GL, DOTS, and Wilks: Powerlifting's Scoring Formulas Explained

You'll probably have heard of DOTS, Wilks, or GL points at some point when getting into powerlifting, but what are they, and why do we use them?

In IPF powerlifting, there are two categories of equipment and two types of events: Classic (also called raw) & Equipped (single-ply in the IPF), and Full-Power (S, B, & D) & Bench-Only. Lifters in each of the nine classes per gender compete across all these divisions. That's 9 weight categories times two gender categories times two equipment categories times two event types, which makes 72. So, how are we meant to compare how good a lifter is between a 120+ man in a shirt in bench-only vs a -43 woman doing classic full-power?

The answer is GL (if you're an IPF lifter; other formulae apply otherwise). It aims to create a comparable score, based on 100 GL points making you an elite athlete, whatever discipline you do. The idea is that 80 GL means the same whatever you weigh, whatever event you do, and so on. But of course the reality is that this is a very imperfect measure, so we can't compare quite that fairly.

GL works by taking a coefficient based on your weight and the other categories, and multiplying it by your total. This means it is "linear in total", so adding 10% to your total always adds 10% to your GL, and adding 10kg to your total adds the same amount of GL whether you total 200kg or 1000kg. The coefficient has a more complicated formula that looks like this. You don't need to understand it all, but it's good to know that this is a fixed value for you, and it's worth knowing your own GL coefficient if you ever need to quickly find what total you need for a given GL.

DOTS and Wilks are alternatives to GL, and DOTS is currently the more popular of the two. They both try to equalise out factors like weight to give comparable scores, using slightly different formulae.

As you lift and fill in your training data on the Strength page, Auriga automatically passes this data to our training analysis tool, The Hierophant. This tracks your lifting, develops a personalised understanding of your training style and features, and can provide a running estimate of your GL score. This nifty feature is super helpful if you're changing weight category, to make sure you're on the right track to stay competitive!

On meet day itself, Auriga's built-in attempt calculator goes a step further. Type in a target, a GL score or a straight kg total, and as you or your coach tick off each attempt as made or missed, it works out live exactly what you still need to hit it, so you always know what's left rather than doing the maths between flights.

You can learn more about GL and how the IPF invented it by clicking on the sources below.