DOTS Calculator

DOTS turns squat, bench, and deadlift plus bodyweight into one number so lifters of different sizes can be compared. Higher is stronger relative to bodyweight. Enter a total, or the three lifts, to get a DOTS score and a plain-language read of what that number usually means.

What DOTS is

A 70 kg lifter with a 500 kg total is stronger pound-for-pound than a 120 kg lifter with the same 500 kg total. DOTS is the single number that says that. It is the comparison most raw federations and OpenPowerlifting use today. Wilks did the same job on an older scale.

DOTS does not choose next week's squat. It does not rank a single lift against bodyweight. For that, use the strength standards calculator.

When to use it

  • Compare two lifters of different bodyweights. Who is stronger relative to size: an 80 kg total of 520 kg or a 110 kg total of 600 kg? DOTS answers that. Raw kilogram totals do not.
  • Track a total after bodyweight changes. If both total and bodyweight increased, DOTS shows whether pound-for-pound strength improved.
  • Get a rough meet-level read. Lifters use DOTS to see whether a gym or meet total sits at local, national, or elite relative strength. The bands below are community context, not official qualifying scores.

Example

An 83 kg male lifter squats 180 kg, benches 120 kg, and deadlifts 200 kg. The total is 500 kg. DOTS is about 338.

That is typically local-meet strength: trained and competitive at a club or regional meet, not a national-level total. The same 500 kg at 120 kg bodyweight would score lower, because more bodyweight is doing the work.

How to read a DOTS score

These bands are rough gym-and-meet context for raw lifters, not federation qualifying totals. Age, equipment, judged depth, and whether the number is a gym total all change the picture.

DOTS Typical read
Under 300Trained gym total
Around 350Local-meet level
Around 400National-level in many raw orgs
450+Elite / international territory

The other scores on this page

Wilks is the older scale. Wilks-2 is the 2020 update. Those two are not interchangeable. IPF GL is the IPF formula; its numbers look like 70–120, so they do not compare to DOTS. The equipment toggle changes IPF GL only.

This page reports the published formulas. It is not a ranking against OpenPowerlifting or any meet database.

A DOTS number is comparison math. It does not choose the next training weight. Dynamic Program is for running the program: pick a progression method, log the work, and see what changes next.

View Dynamic Program on Play Store

Sources and further reading

See the OpenPowerlifting notes on Dots points, the IPF GL coefficient sheet, and the IPF 2020 evaluation of Wilks, Wilks-2, DOTS, and Goodlift.