With the constant barrage of misinformation spreading on social media, it's easy to lose track of what constitutes strong for someone in his first year of lifting weights.

On one side, you've got the powerlifting locos claiming anything below 500-pound squats and 600-pound deadlifts is weak.

And if you're not lifting those poundages, you're just "not trying hard enough".

Then you've got those who believe a two-plate squat is something to be admired.

With that in mind, I wanted to give you some *realistic* expectations for your first year of lifting.

Unless you're obese, it has been my experience that the following numbers are very attainable:

* 1-1.25x BW bench press

* 1.5-1.75x BW squat

* 1.75-2x BW deadlift

Thus, a 175-pound hockey player would bench around 200, squat closer to 300, and pull over 300.

At this point, you may think the numbers listed are unachievable. Or way too low.

I'm simply noting what I've seen in all my years of training people *on average* within their first 12 months.

Some athletes fall below those numbers. And some exceed them by a wide margin.

One of my 17-year-olds deadlifted 190 kg / 418 pounds for 5 reps at 200 pounds in his first year of training. That's a 2.1x BW deadlift for a set of 5.

Another 16-year-old squatted double body weight within 6 months of starting with me.

Both are gifted in the weight room. And they enjoy lifting. Which makes them outliers. Not the norm.

Still, the bench, squat and deadlift numbers mentioned above provide a realistic goal to shoot for in year #1.

At the end of the day, success in the gym comes down to consistency.

How much effort you put into training, diet and recovery.

How much you want it.

For a training program that produces strong hockey players in their first year of lifting (and well beyond), visit:

http://www.NextLevelHockeyTraining.com

Yunus Barisik