What Strength Coaches & Researchers Say You Should Be Able to Deadlift: Including Official And Unofficial Deadlift Strength Standards For Weightlifters, Athletes, And Regular People. Plus, Average Test Results, The Latest World Records, And More! (Plus, Some Free Resources to Help You Deadlift More!)
If you’re wondering, “how much should I be able to deadlift?” this article will show how you measure up to the various deadlift standards and also help you set a challenging, but doable goal for yourself.
The short answer to the question, how much should I be able to deadlift, is that, it depends on your goals, conditioning level, how old you are, and how many years you’ve been training, among other things. It just depends. That said, this guide will cover some general standards you can use to rate your performance in the deadlift exercise, whether you’re a complete beginner, a recreational weightlifter, or a competitive powerlifter.
Deadlift Strength Standards
There are many different deadlift strength standards out there – and many unique lists, charts, and formulas for calculating your ideal 1-rep max. So, let’s look at some of the most common recommendations, and read between the lines to simplify this complex issue.
For example, strength and conditioning specialist, Dan John, suggests in his book, Intervention: Course Corrections For The Athlete And Trainer, that the average weightlifter should be able to deadlift between 1 and 1.5 times their body weight. I think that’s a good general recommendation for most people who are interested in health, fitness, longevity, and quality of life. However, Coach Dan John also considers a deadlift using double your bodyweight to be a game-changer. So, there are certainly benefits to be had from doing more than the minimum.
Note: click here for my interview with Dan John.
If you want to get a little more technical, Dr. Lon Kilgore, coauthor of Practical Programming for Strength Training (2nd edition), claims that an average male novice (i.e. with minimal training experience) can deadlift roughly 133% of his bodyweight. Whereas, novice females can deadlift about 101% of their bodyweight, on average.
Similarly, as an intermediate lifter, the average increases to about 150% of body weight for men and 118% for women. Advanced male lifters will deadlift 210% of their body weight (females 160%). Finally, an elite male lifter will deadlift at least 260% of his body weight, on average. Whereas, an elite female will deadlift at least 200% of her body weight, on average. And then the actual professionals will blow these figures out of the water.
Keep in mind that these percentages are rough estimates based on averages and are greatly influenced by many factors (see below for more info).
So, what kind of poundage are we talking about here?
Strength training and weightlifting experts, Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore, estimate that an average 198 pound male can lift 155 pounds even without training (i.e. untrained). After a couple of years of proper training, that same lifter should be able to deadlift 335 pounds (i.e. intermediate). Then 460 pounds a year later (i.e. advanced).
Tim Henriques who has been a competitive powerlifter for over 20 years, has set several records, and coached his powerlifting team to winning championships offers these standards for the deadlift (Source)…
Men:
- Decent – 315 lbs or 1.5x bodyweight
- Good – 405 lbs or 2x bodyweight
- Great – 495 or 2.75x bodyweight
Women:
- Decent – 115 lbs or 1x bodyweight
- Good – 185 lbs or 1.5x bodyweight
- Great – 225 or 2x bodyweight
Now, if we look to the military, most Navy SEAL candidates can deadlift between 1.5 and 2.33 times their body weight (Source). And they’re encouraged to be able to deadlift at least 1.75 times their bodyweight (or 1.5 times bodyweight for five reps).
Lastly, your typical fitness magazine or online publications will generally list deadlift standards between 1.5 to 2.5 times body weight for men (e.g. see examples from Men’s Fitness here, Men’s Health here, and Livestrong here).
What About Us Ambitious Types?
Christian Finn who is a well-respected fitness coach says that, “deadlifting twice your bodyweight (for a single repetition) represents a good level of strength for most people.” (Source) He also says that a “500-pound deadlift for a single lift is impressive for a drug-free, genetically “average” male weighing around 190 pounds.” (Source) Similarly, Stuart McRobert, author of Brawn, agrees that 500 pounds is a respectable goal to strive for.
So, for the guy who wants to get big and strong, but isn’t necessarily interested in competing, 500 pounds is a common recommendation for serious, non-competitive lifters. This is approximately 2.5 times body weight of the average American male, and is nearing the upper end of what a heavyweight, recreational lifter will be able to achieve. On the other hand, skinny, lightweight lifters can expect to be able to deadlift over three times their bodyweight with a comparable amount of training. So, as mentioned before, many factors play into the equation.
What about older lifters?
Lifters who are older than 40 years old can expect their age-adjusted deadlift standards to be roughly 10-40% less than those listed above, depending on your age. Generally speaking, the older you get, the lower your standards will be. (Source)
Here’s a rough estimate of how deadlift standards for older folks will differ from the conventional figures:
- Over 40 years old – approximately 10-15% less than general standards
- Over 50 years old – approximately 15-25% less than general standards
- Over 60 years old – approximately 25-40+% less than general standards
John Sifferman’s Totally Unofficial Strength Standards
for the Barbell Deadlift Exercise
Men:
Newbie = 65 lbs
Beginner = 75-80% of your body weight
Intermediate = 110-120% of your body weight
Advanced = 140-160% of your body weight
Expert = 180-200% of your body weight
Master = 2.1-2.35 times your body weight
Wicked Sick = 2.4-2.65 times your body weight
Superhuman = 2.7-3 times your body weight
Olympian = 3-3.35 times your body weight
Deadlift Immortal = More than 3.35 times your body weight
Women:
Newbie = 45 lbs
Beginner = 55-65% of your body weight
Intermediate = 85-100% of your body weight
Advanced = 115-135% of your body weight
Expert = 140-165% of your body weight
Master = 175-200% of your body weight
Wicked Sick = 2-2.25 times your body weight
Superhuman = 2.25-2.5 times your body weight
Olympian = 2.5-2.75 times your body weight
Deadlift Immortal = More than 2.75 times your body weight
Deadlift World Records
The world records for the heaviest barbell deadlifts are:
MEN: On April 2nd, 2011, Benedikt Magnusson of Iceland performed a barbell deadlift with a weight of 460.4 kg (1015 lbs) in Dallas, TX. (Source)
WOMEN: On November 5th, 2005, Becca Swanson of the USA performed a barbell deadlift with a weight of 310 kg (683.4 lbs) at the World Powerlifting Organization in Helsinki, Finland. (Source)
Loading ... Loading ...How Much Weight Should YOU Deadlift?
Choosing a deadlift goal is a very personal decision. And just because some strength coach says you should be able to deadlift 500 pounds, doesn’t mean you really have to. There are pros and cons to increasing your deadlift, and you’ll want to weigh the risks and benefits when making your decision.
Plus, there are many factors that determine how much you should be able to deadlift. The most influential factors are:
- Your age, gender, and weight
- Your conditioning level and/or the number of years of training experience
- Your body type, proportions, and structure (e.g. the anatomy of your hips, and the length of your limbs relative to the length of your torso)
So, keep all of this in mind when you’re setting your goal.
And if you’re going to compare yourself to other weightlifters, remember that people of different ages, sizes, and body composition (e.g. muscle vs fat) will have different levels of strength. So, the only real competition is against yourself.
John’s Recommendations
So…how much should I be able to deadlift, John?
Well, I think that most people who are not strength athletes (e.g. powerlifters), should strive for reaching or exceeding the Advanced Category in the standards above. For men, that is a deadlift with roughly 150% of your body weight on the bar. For women, it’s roughly 125% of your body weight on the bar. I think that’s an ambitious, yet doable goal for most people.
You want numbers? I’ll give you numbers!
If you want to take it to the next level, and you’d like some nice round numbers to aim for, here you go:
100-150 lb Males: 225 lb deadlift
150-200 lb Males: 315 lb deadlift
200+ lb Males: 405 lb deadlift
90-125 lb Females: 135 lb deadlift
125-175 lb Females: 225 lb deadlift
175+ lb Females: 315 lb deadlift
Final Words
So, what’s it going to be?
Are you going to settle for a sub-par performance, which is what most people do? Or, are you going to set yourself an ambitious goal and get to work?
Just between you and me, I think that anyone who can meet the advanced deadlift standards listed above – with proper technique and full range of motion – is light-years beyond your average fitness trainee.
And quite frankly, most people don’t need to be any stronger than that to function at a high level in life, work, and sport. I mean, even the Navy SEAL candidates are just fine with a deadlift max around 1.75x their body weight, which is a challenging, but very achievable goal. Of course, there is value to working toward even higher levels, but you’ve got to weigh the costs, too.
The good news is that it’s completely up to you. And the greatest factor is how badly you want it. So, whether you want to break world records or just be able to lift safely, if you think you can do it, I think you can, too. So, get after it!
Related Posts
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How Many Pull-ups Should I Be Able To Do?
How Long Should I Hold The Plank Exercise For?
25 Tips on How to Lift Heavy Weights Safely
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P.P.S. Photo credit courtesy of pricenfees.com: 1.
P.P.P.S. Since some of you always ask whenever I publish these strength standards posts, my deadlift PR is 315 pounds for a single at 165 lbs bodyweight.
References
- John, D. (2013). Intervention: Course Corrections for the Athlete and Trainer. California: On Target Publications.
- Rippetoe, M., Kilgore, L. (2009). Practical Programming for Strength Training (2nd edition). Texas: The Aasgaard Company.
- Rippetoe, M. (2011). Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, 3rd edition. Texas: The Aasgaard Company.
- Ritti-Dias, R. M., Avelar, A., Salvador, E. P., & Cyrino, E. S. (2011). Influence of previous experience on resistance training on reliability of one-repetition maximum test. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 25(5), 1418-1422.[PubMed]
- Seo, D. I., Kim, E., Fahs, C. A., Rossow, L., Young, K., Ferguson, S. L., & So, W. Y. (2012). Reliability of the one-repetition maximum test based on muscle group and gender. Journal of sports science & medicine, 11(2), 221.[PubMed]
- Soares-Caldeira, L. F., Ritti-Dias, R. M., Okuno, N. M., Cyrino, E. S., Gurjão, A. L., & Ploutz-Snyder, L. L. (2009). Familiarization indexes in sessions of 1-RM tests in adult women. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 23(7), 2039-2045.[PubMed]
- http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/DeadliftStandards.html
- http://powerliftingwatch.com/
- https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/strong-strength-standards-raw-natural-lifters
- http://muscleevo.net/strength-standards/
- https://www.t-nation.com/training/are-you-strong
- http://www.strengthandconditioningresearch.com/exercises/deadlift/#2
- http://startingstrength.com/files/standards.pdf
- http://www.lonkilgore.com/freebies/deadlift_standards_pounds_small.pdf
- http://www.sealswcc.com/navy-seal-what-are-chances-hell-week-success.html
- http://strengthlevel.com/
- http://strengthstandards.co/
- http://strengthstandards.com/
- http://symmetricstrength.com/
Looking for a chart of deadlift standards or a calculator? Here are some of my favorites…
Deadlift Standards Charts: Lon Kilgore has a great chart in a PDF file here, which includes adjusted standards for older lifters. EXRX.com also has an often-referenced chart here.
Deadlift Standards Calculators: My preference is the calculator at SymmetricStrength.com, which you can find here. StrengthLevel.com has a calculator based on user submissions, which I suspect will offer skewed results, but you may find it helpful, too. You can find it here.
At 42 my deadlift was 495lbs one time. What % is that? I’ m not young anymore so I’d slowed down a bit, kids,work, and life.
I’m a 300lb fat guy, is deadlifting 1.5-2x my bodyweight really a realistic goal?
Depending on how long you’ve been training. There are some really fat guys in strongman competitions and can well pull over 1.5, but a new person to weight lifting, maybe with in time and deepending on your age. I say deadlift what ever you can and aim for weight loss. I doubt you’re even close to 250 lean, and more like under 200 lean. Keep training, loose the weight, eat healthy and have a caloric deficit , look that up if you need too, also how many callories are in a pound of fat and how much you should be eating and do the math with calories burnt/calorie intake hence calorie deficiet , and how long it would take to burn one pound of fat with your caloric deficit. Don’t calorie count too much, just enough to have a rought “template” sort of speak on what to do and how much you should eat and still make gains and get stronger. Keep doing this and you will reack your goals. Being 200 pouns and getting a 1.5 is easier than being 300 and trying to go that way. Just lean ou as much as psssable within a healthy way and keep lifting. Youll get there dont give up. Ps i still made gains and ate very little. That fat you have is really called stored energy and you have lots of it, keep pushing threw and you will feel beter and more energetic in no time.
To gain more endurance, you need use all the endurance you have which mean you need to be more than tire at the end of every workout to be able to do more the next time. Hope this helped, peace.
I’m 56. BW 120 lbs. Last week I had a PR 225 lbs conventional deadlift and 255 lbs hex-bar deadlift. I love it.
16 years ago I suffered a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury and had to learn how to walk and talk again. Thrilled with my progress. View on Instagram @judy0379
Question: I’m about as round as I am high but writing a novel. My main character, Ruth Tenaz is 110 lbs. Raped three years ago, she took Tai Chi and Ken Po. As a result, she lifts weights. Being homeless for two years of the past three she also learned to rope dance in the style of Cirque de Soleil.
Now, she’s in the Navy and undergoing their Crossing the Equator Ceremony. I posit she can deadlift either two or three times her normal weight. Things she does as a result of her being in shape is lifting a male two and a half times her weight and carrying him a hundred yards, climbing a rope like the Marines require, but doing so using only her feet as she helps another male climb the rope while using her arms, her being horizontal the whole time.
The trick is that I want my Tenaz to look otherwise normal, not a hulk. She weighs 110 lbs. How bulked can a female of 110 lbs be? My simple question is, “How much can my female of 110 lbs lift and still look normal?” Also, she suffers flashbacks. “If she has a flashback and goes full off using Ken Po on somebody with full body and face blows, can that person live?”
I hurt myself a few years back (not deadlifting but its in an area that deadlift may affect). Back then at 31 yo 195lbs, 5’10” i was deadlifting around 450-460lbs with no supplements (other than Naked Mass protein powder and a single Optimen Multivitamin). Now I cant do “from the floor” deads any mote due to my injury, but now im age 35, 195lbs still and im doint very low rack pulls (about 4 inches off the floor) at around 450-460 again. I often wonder how much different my from the floor would be now. I also wonder how much my weak squat (250max) factors into keeping me from deadliftimg 500. I shrug an easy 350 for reps.
Just to be clear, all of these milestone weights to aim for (eg 133% body weight), are referring to a single lift, yes?
Training to get there with multiple reps requires significantly less weight — is there a recommendation as to how to calculate this training weight on the barbell..?
Thanks!
Eddie hall beat that record you posted. Max deadlift for men is 500kg now.
im a sophomore in highschool and i can deadlift 305 so is that bad or good and i got that in my first year of lifting wieghts
I’m 15 years old and I’m deadlifting 350 to 400 lbs and I weight 180 pounds
I am 16 years I can do a 308 deadlift (3 repetition) is that good? Iam 190 lb
I’m 61 been weight training 15yrs. I’m a person of routine. Because of my age do I now need protein shakes to go forward. Will it help?
I think we should prob say age is very important. This is a good article of course, well written, etc, but we shouldn’t really expect people 50+ or 60+ to do 2x their bodyweight. I think at that age injury prevention is extremely important (it’s important at all ages, but particularly so for them). So perhaps 1x or 1.5x is more realistic. The 2x goal seems more realistic for people who are perhaps 40 and under. Just my 2 cents.
I used to deadlift regularly myself, and could do like 2.5x or so, and would deadlift 2x a week. But one day perhaps due to the high frequency over a few years it caught up with me and I injured my back. I recovered of course but I stopped deadlifting for a while due to the injury, and now I’m far more cautious. I only lift once every few weeks (maybe once a month) and don’t always do heavy either. All depends on how I feel, but my physique is still good too, you can always supplement the deaf-lifts with other lifting and gain benefits from them. So point is being smart about it, and safe. You don’t want to risk injury, get too burnt out, make sure you’re lifting relative to your goals and age, and so forth.
Appreciate Borat’s comment, seems like a clear thinker.
Very informative, I just deadlifted 655lb yesterday at a home gym during this corona virus felt great!!!, My bench is 485lb and squat is close to 700. Im 258lbs just need to drop down to 242lb and Ill be ready for the Arnold XPC 2021. Good luck everyone stay strong.
Last year I was 15 years old at 161 pounds and I deadlifted 231 pounds at my local gym without training (1.44 my bodyweight %)
I weigh 118 pounds and deadlifted 300 I am 15. Is that pretty good?
8% of women can deadlift more than 500 lbs? When the world record is 683. I’m calling major BS here.
I install granite countertops. At 155 pounds, average small build. I can carry one side of a 1000 pound stone island. And regularly install
We get meat heads with arms the size of my legs and built like an upside down pear. They turn colors and wimp out lifting stone. It always seems to be the average build guys out perform the buff guys. Anyone care to explain this? I can only say Ive learned its 80% mental, you have to tell yourself you’re going to lift it .
I’m six years old and I weigh 60 pounds and deadlift 400.
Jokes aside, I’d echo the earlier question about a general progress guide to lifting at a given set of sets x reps. I’m fairly amateurish about this, not sure I care about a 1 rep max? But maybe I should? Forgive the stupid question.
I turn 50 in November, weigh 185 and my meet in April my 4th dl was 562.2lb. Train 4 days a week, squat and dl 2x a week, bench 2x a week, deload week about every 8-9 weeks, and o have a coach.
Standards are so low. According to this site 15% of lifters are superhuman. 400-500 is intermediate and 500-600 is advanced and 600-700 is elite and 700+ is freak at 200. (Ignore my other comment, I made a mistake in it)
I’m 76 and weigh 144. Been lifting after the Covid break abt 9 months. Currently doing 240 for 5 reps, my goal is twice my body weight. Have gained 6 lbs, so the goal has increased by 12lbs to 288.
I am an 83 year old male deadlifting 110kg. Is this okay.