how to determine best lifter?

i know a lot of people base their lifts on percent of body weight, but i think that's wrong. i think the wilks or schwartz formula is how it should be determined, and it is. but i kind of think that those formulas benefit the bigger guys a little too much. what do you guys think? i know the person that made these formulas knew more than i do since i have never competed. i would be right in the upper middle part, (the 198lb class). go to this site http://www.usapowerlifting.com/lifte...-lbs-men.shtml and compare your bench, squat, dead or total to a guy that weighs, say 125lbs more than you, that can bench 75 more pounds than you and the bigger guy will usually win unless you're under 155lbs . for me, i bench 385, we will say at 200lbs, so multiply 385 by .6358. then multiply the 325lber bench of 441 by .5547 and we tie. see what i am trying to say, a guy who weighs 125lbs more than me only has to bench 56lbs more than me to tie me for best lifter. i just think that's weird. let me know what you guys think on this subject. peace.

I have always thought somethig was off. BUt i guess there is a system to it. Listen to this. Last year at a National bench meet won, i weighed in at 230lbs. I benched 560lbs on my third attempt and 585 on my 4th. They said the 4 th attempt cannot count towards best lifter. Thats fine. The guy who beat me for best lifter weighed in at 275lb on the money and benched 580lbs. I dont knwo if him being 36 and my being 26 had factoed in it but he won. 20lbs more for his bench and he out weighed me by 35lb. I can show you the website the results are on and you can figure it out your self. I knwo the handicap starts at 275 so that was factored, and it starts at 165 and under. If your 181 to 242 your in a tough class to win out right. I have seen a man 335lbs bench 660 and beat a guy who benched 600 at 220. Go figure?

yeah, i just think that sucks. anyone else have thoughts about this?

i've often thought about this. i really don't think there is a way to solve this. personally, i like to see lifts measured as a percentage of bw. i'm 275 so squatting 600 is nothing special for my weight, but when you see a 160 guy who can triple bodyweight that just blows me away. my numbers might be higher, but the 160 lifter is 10 times the lifter i will ever be.

i'd like to maybe run two systems concurrently, one based purely on lifts in each weight class, not taking into account bw. and another that factors in bw, so you could have a 'pound for pound' best lifter kind of category.

seems like however you do it, its imposiible to keep everyone happy all the time.

You should always be rated on a pound for pound basis.