DOTS Score Calculator

DOTS is a score that compares powerlifting totals between people of different bodyweights. It multiplies your total by a factor that depends on your bodyweight and sex. The result is one number you can use to compare lifters of the same sex, whatever their size.

What DOTS Measures

DOTS measures relative strength, which is how big your total is for your bodyweight. It does not measure absolute strength, skill, or how good a lifter you are in a given weight class. A heavier lifter usually lifts more in kilograms, so a plain total favors big lifters. A bodyweight correction is meant to level that out⁵.

The Formula

DOTS was created by Tim Konertz of the German powerlifting federation BVDK in 2019¹ ². It uses a fourth degree polynomial in bodyweight, with separate constants for men and women¹:

DOTS = Total (kg) x 500 / (a + b x BW + c x BW^2 + d x BW^3 + e x BW^4)

Men: a = -307.75076, b = 24.0900756, c = -0.1918759221, d = 0.0007391293, e = -0.000001093

Women: a = -57.96288, b = 13.6175032, c = -0.1126655495, d = 0.0005158568, e = -0.0000010706

BW is bodyweight in kilograms. The same digits appear in an International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) evaluation report³.

How This Calculator Computes Your Result

Choose your sex and units (kg or lb), then enter your bodyweight and either your squat, bench press and deadlift or a total you already know. Pounds are converted to kilograms (1 lb = 0.45359237 kg) and the three lifts are added to give the total. The tool applies the formula above and rounds your DOTS score to two decimals. The result card also shows your total in kg and lb, the bodyweight factor, and the totals needed for DOTS 300, 400 and 500 at your bodyweight.

The formula is built for a set range of bodyweights. In the OpenPowerlifting code, the limits are 40 to 210 kg for men and 40 to 150 kg for women. Bodyweights outside that range are treated as the nearest limit¹. This calculator does the same and tells you when it happens.

What Your Result Means

A higher DOTS score means a larger total for your bodyweight. Compare your score with other lifters of the same sex, or with your own past scores. We do not label scores as "good" or "elite" because we could not find a published data source for those levels.

The same total gives a different score at different bodyweights. This table uses the formula above with a 500 kg total (our calculation):

A lifter who wants a target can use the "total needed" lines in the result. For example, a man at 83 kg needs a 592.5 kg total for DOTS 400. These are targets, not strength levels.

Why DOTS Was Made, and How It Compares With Wilks

Wilks was the most common formula for picking the best lifter in a meet². An IPF proposal argued it favored heavy lifters. Weight classes of 120 kg and above were about 15% of lifters but over 36% of the top Wilks scores, and the Wilks data included fewer than 200 lifters over 120 kg⁴. DOTS is described by OpenPowerlifting as very similar to Wilks and drop-in compatible, with a simpler polynomial built on drug-tested raw (unequipped) lifters².

Wilks was updated in March 2020⁵. The updated version uses a 600 point scale, so its scores are not on the same scale as DOTS⁶. Do not compare a DOTS score with a Wilks score.

How DOTS Is Used in Practice

DOTS began in the BVDK team competitions, where men and women compete on one team¹. OpenPowerlifting lists a Dots score for each lifter². An IPF evaluation of five formulas in 2020, using results from IPF world and European championships from 2011, ranked DOTS second behind GoodLift (the formula now called IPF GL Points)³. We found no source saying which other federations use DOTS, so we do not list any.