Wilks Calculator

Get your Wilks score with the original formula and with Wilks 2020, for a total or a single lift, men or women. Add your age to apply the McCulloch or Foster age coefficient.

Wilks (original) 317.25

Wilks 2020 381.13

Total of 1,100.0 lb (499.0 kg) at 200.0 lb (90.72 kg) body weight, men's coefficients. The original formula is on a 500-point scale, Wilks 2020 on a 600-point scale: compare scores only within the same formula.

Coefficients and points
Formula	Coefficient	Points
Wilks (original)	0.6358	317.25
Wilks 2020	0.7639	381.13

The formulas are defined in kilograms, so pound inputs are converted first (1 lb = 0.45359237 kg).

Original Wilks and Wilks 2020

Both versions divide a fixed number by a fifth-degree polynomial of body weight (x, in kg) and multiply the result by the weight lifted:

Wilks = lifted × 500 ÷ (a + b·x + c·x² + d·x³ + e·x⁴ + f·x⁵). Wilks 2020 uses 600 in place of 500, with its own constants.

Wilks and Wilks 2020 constants (IPF report 2020, Appendix 1)
	a	b	c	d	e	f
Wilks, men	−216.0475144	16.2606339	−0.002388645	−0.00113732	7.01863 × 10⁻⁶	−1.291 × 10⁻⁸
Wilks, women	594.31747775582	−27.23842536447	0.82112226871	−0.00930733913	4.731582 × 10⁻⁵	−9.054 × 10⁻⁸
Wilks 2020, men	47.4617885411949	8.47206137941125	0.073694103462609	−0.00139583381094385	7.07665973070743 × 10⁻⁶	−1.20804336482315 × 10⁻⁸
Wilks 2020, women	−125.425539779509	13.7121941940668	−0.0330725063103405	−0.0010504000506583	9.38773881462799 × 10⁻⁶	−2.3334613884954 × 10⁻⁸

The original is Robert Wilks's formula, which the IPF published as a coefficient table. Wilks 2020 was released by Powerlifting Australia on 28 February 2020 on a 600-point scale, so its scores are not comparable with original Wilks scores. Example: a man weighing 200 lb (90.72 kg) with a 1,100 lb (498.95 kg) total has an original coefficient of 0.6358 and scores 317.25; with Wilks 2020 the coefficient is 0.7639 and the score 381.13.

Body weights outside the Wilks tables

The official tables set the range. The IPF's original table runs from 40.0 to 205.9 kg for men and to 150.9 kg for women. Heavier lifters keep the coefficient of the last row, and below 40 kg there is no coefficient. The Wilks 2020 tables run from 40.00 to 200.95 kg for men and to 150.95 kg for women; outside them the source gives no coefficient, so the calculator gives no Wilks 2020 result and says why.

The calculator uses the polynomial itself, while the tables print the coefficient rounded to 4 decimals. A score from the table can differ by at most 0.00005 × the weight lifted: 0.05 points on a 1,000 kg total.

Wilks with age: McCulloch and Foster

USA Powerlifting's coefficient document sets out two multipliers: the Wilks coefficient for body weight, and the Foster (ages 14 to 23) and McCulloch (40 and over) coefficients for age, each applied by multiplying the result. Strength is taken to peak between 23 and 40, so those ages get 1. With an age entered, the calculator multiplies each Wilks score by the age coefficient, for example ×1.130 at 50 and ×1.645 at 70. The age tables are older than Wilks 2020, so using them with it is an application choice.

Wilks for a single lift

The IPF table says to multiply the coefficient "by the individual lift or total", and Powerlifting Australia gives the same instruction for Wilks 2020. Choose the lift, enter its weight, and compare the score only with scores for the same lift. Pound inputs are converted to kilograms before scoring (1 lb = 0.45359237 kg).

Questions

How is Wilks score calculated?

Convert body weight (x) and the weight lifted to kilograms. The original coefficient is 500 ÷ (a + b·x + c·x² + d·x³ + e·x⁴ + f·x⁵) with the men's or women's constants in the table above; multiply it by the total or the single lift. The IPF table's own example: a man weighing 69.3 kg has a coefficient of 0.7552, so a 500 kg total scores 377.60. Wilks 2020 works the same way with 600 and its own constants.

How can I calculate my Wilks score based on my age?

Multiply your Wilks score by the coefficient for your age on the day of the lift: Foster for ages 14 to 23, McCulloch for 40 and over, and 1 in between. USA Powerlifting's own examples are 1.835 at 75, 1.340 at 60 and 1.020 at 42. A 400-point Wilks at age 60 becomes 400 × 1.340 = 536.0. Enter your age above and the calculator does this for both Wilks versions.

Is a 300 Wilks score good?

The original Wilks comes as a coefficient table with no grading, but its scale has a reference point: the coefficients were fitted so that the average lifter in the national ranking lists Wilks analysed scores 500 at any body weight (IPF review by Marksteiner, 2018). 300 points is 60% of that. For Wilks 2020, its publisher Powerlifting Australia puts it informally: "400 points you're on the way, 500 points you're a gun". In kilos, 300 original Wilks points take a total of 449.4 kg (990.8 lb) for a man weighing 83 kg, and 279.3 kg (615.8 lb) for a woman weighing 63 kg.