How would You “Score” with our Fitness Benchmarks?

Last week, we discussed Fitness Benchmarks and how we can use them to:

1. Constantly give ourselves new Achievements to shoot for
2. Identify which aspects of our fitness need more attention

To help you understand that concept, let’s discuss a few of our Fitness Standards; one Strength Benchmark and one Endurance Benchmark.

For Strength, we’ll go with the Deadlift, a classic.

For Endurance, we’ll go with the Rower.

If you don’t know your numbers here, I recommend you test yourself this week to see how “balanced” your fitness is.

Again, we have standardized these benchmarks based on the best research available, our own wisdom & experience, and the feedback of our peers. Even though these may feel “imbalanced” to you, I promise that they are. If they do seem imbalanced, it’s a good sign that your own training (and your own biases) are influencing that.

Sorry, not sorry.

Let’s discuss the first 4+ levels of Benchmarks at RCTF, as they relate to the Deadlift and the Rower.

Keep in mind that many other Standards/Benchmarks exist at each level, but we’re keeping this discussion to just the Deadlift and Rower.

If you’ve been lifting for a while, you might know where you rank on these tables. If you’re pretty even REGARDLESS OF WHAT LEVEL YOU’RE AT, then great!

Keep pushing and striving for higher levels of fitness, but know that you’ve probably got a good balance of Strength & Endurance!

These two Standards do a great job of showing the progression of a member at RCTF. They also help pull our members out of the very common traps that people can fall into at the gym, where they focus on what they’re good at, and avoid what they suck at.

• Level 1
  • Deadlift: with good technique, anyone should be able to hit this weight. Some will pass it on day one, and others will pass it in weeks. Unless someone has a serious limitation or injury, they can and should be able Deadlift this weight.
    • Need more context? My then 6-year-old once picked up the 70# KB (Kettlebell) because she wanted to see if she could. You can pick up this weight.
  • Rower: we don’t have a Rowing standard at level 1, but that doesn’t mean this crew isn’t rowing. They are working on endurance at this level, BUT – this should be purely developmental. No time trials yet. Let’s just get a lot of Zone 2 & 3, and build up that gas tank.
    • For a beginner, it’s much more important to build some foundational strength before we lean into endurance training. I don’t care about how fuel-efficient a car engine is if it can’t accelerate past 20 mph.
• Level 2
  • Deadlift: 124 pounds. Our heaviest KB. We’ve named her Bertha. Lifting this KB essentially lets us know it’s time for you to “graduate” to Deadlifting with a bar!
    • Once you can deadlift this weight, most of your daily tasks are going to feel really easy from a strength perspective. From carrying all the groceries, to running through the airport with baggage, this is where you really see the benefit of being strong.
  • Rower: 500m is the classic “short” distance on the Rower. We believe that anyone can row 500m in under 2 minutes with good technique. It’s not always easy, and may take some time, but this is a great indicator that you’ve got a solid gas tank.
    • While some people will need to improve their fitness to hit this benchmark, most simply need to improve their technique and pacing. Hitting this mark means your heart won’t beat out of your chest when you need to sprint up that flight of stairs.
• Level 3
  • Deadlift: 1×5 @ BW (Bodyweight). Many of our Strength Standards drift towards “relative” Strength, meaning our own bodyweight dictates our weights. This allows for a more level playing field. I’ll be honest, this isn’t super hard to achieve once you’ve lifted Bertha.
    • Members are allowed to hit this weight on either the classic straight barbell, or the trap/hex bar. There’s something very satisfying about deadlifting your own bodyweight. Probably because you now know that if you had to kill an evil clone of yourself, you could carry away their body.
  • Rower: 2,000m is no joke, no matter what pace you do it at. Good technique and dedicated endurance training will get you to this mark. The world record is 5:35.8, so no matter if you’re elite or average, this distance is long enough that you’ll have to fight off some demons before the finish line.
    • While these 2,000 times aren’t yet elite, they are legit. There’s no way you hit these times without having a little “grit” in ya. The biggest benefit to hitting these times is the confidence that you can now carry with you.
• Level 4
  • Deadlift: 1×5 @ 1.5 BW. We know this feels like it should be heavier to keep in step with the Endurance benchmarks, but the goal here is balanced fitness for the long term.
    • Deadlifting really heavy weights every week can be hell on your body (ask me how I know) and while it’s very possible to do it and recover, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze, unless this is one of your primary goals.
    • We feel that 1×5 @ 1.5 BW meets the mark of “strong enough”. We have tons of members who are hitting 1×5 @ 2X BW and plenty going well beyond that, but again, that has to be a chosen goal of theirs, not a standard we’ve placed upon them.
  • Rower: Here’s where nuance comes in. I just explained the Deadlift hitting a point of diminishing returns. If that’s your goal, then keep on pushing it! But endurance? We can keep pushing that without the same impact on our body. Hard endurance training while taxing, does not tax us the way really heavy lifting does.
    • Hitting a sub-7/8 Row will take a lot of focused training and effort. No bones about it. If you hit this mark, you’re a certified badass.
• Level 5
  • There are levels beyond 4, but the Benchmarks change at this point.
  • With the Deadlift, the next standard is now a heavy 1-leg Deadlift. That doesn’t mean members can’t seek a heavier classic 2-leg deadlift, but it’s no longer a mark we’re advising them to shoot for.
  • After level 4, all of the traditional gym Endurance metrics will have been hit. Level 5 Endurance metrics switch over to longer duration standards.

At RCTF, we have a clear progression for developing your fitness.

Even with that guidance, it’s incredibly important to know where you sit on a complete table of Fitness Benchmarks (members; remember that you can see our full list posted up on the wall in the gym)

At level 1, Strength is much more important. It gets us to a solid “baseline” much faster than endurance work. A big part of that is because the engine isn’t powerful enough to do much yet.

But as we progress through the levels, a switch happens.

In the interest of consistently training hard, we need to pay attention to managing our recovery. This leads to a growing emphasis on endurance.

We value Strength at RCTF.

We value Endurance at RCTF.

Neglecting either of these – the two primary fitness qualities – will limit you as you try to live an adventurous life.

Embracing both opens all the doors for you.