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Numbers and scores

Wilks

Wilks coefficient Also called Wilks score, Wilks formula, Wilks coefficient, Wilks points

Wilks is a points score for a lift, usually a powerlifting total, multiplied by a coefficient that depends on the lifter's bodyweight and sex.

Wilks80 kg man, 400 kg total273.1100 kg man, 450 kg total273.9
100 kg man, 450 kg total: 273.9 Wilks. An 80 kg man totalling 400 kg scores 273.1 Wilks; a 100 kg man totalling 450 kg scores 273.9, 0.8 of a point ahead.

In plain words

Wilks turns a lift into points by multiplying it by a number tied to what you weigh. The lift is usually a powerlifting total. Robert Wilks of Powerlifting Australia wrote it. The coefficient is 500 divided by a curve of bodyweight, with separate constants for men and women; the points are the total times that coefficient. The IPF scored meets with Wilks until the end of 2018, so results from before 2019 are usually quoted in it. There are two versions: a revised formula came out in March 2020 and gives different numbers. This glossary and the Wilks calculator on masheen.app use the original, the one OpenPowerlifting prints.

An example

An 80 kg man totals 400 kg: 273.1 Wilks. A 100 kg man totals 450 kg: 273.9 Wilks. The heavier lifter is ahead by 0.8 of a point. Run the same two lifters through DOTS and they score 275.8 and 277.0, so the gap widens to 1.2 points. Same lifts, two formulas, two answers, which is why a score is quoted with its name.

Often confused with

DOTS DOTS does the same job with a newer curve; Masheen ranks by DOTS, and older results are often quoted in Wilks.
DOTS DOTS is a points score from a weight lifted, usually a powerlifting total, and the lifter's bodyweight, so lifters of different sizes can be compared.
Powerlifting total A powerlifting total is the sum of your best squat, best bench press and best deadlift, each a single rep.
Strength standards Strength standards are tables that sort a lift into named levels, such as novice, intermediate and advanced, by how the weight compares with bodyweight.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, Wilks coefficient Read
  2. OpenPowerlifting project, coefficients source code: wilks.rs Read

Updated . How these pages are researched and corrected: editorial policy. Every term in the glossary.