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Who is actually stronger?
Comparing raw numbers means nothing when two lifters aren't the same size. The DOTS score adjusts for bodyweight and names a real winner.
Lifter A
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DOTS score
Lifter B
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DOTS score
Leave reps at 1 if you're entering a true max. Above that, the estimated 1RM comes from the Epley formula — reliable up to 12 reps, not beyond.
What is the DOTS score?
DOTS (Dynamic Objective Team Scoring) is a coefficient that puts a strength performance on a common scale regardless of the athlete's bodyweight. It exists because a light lifter and a heavy lifter don't produce the same relative force for the same bar: strength goes up with mass, but not as fast as mass does.
In practice, every bodyweight gets a multiplier. You multiply the weight lifted by that multiplier and you get a number that compares two people of different sizes. It's the system commonly used in powerlifting and streetlifting to rank athletes who don't compete in the same weight class.
The formula
The multiplier is 500 / P(w), where w is bodyweight in kilograms and P is a fifth-degree polynomial whose coefficients differ between men and women:
P(w) = a + b·w + c·w² + d·w³ + e·w⁴ + f·w⁵
The final score is simply 1RM × 500 / P(w). The polynomial diverges outside the range of bodyweights seen in competition, so the calculation is bounded to 40–210 kg for men and 40–150 kg for women. Outside that range the result still shows, but it is extrapolated and this page says so.
A few multipliers
To give a sense of the correction being applied — the lighter you are, the higher your multiplier:
| Bodyweight | Male multiplier | Female multiplier |
|---|
Why raw numbers mean nothing
Take this page's default example: 140 kg from a 62 kg lifter against 180 kg from a 95 kg lifter. The second bar is 40 kg heavier — and the first lifter still wins on DOTS.
It's what everyone senses in the gym without being able to put a number on it, and it's exactly what makes a leaderboard among friends pointless when it's built on raw kilos: the heaviest guy always wins, so nobody plays.
What about estimated 1RM?
If you enter a set rather than a true max, the weight is first converted to an estimated 1RM with the Epley formula: 1RM = weight × (1 + reps / 30). Past 12 reps, every estimation formula becomes too imprecise for a ranking to mean anything — so the calculation caps at 12.
PvPr does this on its own, on every set. Here you compare two performances by hand. In the app, your group has a permanent DOTS leaderboard that updates every session, and duels that settle themselves without anyone reaching for a calculator.