How powerful is Captain America?

Captain America (Steve Rogers) is a patriotic super-soldier who first fought against the Axis Powers in WWII. He wears a costume that bears an American flag motif, and is armed with a nearly indestructible shield.

Steve Rogers was chosen to be the first man whom the Super Soldier Serum would be administered to. It was Dr. Abraham Erskine who had developed the process, and it was he who administered it to Rogers. Rogers was injected with the Super Soldier Serum and was then bathed in Vita-Rays which activated and stabilized the serum’s chemicals in his system.

The process worked perfectly; Steve Rogers’ entire physical being was boosted to the maximum of human potential and efficiency. In addition, he virtually doubled in size, as millions of new cells were created almost instantaneously. His muscle strength, flexibility and reflexes improved to the peak of human potential. Steve had now become the ultimate specimen of human physical power and ability as all weakness and deficiencies drained from his body.

The Super-Soldier Serum increased his body to the physical peak of human potential, or rather the next step in human evolution (though still a non-mutant). He is as strong, fast, durable and agile as any human could one day be – and his strength is referred to as being preternatural. His reflexes have also been increased to peak human potential and are nearly instantaneous (he is also capable of ‘seeing faster’ – enabling him to dodge bullets). He has run a mile in roughly a minute (approx 57 mph) and has bench-pressed 1100 pounds for reps (just as a warm up). His one-rep maximum is likely much higher. He also has uncanny accuracy, being able to hit multiple targets with a single throw of his shield, and having enough marksmanship to turn a lighter on and off through a shield throw alone.

Another major enhancement provided is the serum prevents the build-up of fatigue poisons in his muscles. This means he effectively never tires, making it possible for him to perform at his maximum ability when doing anything physical for an extraordinary length of time. However Captain America has displayed feats that would appear to be far outside the limits of a human. One of Captain America’s most recent durability feats is him surviving a 200ft fall on top of a car from an airplane and suffering no discomfort. Steve’s enhancement has also allowed him to survive building collapses and major explosions.

The serum also enhances his constitution, making him immune or highly resistant to many diseases and increasing the speed at which he heals from injuries and recuperates from illness. The serum is constantly being replenished by his body down to a cellular level.

Here are some examples of his strength, from the movies:

In the second Cap film (Winter Soldier), we see Rogers run the short leg of Washington DC’s Reflecting Pool (167 feet) in ~4 seconds, meaning he is running at 28.5 mph, approximately 120% of world champion Usain Bolt’s 100m speed. (And, bear in mind, Bolt is able to sustain that pace for only ~9.5 seconds, while Rogers keeps it up for an entire morning’s workout.)

In the second Avengers film (Age of Ultron), we see Rogers tear a stove-length of green firewood apart with his bare hands. This requires something like 10 tons of manual force (corroborated by common rental log-splitter models exerting 6, 10, or 13 tons). Or, differently stated, 19x the pressure exerted by world-champion weightlifter Tiny Meeker. Or, for sheer chuckles, 10x to 18x the pressure exerted by Khan Noonien Singh to crush a human skull bare-handed.

In that same (Ultron) film, we see Rogers throw a Harley-Davidson motorcycle roughly 20 feet into an enemy vehicle. (It significantly deforms the hood of said vehicle, suggesting it has quite a bit of velocity behind it, but let’s assume it’s a ‘light’ toss.) If the motorcycle weighs ~700 lbs, then this is just under 400% the force generated by leading caber-toss competitors (who throw a 175-to-260 lb. telephone pole not quite 20 feet).

As seen in: Sven Skoog’s answer to What can Captain America do without his shield? Why is he even considered a superhero?

Additionally, in the recent movie Captain America: Civil War, we see Cap holding down a helicopter with his bare hands.