In the MCU Steve Rogers aka Captain America, leader of the Avengers and the greatest soldier in history, is superhuman. The camp that denied this died out long ago, around the time The Winter Soldier (2014) was released. But how strong is he? We know he's a pretty big guy and his feats indicate that, but most discussions regarding his strength come down to the simple posting of a motorcycle throwing gif as opposed to actually estimating his lifting tonnage, the following analysis will attempt to do just that.

Note:

• I'm not a mathematician, so I'm going to try and stay away from calcs. At the end of the day this is all an educated estimate so take that as you will.
• He has many more strength feats then shown here, the ones used are so because they are A) High End or B) Easy to quantify

Low End

In this instance Steve first resists then overpowers two Hydra operatives and a magnetic cuff. The force is primarily from the cuff (it takes some strain to remove it alone later) so this feat is primarily just to remind us Steve is beyond regular humans.

Tosses a Hydra soldier (in combat fatigues) one handed around twenty metres. Average male is roughly 85kg, throwing him that distance with only one arm is good.

Middle

Lifts a motorbike overhead, which is in all likelihood a 1942 Haley Davidson WLA, the standard military motorcycle of the time. The bike has a total weight of 249kg or 549 lbs. For the three women on top I'm going to assume they are the same weight as an average american female at 75kg. (75x3)+249kg= 474kg of metal and woman being lifted. Its worth considering that Rogers performed for several months and the fact this feat was performed live (several times) without safety measures (such as ropes and wires) indicates that it wasn't very risky/hard for him to complete.

The infamous throw. Although some attribute the throw to simple abuse of the bikes momentum its clear it isn't, here is a version at a fifth of the speed;

The bike reaches a point where it is no longer moving forwards, Cap somersaults and at the apex of his jump begins to pull the bike up and towards the Jeep. The only way he used momentum was to get himself in the motion of flipping. It appears to the regular bike again, putting this at 249kg. The weight of the bike combined with the force at which it collides with the jeep makes this extremely impressive as a strength feat.

Throwing Ultron, a 9ft robot composed entirely of metal, is impressive. Throwing him with such force that he shatters concrete even more so. As we don't know what material this version of Ultron is made up of or how much he weighs this feat becomes a little hard to quantify.

Stops a car from falling (briefly, that poor bumper). He doesn't merely slow its descent he flat out stops it from falling. With this feat we don't get a chance to see him actually lift it but from how little preparation it took him (he saw it as it was falling) and the conditions surrounding this (fighting Ultron bots, basically in the middle of combat) and his high end feats its only a small step to assume he could've. Assuming this car conforms/is close to the average curb weight of 1400-1600kg.

High End

Cap lifts a steel structure after being shot four times and stabbed in the chest;

Now remember when I said I was trying to stay away from calcs? Well I still am. But we can be certain the beam is more then 11 tons by the fact it dwarves other beams of that size;

Assuming its industrial grade steel and the significant size difference between the image above and the one featured in WS I'd put it at anywhere between 20-30 tons. Its important to note that Cap was only lifting a section of the beam, certainly not close to the entirety of its weight.

Another view on this feat:

His next feat is a statement, but before we get on the bandwagon to put statements to the stake I urge you to consider its validity.

"Captain America could totally push that Bulldozer"- Random Guy, has no idea whats what < The actual scenario, which is "Captain America pushed it much faster then that"-Shield Operative, times the drill, knows the record.

This Bulldozer in particular is on the bigger side, weighing in at anywhere between 20-40 tons depending on the model. Pushing it is an incredible feat of strength especially at that speed, but obviously isn't the same as a lift.

Warning: Tralier feats ahoy!

Its fairly obvious this is about where this feat belongs. He's (successfully) holding onto helicopter that's still maintaining a takeoff force sufficient to keep it airborne and with some related aircraft (Such as the Bell 204) being capable of lifting more than 4 tons in weight and still flying effectively, damn son.

So how strong is he?

Firstly we assume that prior to a lift he is rested and ready, as opposed to the various states of disrepair he was in for most of the feats above (minus the bike lift and presumably the dozer push).

From his mid-level feats we know he can lift half a ton (Fine, 474kg) with ease. We know he can casually throw the same bike with enough force to embed it in a military jeep. We've also seen he is capable of stopping a falling car at a moments notice. From his high end feats we know he is capable of lifting some of the weight of a 20 ton + beam, even in an extremely poor condition, as well as push a Bulldozer (roughly 20 tons) over grass at a considerable speed. So one question remains: HOW STRONG IS HE?!

From both his Mid and High end feats, I'd be willing to put an estimate at 3-5 tons. That level of strength is enough that the feats he performed easily (Motorbike throws, Lifts) would indeed be easy for him, but that his higher end feats such as the beam lift and the dozer push are not outside the realm of possibility.

Discussions and debate are always welcome.

If you look carefully, the identity behind the shield's persona has muscles... 4 REAL!

@rouflex said:

If you look carefully, the identity behind the shield's persona has muscles... 4 REAL!

I mean, your not wrong.

Didn't read the OP.

Yes, he does.

More on the helicopter feat...

From the screenshot he does not need to be above 2t to do all that. So i am going to go wifh 2t max untill we see more feats in new movies. 2t is still crearly above peak human by a wide margin.

Ps. I am good with math.

To give reaoning without going much into math so You can all understand. Imagine this.

1.His max is 2t and he can throw 250kg bicycle.

Lets say your max is 80kg, would you be able to do the same with 10 weight? Yes you would.

2. Stopping a car. Average convertible of this size weights 900-1100kg not 1500-1600. If he can stop 1t when his max is 2t, would you do it if it was 40kg?Eaisly.

3.when it comes to the steel construction, there is a difference between lifting the entire thing over your head and lifting it how he did it. I would nkt say it weighten 20-30t, more like 10. Given the angle he would only be lifting 15% of total weight. If that was his max than the entire thing weighted 13t, but he only lifted around 2.

4. Bulldozer is not from mcu and is inconsisten with everything he showed in the movies. It would take too much force to push it like that. They did not think it through, it did not make any sense. It would take far less to lift steel construction than to push bulldozer like that, and he struggled with construction a lot. It would take more to push it, than it weights. There is a reason why bulldozers have no wheels like cars do. This feat would pit him at +100t, which is inconsistent with all other feats he struggled with. This way both feats contradict themselve so we should only accept the feats from his movies and skip bulldozer one as it makes no sense.

5. Bell 204 lifts 4000lbs not kg, thats 2000kg so just about as much as i estimaded for cap strength. However bell 204 is actually in heavy lifter class. Average helicopter can lift half of that. But lets stick to 2t anyway.

http://www.deltahelicopters.com/bell204b.html

Cap is 2 tonner which is pretty good :)

Just because he moves a 11 ton girder does not necessarily mean that is his lifting strength per say... For example, I do a 425lb tractor tire flip, does that mean I can lift, deadlift, press or squat 425lbs? No. It's more like less than half of that. And theoretically half of 11 tons would still be in his range. Not to take anything away from that feat because it's still pretty damn impressive!

@rag_man: correct, looking at the angle and where was the centre of weight he would be lifting around 2t-max.

This got me wondering if Cap actually is all that superhuman when you think about it. I mean, quite a lot of what he can do is something real people can actually do as well, but they just tend to be pariticipants of Worlds Strongest Man competitions, like the guy who plays The Mountain in GoT. I'll try ang go through some of the examples:

• The cuff: Mostly we have to go on the goons trying to push his arm back, because we have no idea how powerful the magnet is other than one being able to carry Steve's weight without problems.
• Tossing the soldier: It's one thing the guy should be around 85kg if in good physical condiotion, you have to add 10-15kg on top of that to factor in all the stuff he's carrying. But that said, if you look closely, Steve grabs him as he dives by, then he brakes, turning the man's momention against him before he throws him into the tree. This is just to point out that this doesn't seem to be an unaided feat.
• Lifting the bike: Aside that I think the girls were lighter than you think, probaly down to 65kg a pop. There really isn't anything saying there are no wires or other aids present to help him doing this, maybe not to him, but to the girls on top, like something to help him keep the balace while he holds the pose. Also... well we have to admit that there are wires present, because the actor isn't superhuman and the illusion in both cases are meant to be the same.
• Throwing the bike: this is a clear case of it being the bikes momentum more than pure example of Steve's physical strength. As for the bike seemingly stopping, that would be because Steve is now the thing in motion and the bike has slightly lifted off the ground before he lands and drags the bike over his head using its momentum. But more likely thats just where the cut from live action to CGI took place (practical explanation). Otherwise you have to see it as Steve actually pulling the brakes, come to a complete stop before jumping over the handlebar to throw the bike at the truck.
• Throwing the Ultron-bot: Another momentum feat, Steve is on a speeding truck, the robot launches itself forwards at him and Steve simply swipes it off the truck before it can come to a halt. Even if the truck is only going 50kph, thats still a 100kg+ robot thats built far stronger than any car thats crashing into the pillar. Though I really have to worry if the concete supporting a bridge is actually that frail that it crumbles like that (there should be all kinds of beams and rebar's under the outer layer).
• Stopping the car: It's a good feat for his back and legs and how well he holds it together, but the truth is that he doesn't actually lift anything here. It's more like he grabs it and stops it for a second before the bolts give up, there is no telling if he could have held onto it long enough for the woman to get out.
• Lifting the beam: This sis agenuinely good feat for his strength, because even if he only lifts it the tiniest amount, we are still talking about him lifting several tons, just enough for Bucky to get out. But I wouldn't use a rollercoster track to compare weight, because the track is built differently than a support beam. The track has to retain it's integrity and shape, even when several tons of rollercoster+passengers thunders over it. A support beam generally only has to keep its shape under the pressure it's been made to handle using the smallest amount of materials possible. Bucky is actually a bit fortunate, aside from not being crushed that is, but in the scene, Steve is actually able to grab a smaller and lighter part of the beam and sort of tip the heavier end Bucky is under over him using the beams that makes up the main part of the glass dome.

So how strong is he? And is he superhuman?

• How strong: That last feat with the beam makes me believe he is able to lift around 1 to 2 tons at most, less if it's the others only. The thing is that when in combat, he has an uncanny sense of how to move to make the most of the strength and agility he has, same senses he employs when he has to throw his shield at more than 1 target, so the effect is that he looks stronger than he might actally be. Time will tell when he has to push against Iron Man, who seems to be in the same category, if not a bit stronger (catching the car that ran him over).
• Is he superhuman: Returning to the strongmen I mentioned; this is the thing, Steve might be called 'supersoldier' but in most cases he isn't actually super, he has an optimized human body; he couldn't get stronger even if he wanted to. So look at the strongmen, they can pull trucks, lift several hundred kilo and so on. Steve is simply one of those guys, he's just the optimized version, he's got the max amount of strength, but skipping most of their impractical size and adding the agility of the best gymnasts the world has ever seen. So perhaps not Superhuman, more like Optimal Human.

Nice work!

How do you guys feel about this?

@spector_rand@heroup2112@thesuperor@nfactor1995

@buildhare: Nice work!

It's difficult to know exactly how strong he is because his strength feats varies so much. I can't say I disagree with anything here, I would estimate him to be around the same level strength as you estimated him to be. (before Civil War at least) I don't really have anything else to add.

@outside_85:

I agree ALMOST 100% except with the motorcycle part. I DO understand your posit on the physics of him stopping the bike by applying the breaks and letting the motorcycle's own momentum do most of the work. However, at the speed he was going (I'm estimating 55 to 60 mph (sorry I don't do english measure to metric well ...except for distance..oddly) which a normal vehicle that size would take roughly 40 or so feet to come to a breaked stop (maybe a little less on that rough a road). So, Cap would have to STOP that inertia, using mostly his planted legs, and back muscles, redirect the (probably) lifted tail end of the bike which would want to flip end over end in a 180 degree arc on the axis of the center of the front wheel of the motorcycle, not up in a 60ish degree arc over Cap's head, then into a (granted still using inertia, but the momentum would want to take the bike DOWN not straight forward), using the muscles of his triceps, shoulders, and lower arms and grip. Forward to his biceps, triceps, chest, latissimus dorsi, forearms and grip, and planted legs. All of these would take GREAT strength (no, sorry I don't know how to calculate that, but it's certainly greater than any human (even ultimate strong man types). This could still be optimized human I'd imagine, however, not being a physiologist I don't know what the ultimate upper limits of what the human body are.

Again, except for this one little part, the rest of this seems spot on to me.

Nice thread you have here.

@darthmummy said:

Your thoughts on this are?

@outside_85

Tossing the soldier: It's one thing the guy should be around 85kg if in good physical condiotion, you have to add 10-15kg on top of that to factor in all the stuff he's carrying. But that said, if you look closely, Steve grabs him as he dives by, then he brakes, turning the man's momention against him before he throws him into the tree. This is just to point out that this doesn't seem to be an unaided feat.

He doesn't brake, the rear end of the bike slips out slightly because of the snowy surface cap is riding on but that should really have no effect on the feat. Even so, Cap has other feats where he has thrown or punched/kicked soldiers like 5-10m away or up in the air ( and many of them looked like they could have been sent farther but they hit some object instead). No real world strong man can do anything like that.

Lifting the bike: Aside that I think the girls were lighter than you think, probaly down to 65kg a pop. There really isn't anything saying there are no wires or other aids present to help him doing this, maybe not to him, but to the girls on top, like something to help him keep the balace while he holds the pose. Also... well we have to admit that there are wires present, because the actor isn't superhuman and the illusion in both cases are meant to be the same.

I agree, id peg them around 125-135lbs or so. Thats roughly 1,000lbs with the bike included ( that bike has a larger seat, and extra headlight adding to the weight of a stock WL Harley. He lifts it easily. You are assuming to much that there a strings holding it for any reason. To counter, there isn't really anything shown to say it is being held by strings. The scene was obviously to show of Caps strength. I think your string theory would completely go against what the film maker was going for.

Throwing the bike: this is a clear case of it being the bikes momentum more than pure example of Steve's physical strength. As for the bike seemingly stopping, that would be because Steve is now the thing in motion and the bike has slightly lifted off the ground before he lands and drags the bike over his head using its momentum. But more likely thats just where the cut from live action to CGI took place (practical explanation). Otherwise you have to see it as Steve actually pulling the brakes, come to a complete stop before jumping over the handlebar to throw the bike at the truck.

How is this the bikes momentum? The bike came to a complete stop Cap flung him self over the bike and the rear end of the bike did not begin to lift up until Cap was up and over the handlebars. I will say that Caps weight probably helped some for him to start flipping the bike in the direction he wanted, but the bike had no momentum to help him throw it with the force he did. Your last sentence is exactly what happened.

Throwing the Ultron-bot: Another momentum feat, Steve is on a speeding truck, the robot launches itself forwards at him and Steve simply swipes it off the truck before it can come to a halt. Even if the truck is only going 50kph, thats still a 100kg+ robot thats built far stronger than any car thats crashing into the pillar. Though I really have to worry if the concete supporting a bridge is actually that frail that it crumbles like that (there should be all kinds of beams and rebar's under the outer layer).

But Ultron does come to a halt.. Look at he GIF once more. He clearly stops right where Cap is positioned and Cap throws him toward the concrete pillar with one arm. You can see his feet land and knees bend from him putting his weight down on the truck trailer. Ultron has got to weight much more then 100kg (220lb) man. Id say hes at least 250kg+ (550lb+) and thats probably low balling. Hes likely made out of a titanium alloy like Stark's suits. Titanium weighs roughly 282lbs per cubic foot. Ultron is like 8 feet tall so 8 cubic feet is 282lbs x 8 = 2,256 lbs. Obviously he is NOT a sold slab of Titanium that is 8ftx1ftx1ft. So lets cut the number in half making Ultron made up of only a total of 4 cubic feet of Titanium. Ultron still would weigh in at 512kg (1,128 lbs). Even more conservative would be dividing it by 4, so he would only be made up of 2 cubic ft of titanium. That puts him at roughly 250kg (550lbs). That is not a lot of titanium for a robot that large. Id say hes somewhere in the range of 550lbs-1000lbs. Not only that but if you watch the gif again, Ultron smashes into the concrete and STILL keeps getting sent backwards. Hitting the concrete was not enough to stop him. Cap threw him hard enough to smash the concrete AND keep sending him flying.

Stopping the car: It's a good feat for his back and legs and how well he holds it together, but the truth is that he doesn't actually lift anything here. It's more like he grabs it and stops it for a second before the bolts give up, there is no telling if he could have held onto it long enough for the woman to get out.

I agree with you the feat does not show him lifting anything. There is also no telling that if the bumper was actually able to hold that Cap wouldn't have been able to reel the car back in. Before Cap could even try to reel the car back in the bumper gave way. Cap caught the weight of a car (2,000-2,500lbs) and was able to stop it from going the direction it was falling and not get pulled off with it until the bumper gave way. Crazy strength feat considering he was able to stop it from going the direction it was falling and not get pulled off with it since he has so much less mass. No strong man in real life would be able to do that. He would have been dragged off the cliff with the car if he held on.

Lifting the beam: This sis agenuinely good feat for his strength, because even if he only lifts it the tiniest amount, we are still talking about him lifting several tons, just enough for Bucky to get out. But I wouldn't use a rollercoster track to compare weight, because the track is built differently than a support beam. The track has to retain it's integrity and shape, even when several tons of rollercoster+passengers thunders over it. A support beam generally only has to keep its shape under the pressure it's been made to handle using the smallest amount of materials possible. Bucky is actually a bit fortunate, aside from not being crushed that is, but in the scene, Steve is actually able to grab a smaller and lighter part of the beam and sort of tip the heavier end Bucky is under over him using the beams that makes up the main part of the glass dome.

I agree with almost everything you have said but the last bit. I just re-watched the video. Hes clearly lifting all of what we are shown of the beam with in the frame, not just a small portion of it. He also did this while being severely injured (shot 3 times plus being stabbed). Its an incredible strength feat. No strong man in the real world would be able to do this, not even if he wasn't injured.

How strong: That last feat with the beam makes me believe he is able to lift around 1 to 2 tons at most, less if it's the others only. The thing is that when in combat, he has an uncanny sense of how to move to make the most of the strength and agility he has, same senses he employs when he has to throw his shield at more than 1 target, so the effect is that he looks stronger than he might actally be. Time will tell when he has to push against Iron Man, who seems to be in the same category, if not a bit stronger (catching the car that ran him over).Is he superhuman: Returning to the strongmen I mentioned; this is the thing, Steve might be called 'supersoldier' but in most cases he isn't actually super, he has an optimized human body; he couldn't get stronger even if he wanted to. So look at the strongmen, they can pull trucks, lift several hundred kilo and so on. Steve is simply one of those guys, he's just the optimized version, he's got the max amount of strength, but skipping most of their impractical size and adding the agility of the best gymnasts the world has ever seen. So perhaps not Superhuman, more like Optimal Human.

He did that last feat while being SEVERELY injured though. Is he superhuman? Yes. He is way above what any strong man in the real world is capable of doing.

@buildhare If i had to approximate him at a max over head lifting strength id put him around a 3 toner. So I'd say your approximation of 3-5 tons is pretty accurate.

EDIT: tried to edit my last post last night on my phone but it fcked up the formatting to where it made no sense. Fixed it.

Nice analysis!

Good thread.

Worth a Civil War update?