Q: Mike I am little concerned that I am becoming unbalanced in my weight training. I can squat 215 for three sets of eight reps, Dead lift 185 for four sets of 8-9 reps, but my bench is only 155-160 for five sets of five reps. Should the be closer together? I am 5'8 and about 150 lbs. What would be a realistic goal for these three for someone my size?

A: Nope, that actually sounds very balanced! Your squat and your deadlift should both be significantly higher than your bench press. Elite lifters typically have squat and deadlift roughly equal in strength and bench press around 25% lighter. The exact numbers will vary from person to person of course, but in general you want your squat and deadlift be higher than your bench.

I recommend not worrying about your absolute strength levels -- just make sure you keep making steady progress. It's commonly said that a strong maximum squat/deadlift is twice your bodyweight (300 pounds for you) and a strong bench is 1.5 times your bodyweight (225 pounds for you). These are one-rep maxes and it sounds like you're not too far off from these levels. Good job!