Wilks
calculator
Turn a powerlifting total into a Wilks score — the bodyweight-adjusted number that lets a 60 kg and a 120 kg lifter be compared on one scale. It shows the coefficient behind the score, and where Wilks now sits next to the IPF GL points that replaced it.
A Wilks calculator turns a powerlifting total — squat plus bench press plus deadlift — into one number that adjusts for bodyweight, so lifters of different sizes and both sexes can be ranked against each other. Enter your sex, your bodyweight, and your total; the score is your total in kilograms multiplied by a coefficient read off a fifth-degree polynomial of your bodyweight. A 200 lb (90.72 kg) male lifter with an 1,100 lb (498.95 kg) total scores about 317.
How the math works
The Wilks coefficient was published by Robert Wilks of Powerlifting Australia and became the sport's standard bodyweight-adjustment score. Your bodyweight in kilograms goes into a fifth-degree polynomial with sex-specific constants; 500 divided by that polynomial is the coefficient, and the coefficient times your total (in kilograms) is the score.
where x = bodyweight in kg
Wilks score = coefficient × total (kg)
Men: a = −216.0475144, b = 16.2606339, c = −0.002388645,
d = −0.00113732, e = 7.01863e−06, f = −1.291e−08
Women: a = 594.31747775582, b = −27.23842536447, c = 0.82112226871,
d = −0.00930733913, e = 4.731582e−05, f = −9.054e−08
Everything reduces to kilograms before the polynomial runs, which is why the score does not change between units: enter 200 lb or 90.72 kg for the same lifter and the pounds convert with the exact factor (1 lb = 0.45359237 kg) to the same coefficient. The lb/kg toggle changes what you type, not the number that comes out.
Worked example
A male lifter weighing 200 lb (90.72 kg) with a competition total of 1,100 lb (498.95 kg):
- Coefficient at 90.72 kg: 500 / polynomial = 0.6358
- Wilks score: 0.6358 × 498.95 = 317.25 (≈ 317)
A female lifter weighing 132 lb (60 kg) with a 661 lb (300 kg) total scores 1.1149 × 300 = 334. Her 300 kg total ranks above his 500 kg total — a 200 kg gap in raw weight and a 30 kg gap in bodyweight, reduced to two comparable numbers. That reduction is the entire job of the coefficient, and also the reason to be careful with it.
The coefficient is not flat across bodyweight
The whole point of the score is that it weights bodyweight, so the coefficient falls as you get heavier. For men it runs like this:
| Bodyweight | Coefficient (men) |
|---|---|
| 60 kg (132.3 lb) | 0.8529 |
| 90 kg (198.4 lb) | 0.6384 |
| 120 kg (264.6 lb) | 0.5749 |
| 140 kg (308.6 lb) | 0.5588 |
The consequence is concrete. Take an identical 500 kg total: at 60 kg it scores 426.44, at 120 kg it scores 287.46 — about 48% higher for the lighter lifter. That built-in weighting is a modelling choice, not a measurement, and it is exactly what the newer scores were built to revisit.
Wilks, Wilks-2, IPF GL, and DOTS
This calculator computes the original Wilks formula, which is the one nearly every "Wilks calculator" still runs. It is no longer the standard for international competition. The International Powerlifting Federation stopped using Wilks after 2019 and adopted its own IPF GL ("Goodlift") points from 1 May 2020, fitted to a larger and more recent set of competition results. Two other scores are in common use: Wilks-2 (2020), a re-fit of the original by Robert Wilks, and DOTS, which many non-IPF federations and calculators default to.
They do not agree, and swapping formulas reorders the field, so a Wilks score is only comparable to other Wilks scores. If you are chasing a qualifying total or comparing yourself against a meet result, check which score that meet actually used before reading anything into the number.
When this calculator is wrong
A bodyweight-adjusted score is a comparison under one formula, not an absolute measure of strength. Because the weighting is baked into the coefficient — the men's number falls from 0.8529 at 60 kg to 0.5749 at 120 kg, so the same 500 kg total scores about 48% higher for the lighter lifter — a different model reorders the same lifters, which is why the IPF replaced Wilks with IPF GL points in 2020 (opinions.md O12). The counter-case: for one lifter tracking their own Wilks over time at a stable bodyweight, the formula is held constant, so the number is a clean personal-progress proxy. The formula-choice problem bites when you compare different lifters or read across a federation's scoring change — not when you watch your own score move.
Two more limits worth naming:
- It scores a competition total, not a gym day. The Wilks number assumes a squat, bench, and deadlift you could hit on the same platform on the same day. Best-ever lifts from three separate sessions inflate it, sometimes by a lot.
- The curve loses meaning at the extremes. The polynomial is fitted across roughly 40–200 kg (88–441 lb) of bodyweight. A very light junior or a super-heavyweight sits where the curve is least reliable, and the score gets noisier there.
What to do with the result
Use the score to compare like with like: your total against another lifter's total scored the same way, or your own score across a training block. Recompute it whenever your total or your bodyweight changes — a lighter bodyweight at the same total raises the score, which is worth knowing before a weight cut but is not a reason to chase one.
If your goal is competition, find out which score your federation reports — IPF GL for IPF-affiliated meets, often DOTS elsewhere — and track that one instead, since it is the number that will rank you on the day. Keep the Wilks figure if you want continuity with older results; just don't compare it across formulas.
Common questions
- What is a good Wilks score?
- It depends on sex, federation, and era, and there is no governing-body threshold for "good." The benchmark bands you see on calculator sites — beginner, novice, intermediate, advanced, elite — are crowd-sourced from those sites' own user data, not a standard, so treat them as rough. A more honest read is relative: compare your score to lifters in your division at meets scored the same way.
- Did the IPF stop using the Wilks formula?
- Yes. The IPF moved off Wilks after 2019 and adopted its own IPF GL ("Goodlift") points, effective 1 May 2020. Most "Wilks calculators," including this one, still compute the original 1997 Wilks formula, so the number may not match what a current IPF meet reports.
- What's the difference between Wilks, Wilks-2, IPF GL, and DOTS?
- All four convert a total into a bodyweight-adjusted score, but each uses different coefficients fitted to different data. Wilks (1997) is the original; Wilks-2 (2020) is a re-fit by Robert Wilks; IPF GL is the IPF's current standard; DOTS is common outside the IPF. They give different numbers for the same lifter, so a score is only comparable within one formula.
- Does the Wilks score change between pounds and kilograms?
- No. The formula works in kilograms, so pounds are converted first with the exact factor (1 lb = 0.45359237 kg). A lifter gets the same score whether they enter imperial or metric — the unit toggle only changes what you type.
- Do I use my competition total or my gym maxes?
- The score is designed for a competition total — a squat, bench, and deadlift you could make on one platform on one day. Combining three best-ever gym lifts from separate sessions gives a higher number than a real meet would, so it isn't comparable to competition scores.
- How is the Wilks coefficient calculated?
- Take your bodyweight in kilograms, put it through a fifth-degree polynomial with sex-specific constants, and divide 500 by the result. That coefficient, multiplied by your total in kilograms, is your Wilks score. The full constants are in the formula above.