I had a training session the other day with a client who’s been with me a few years.
At the end of the workout, she said, “It feels so good to be strong.”
Mind you, this is coming from a woman who’s lost more than 40 pounds. Yet the outcome that’s on the tip of her tongue is how strong she’s become.
The truth is, you simply can’t go wrong with STRONG.
First, strength proves itself to be the most important physical characteristic due to its positive connection to almost every OTHER characteristic.
Simply put, the stronger you are, the more potential you have to develop other areas of physicality like muscle growth, fat loss, endurance, mobility and overall quality of life. 
Now that we know that getting stronger is kind of a big deal, let’s address the question, “How strong should you be?”
Strength can be viewed in absolutes (a.k.a. how much weight can you lift) or in relative terms (how much weight can you lift for your bodyweight and age). The latter is more applicable for people like you and me.
You obviously don’t need to be a powerlifter, but you can get really strong for your body and your life.
How strong are you relative to your bodyweight and your age? That’s a much more powerful metric for health, wellness and longevity. If you’d like to go deeper, I came across an article that does a great job of defining different levels of strength for men and women when it comes to the four foundational strength exercises: back squat, deadlift, bench press and overhead press. Check it out here: https://whitecoattrainer.com/blog/how-strong-are-you
At the end of the day, don’t get caught up in comparing yourself to other people. And more important, enjoy the journey.
After all, the best part about being strong, as we learned at the beginning of this email?
It feels great
Your friend and coach,
Paul F Sweatt CPT
Train Smart. Train Hard. Train Safe. Train to Sweatt.