Athletic performances measured by UK-based strength-level calculator
By Christopher David Carter
Powerlifters and amateur athletes are increasingly measuring strength gains by the worldwide strength-level calculator now-often utilized by fitness instructors and strength-and-conditioning coaches across North America and beyond.
Developed at the University of Cambridge (England) in 2007, the online strength-level calculator (SLC) calculates the one rep-max of a participant’s given lift – nearly 290 different strength and power exercises across barbell (like bench-press, squat, and deadlift), dumbbell, machine, cable and bodyweight training events (like pullups and pushups) – then analyzes the participants’ measured strength against literally tens-of-millions of powerlifters and strength athletes, worldwide.
The calculations have proven to be extremely accurate and are further based on the number of repetitions of a given weight as well as the participating athlete’s gender, age, and bodyweight. SLC ranks performance percentile standards using the beginner, novice, intermediate, advanced and elite thresholds.
Easy to use, SLC [https://strengthlevel.com/] is regularly used by NFL and NCAA football players and coaches, competitive powerlifters, military special operations forces, and law-enforcement tactical teams comparing one participant’s gym performance against millions of his (or her) peers.
STRENGTH METRICS FROM COLUMBIA AND AREA-COMMUNITIES
Not surprisingly some of the strongest, most elite power metrics have emerged on SLC from Columbia, S.C., the Palmetto State’s capitol city. Long recognized as a mecca of martial arts, MMA, strength sports like powerlifting and with three NCAA football programs (one D1 and two D2 teams), and bordering the U.S. Army’s largest basic training base, Columbia and surrounding areas have emerged as a “growing regional hub for strength sports, particularly within powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting, and hardcore bodybuilding.”
Gyms like One Life Fitness, Brickhouse Gym, Stronghold Athletic Club, the Original Gym, and Warrior Axe Crossfit are producing some of the strongest powerlifters and strength athletes in the nation. And several major strength equipment companies are also headquartered in-or-near the Capitol City including Williams Strength and Sorinex, which serves the NFL, NCAA athletic programs, and the military.
A KARATE GRANDMASTER
Bruce Brutschy, a 10th-degree black belt and fitness instructor who trains at his fully equipped home-gym in West Columbia is part of a core group of martial arts tournament champions who make up the S.C. Black Belt Hall of Fame. “There’s no question about the Columbia area being a hub of power-related sports and the resultant strength and conditioning culture here,” said Brutschy, who also trains clients at Stronghold Athletic Club. “And of course that’s what we see in the numbers of elite athletes here as measured by a global standards guide like the strength-level calculator.”
A 74-year-old karate grandmaster who bested a national bench-press record in his age category earlier this year, Brutschy was recently listed among bench champions following the Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s (RCSD) 250 Bench Press Challenge commemorating America’s 250th birthday in July, is classified by SLC as “elite” in both pullups (30 reps in a single set, hundreds over multiple sets, at age 74) and pushups (35 reps also 74).
POWERLIFTERS AND STRENGTH ATHLETES
Brutschy’s physician, John Mattei, M.D., is an exceptionally strong powerlifter according to calculations made by SLC.
Dr. Mattei recently had to withdraw from an August 28 meet wherein he was going to attempt 500 lbs. on bench. But his existing numbers are 408 bench, 550 squat, and 430 deadlift; all well-within elite-level categories for his age 73.
Former Penn State Cornerback (and Miami Dolphins signee) A.J. Wallace, today a 37-year-old fitness instructor and competitive bodybuilder, no longer benches, squats or deadlifts for record, but is still able to hit advanced-level numbers of 385 (bench) 425 (squat) 525 (deadlift) and an elite-level 80 pushups calculated by SLC.
And during PRO DAY (similar to the NFL Combine) in 2010, Wallace hit 16 reps of 225 on bench.
Wallace’s fellow instructor at One Life Fitness (1LF) is ILF-Sandhills General Manager Brandon Motassem, a formerly deployed U.S. Army veteran, whose elite numbers calculated by SLC include a 405 lbs. bench recorded in 2025 (he plans to attempt 405 again within a few weeks of this writing), a recent 315 squat and a 465 deadlift.
Also training at 1LF is Col. W. Thomas Smith Jr., a retired S.C. Military Department officer and formerly deployed U.S. Marine Infantry leader who, at age 67, scored a 315-lbs. bench-press on July 17 with Motassem as his spotter (weeks later, Smith hit 305X2 and 295X2 with Wallace spotting him).
Having suffered a severe stroke in 2024, Smith has rebounded with impressive gym gains including multiple reps of 225 lbs., 235 lbs., 245 lbs., and 275 lbs. all on bench; a documented age-specific state-record 828 lbs. on the leg-press sled at all 1LF facilities in South Carolina. In recent weeks, Smith also hit elite numbers on incline bench (225 for multiple repetitions) and an unofficial 60 pushups – all elite category numbers for his age, 67, according to SLC. But it is his elite-level 315 lbs. bench-press which according to SLC makes him stronger than 99.9-percent of all male lifters in his age category in the world.
Smith also set a static hold personal record of 420 lbs., though static holds are currently not calculated by SLC.
“Tom is a lion among men,” said Brutschy. “He’s a beast in the gym, and his being stronger on bench than 99.9-percent of all other men his age on earth is proof.”
RCSD Master Deputy Colin Davis, a 32-year-old Special Response Team (SWAT) operator, benches 330 lbs., squats 425, and deadlifts 445; all highly respectable lifts in the intermediate range according to SLC, though his 16 reps of 225 were clearly in the advanced category and stronger than 93-percent of all male lifters his age and weight, worldwide, according to SLC.
Then there is Joey V. Brown, a fitness instructor at the Forest Acres location of 1LF. Brown benches 440 lbs. squats 420, and deadlifts 485. His lift is easily in the elite category, and stronger than 97-percent of all male lifters his age and weight, worldwide.
During the aforementioned RCSD-sponsored 250 Bench Press Challenge in July, Brown captured “reigning rep champion” honors with 32 repetitions of 250 lbs., followed closely by competitive powerlifter Lawrence Brimfield with 31 reps. Brutschy, Mattei, Mohtassem, Smith, and – as mentioned – Davis also recorded reps during the 250 Bench Press Challenge. As did 60 other men.
STRONGMEN YES, BUT STRONGWOMEN TOO
Though far too-often overshadowed by their male counterparts, female powerlifters and strength athletes – with entirely different numbers and strength metrics – are ‘earning their flowers’ in the Midlands of S.C. and using SLC to measure their performances. For instance, RCSD Master Deputy Shannon Huffman recorded a 205 lbs. bench press – an “elite” lift according to SLC – and a 305 deadlift and 255 squat both calculated as “advanced” lifts by SLC.
Moreover, several women recently competed in 1LF-Sandhills’ 1,000-lbs. club combining all three traditional powerlifting events, like powerlifter Mari White who recorded a belt-winning bench-press of 200 lbs. – an “advanced” lift for her age, 26, and bodyweight (unpublished) category.
Other champion female powerlifters benching 200 lbs. and above have competed in area power-meets over the previous two years including Kristen Cochran with a 248 lbs. bench, and Lauren (aka @laurenliftz) with a 215 lbs. bench.
Another 1LF instructor and powerlifter Kelsi Cook benches 130 lbs. (“intermediate” according to SLC), squats 240 (also “intermediate), but deadlifts 275 (“advanced”), and her 40 pushups are “advanced” based on her age, 22, and unpublished bodyweight.
WONDERWOMEN: A TRULY ELITE CLASS
Huffman, White, Cochran, Laurenliftz, and Cook are not fitness anomalies, though there are far fewer female powerlifters than males, not because females are competing with males: They don’t. But competitive female powerlifters are simply fewer in number than their male counterparts. Also the strength numbers of female athletes are often not recorded by collegiate sports teams (whereas male athlete numbers are often published by teams). But sports culture is changing with female athletes now comprising approximately 30-34-percent of competitive powerlifters in the U.S. No verifiable S.C.-specific percentages are available.
The number of female athletes participating in powerlifting and strength sports is growing. Though the current less-than male percentages of active, competitive female powerlifters place females in a truly elite class all their own. And that elite-class is not likely to diminish anytime soon.
– Christopher David Carter writes about strength sports and military/national defense issues. He is a former semi-pro football player and U.S. Air Force veteran whose articles have appeared in Ops Lens, Human Events, Canada Free Press, The National Law Review, The Florida Times Union, Deutsche Welle, and NavySEALs.com among other publications. Carter is based in Jackson, Missouri.
