How ranks work

Gym gives every ranked lift a tier from Bronze to Titan and a Top X% score. This page explains exactly how those numbers are calculated, what they mean and what they do not mean.

1. Your estimated one-rep max

Every set you log is turned into an estimated one-rep max (e1RM) with the Epley formula:

e1RM = weight × (1 + reps ÷ 30)

• A single rep counts as the weight itself.
• Reps above 15 count as 15, because very high-rep sets predict a one-rep max poorly.
• Example: 100 kg for 5 reps gives 100 × (1 + 5 ÷ 30) = 116.7 kg.
• Bodyweight exercises such as pull-ups, chin-ups, dips and push-ups: the weight you log is the added load, and a share of your bodyweight is counted as lifted load (all of it for pull-ups, chin-ups and dips, about two thirds for push-ups).

Your rank for an exercise uses your best e1RM so far.

2. Strength relative to bodyweight, adjusted for age

Your e1RM is divided by your bodyweight, so a lighter and a heavier lifter are compared fairly. The ratio is then multiplied by an age factor:

• 1.0 from age 18 to 35,
• plus 1.5% for each year under 18,
• plus 1% for each year over 35,
• up to a maximum of 1.35.

For example, a 45-year-old's ratio is multiplied by 1.10.

3. Strength-standard ranges

For each ranked exercise, Gym has separate ranges for men and women with five thresholds, each tied to a percentile:

Your age-adjusted ratio is placed between the two nearest thresholds and your percentile is interpolated in a straight line between them. Below the beginner threshold it scales down toward zero; above the elite threshold it keeps rising at the advanced-to-elite slope. The result is kept between 1 and 99.9 and rounded to one decimal.

Example. The men's bench press thresholds are 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, 1.50 and 2.00 times bodyweight. An 80 kg, 30-year-old man with a 100 kg e1RM has a ratio of 1.25, halfway between intermediate (1.00, 50th) and advanced (1.50, 80th), so his percentile is 65.

Variations of a main lift do not get their own softer ranges. Their thresholds are fixed ratios of the parent lift: for example, incline bench press uses 85% of the bench press thresholds and leg press uses 2 times the squat thresholds. This keeps an easier machine variation from being a shortcut to a higher rank. Exercises with no close parent lift, such as lat pulldown, leg curl or triceps pushdown, have their own thresholds.

About 45 exercises are ranked. Other exercises still count toward your volume, XP, streaks and quests and are shown as Unranked.

4. Tiers, sub-tiers and Top X%

Your percentile decides your tier:

Tier	Percentile	Shown as
Bronze	1 to 30	Top 99% to Top 70%
Silver	30 to 50	Top 70% to Top 50%
Gold	50 to 70	Top 50% to Top 30%
Platinum	70 to 85	Top 30% to Top 15%
Diamond	85 to 95	Top 15% to Top 5%
Titan	95 to 99.9	Top 5% to Top 0.1%

• Each tier is split into three equal steps, from III (lowest) to II and I (highest). In the example above, a percentile of 65 is in the top third of Gold, so it is Gold I.
• Top X% = 100 minus your percentile. A percentile of 65 is shown as Top 35%.
• The tier, the step and Top X% are all calculated from the same rounded percentile, so they always agree.

5. Muscle ranks

Each muscle group gets a score from the ranked exercises that train it: a weighted average of those exercises' percentiles, where a muscle that an exercise mainly works counts fully and a muscle it works secondarily counts 40%. Your overall body rank is the average of the muscle scores you have.

6. Recovery guide

The muscle map's recovery colors are a simple rule of thumb, not a measurement. Every working set adds fatigue to the muscles it trains (fully for the main muscles, 40% for secondary ones), and that fatigue fades in a straight line over 48 hours for isolation exercises and 72 hours for compound exercises. Ten fresh sets on a muscle count as fully fatigued. A muscle is shown as Ready below 25% fatigue, Soon from 25% to 60%, and Resting above 60%. How you actually feel matters more.

7. Rank predictions

Projections such as "Gold by a certain date" assume steady beginner-style progress of about 1.75 percentile points per week, shown as at least 2 and at most 26 weeks away. They are rough motivation, not a promise.

8. What ranks are, and what they are not

• The thresholds are our own rounded estimates, informed by publicly available strength standards. They are not taken from a single dataset and may be revised.
• Your percentile is an estimate of where your lift sits on those ranges for your sex, bodyweight and age. It is not a ranking against other Gym users.
• Ranks are only as accurate as what you log: your bodyweight, your age, and sets performed with full range of motion.
• Ranks, recovery and predictions are not medical or training advice. Talk to a qualified professional before starting a new program, and never lift beyond what you can do safely to chase a rank.

On the Free plan, 3 exercises are ranked; Pro ranks every supported exercise. See our Terms of Use for more.

Data attribution

Food data from Open Food Facts, available under the Open Database License (ODbL). Individual contents of the database are available under the Database Contents License.

Questions about ranks? Email info@pixoby.space.