95 kgs ( 209 pounds) × 1 in the bench Press
60 kgs ( 132 pounds) × 3 in the military press
Now after reading so many articles at T-nation, I realized that my lack of mass was because I trained exlusively with low reps ( I rarely do anything above five reps in the big 4). So you can call me an intermediate lifter, considering my numbers relative to my bodyweight ( about 2.5 for deadlift ,2 for squat, 1.5 bench, and 1 for the press). Side note: I am sick of my weight and I started training in higher rep ranges so I can finally look like I train instead of being known as a teeanager who’s stronger than he looks😕)
I agree with you that my genes may be decent, but I would not say I am gifted. I’ve worked in labor jobs since I was a late teen, and have worked hard through multiple back, arm, knee, and shoulder injuries. I still have a torn tendon in my wrist, arthritis in both ankles, one knee and my torn wrist, and a herniated disc on my left side. I lift heavy, keep in good shape, eat fairly well and stay consistent. If I stop lifting I get fat and weak.
This is the one. I wasn’t terrible at sports, but I was not allowed to play many because I have hemophilia. This also is a factor because after I bench heavy, my elbows swell and after squatting my knees swell. Again, not born to big yoked. I boxed when I was 16 because they wouldn’t sign my physicals to wrestle. I knew the risks of boxing because if I got punched too hard or often, I could die from internal bleeding. I trained hard as fuck everyday and worked more on being an inside boxer so punches were not as powerful, I worked on my defense (slipping parrying etc) because I did not need to get hit, and I worked on my back strength so I could really lay on dudes in the corner. I’m not saying I have terrible genes, but I worked for everything I have today because the first time I benched I could barely do the bar and I deadlifted maybe 115. I hated being weak, getting bullied and made fun of. TL;DR I am saying that if I can do it, anyone can really.
I think having a big yoke and such looks cool, but I would rather have your problem than the opposite. You’re still young, and you still have a TON of time to grow. Get as bull strong as you can and stay as light or big as you want.
LOL I was correct…
^This. If someone already has the foundation of strength, it’s simply (almost always) a matter of programming and proper nutrition to get the aesthetic going.
Stuart Mc Robert, author of many books on natural bodybuilding says for a 5ft 10" man, around 200lbs, with plenty of years under their belt of lifting, a bench of 300lbs, squat of 400lbs and DL of 500lbs are good numbers.
Keeping in mind this is for bodybuilding where you would be training for hypertrophy, not using very low reps very often because strength is not the primary goal.
You will find natural trainers that can better those figures, but you will find plenty more that even with 20years under their belts still aren’t anywhere near Mc Roberts ideals. In his own quest for a 500Lb DL he seriously injured his back. I can’t remember if he accomplished it, I think he did or at least came very close.
Keep in mind much of what you will see is being done with drug assistance, despite claims of being natty. eg lifters in the Olympic games, who lift as good as known drug users, but have passed the drug tests.
Anyone around here at a point at which they want to exert the minimal amount of effort and do the least amount least back-breaking exercises to look good and be healthy? I’m at that point at age 37, soon to be 38! 
Been that way for a long time.
However, I found that doing what I wanted ultimately made me a hedonist.
I think it’s largely from my injury, for which the symptoms have vastly improved since the winter, and also because of other life stressors now. I have a feeling that when I’m asymptomatic and/or life gets more settled that I’ll want to go a little harder, but VERY carefully. I am VERY into foam rolling, stretching, and mobility stuff now. I always did it for years but am even more diligent now, including how I sit, move and lift things outside of a gym and so on.
I’ve been doing that for years. My past pursuits of the 3/4/5 marks have left me drained and sore in a bad way. I typically step back and think “why in the hell am I doing this?” I can develop my glutes and legs with single leg lifts that don’t kill my back. Same with chest and shoulders.
That being said, I still want to hit 3/4/5! However, I’m pursuing it as a marathon instead of a sprint this time. I don’t have to hit those numbers in 10 or 20 weeks.
I’ve often thought of why guys aim hit such specific numbers if they don’t compete in powerlifting. I’ve just lifted and progressed in reps and weight in whatever I did over the past few years, whether it was a dumbbell bench press, a squat, a lunge, a lateral raise, or whatever. I did have the numbers goals for specific barbell lifts in the past, but I did have those questions. What the heck am I aiming for? I am not a powerlifter. And, as I’ve said several times, no one has to be attached to exercises.
Ego. It’s hard not to get a little caught up in numbers when that’s all you see or hear about in the gym rat circles. And just like this thread I get a little curious how I stack up. Am I strong by normal standards? Gym standards? Am I strong for my size (not weight)?
And I don’t think hitting 3/4/5 at a PL meet at 225lbs would be considered competing 
They probably just have a similar mindset as a powerlifter. Powerlifting exists because people inherently care about how much they can lift on various things, not the other way around.
It would have to be pounds I think, I could be wrong but anyone has done x6 bodyweight of any big lift.
Oh yes, definitely. And that’s good too. I think my mindset just changed dramatically.
I do this at 23 man. I love lifting heavy, but I hate myself for doing like 6 day a week training when I could have gotten away with 3 days a week and make better gains than ever. I also failed to understand the importance of cardio exercise until I quit boxing. Now that I’ve added it in, I feel great and plan on training this way until it just doesn’t work anymore. Also, on your point about certain numbers, I think it just comes down to staying goal oriented. If you just work toward a bigger deadlift, you won’t put as much effort in as you would if you wanted to do a certain weight by a certain number. I guess with bb’ing it is different, but when I followed that style of training solely, I lost sight of goals a lot really because I didn’t want to compete.
Sorry, the above was for @BrickHead dunno why it tagged @Frank_C
It’s always been curiosity. Can I make 90/100 free throws? Can I swim (distance) in _____ or run (distance) in ____? How far back can I kick field goals at over 80%? How much can I deadlift? It’s also just random stupid stuff, like tossing tennis balls into my kids’ Halloween baskets.
I like that number/goal at the end of the tunnel. I’m not comparatively strong, especially when compared to most of the folks around here, but I am one of the world’s best at tossing teddy bears into a wagon from 15 feet.
Thats it for me! At 160lbs. I hit 2x bench, and 4 plate dead, but did my squat in with a nasty spinal injury that prevented me from going over 4. And a torn quad, both bicep, pect-delt-bicep combo, etc…
For no damn reason at all.
I don’t view it as really a BW thing, sure being heavier helps the lifts but not your BW ratios. Plenty of lighter powerlifters around the under 72kg mark can hit 3x BW Deadlifts. But Eddie Hall can’t do a 3x BW dead but has the record most of all time.
I’m doing it as strong as possible without severe risk of dying from running up a flight of stairs. So my standards are for me not a 180 pound person or for a person lower than that.
If I hit a double BW dead and it would 4 plates at least, someone at 60kg has to do 120kg.
You can stay at whatever weight you want do be at but weighing less and lifting double BW isn’t as impressive at that weight imo. If you weigh less and are doing stuff based off of BW ratios you undoubtedly have a advantage in that regard but not in total max strength.
You can disagree with me and I’m sure I’ll mature eventually and go down to 83kg class.