The deadlift is the heaviest lift almost everyone will ever do, and the one where untrained people start closest to something respectable — picking a heavy object off the floor is a pattern the body already knows. An untrained man pulls around his own bodyweight on day one; the average deadlift among people who train is roughly double that.
The standards below are written as multiples of bodyweight for five training levels, then converted into kilograms and pounds at common bodyweights. They assume a conventional or sumo pull from the floor to a locked-out standing position, without straps or a suit.
Standards at a glance#
Each level is a one-rep max expressed as a multiple of bodyweight. Find your level in this table, then use the tables below it for the number at your weight.
| Level | Men (× bodyweight) | Women (× bodyweight) |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 1× | 0.75× |
| Novice | 1.5× | 1.25× |
| Intermediate | 2× | 1.5× |
| Advanced | 2.5× | 2× |
| Elite | 3× | 2.5× |
What each level means#
Beginner#
You can pull a loaded bar off the floor with a flat back and locked-out finish. Bodyweight on the bar is where most untrained men start, and the hardest part at this stage is the setup, not the pull.
Novice#
One and a half times bodyweight. A few months of pulling once or twice a week gets most men here, and it is usually the fastest-improving lift in the programme because so much of the early gain is positional.
Intermediate#
Double bodyweight — the number lifters use as shorthand for a strong deadlift. It typically takes one to two years, and by now the pull responds to volume and technique rather than simply showing up.
Advanced#
Two and a half times bodyweight. Grip, back position, and recovery all become genuine limiters, and most lifters need to pull heavy less often rather than more to keep progressing.
Elite#
Triple bodyweight puts you among the strongest people in any gym and into competitive company. It is the result of years of accumulated volume, a pull optimised for your own leverages, and careful management of fatigue.
Men's deadlift standards by bodyweight#
Every cell is a one-rep max, rounded to the nearest 2.5 kg or 5 lbs. Find the row closest to your bodyweight and read across.
In kilograms#
| Bodyweight | Beginner | Novice | Intermediate | Advanced | Elite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 kg | 60 kg | 90 kg | 120 kg | 150 kg | 180 kg |
| 70 kg | 70 kg | 105 kg | 140 kg | 175 kg | 210 kg |
| 80 kg | 80 kg | 120 kg | 160 kg | 200 kg | 240 kg |
| 90 kg | 90 kg | 135 kg | 180 kg | 225 kg | 270 kg |
| 100 kg | 100 kg | 150 kg | 200 kg | 250 kg | 300 kg |
| 110 kg | 110 kg | 165 kg | 220 kg | 275 kg | 330 kg |
In pounds#
| Bodyweight | Beginner | Novice | Intermediate | Advanced | Elite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 130 lbs | 130 lbs | 195 lbs | 260 lbs | 325 lbs | 390 lbs |
| 150 lbs | 150 lbs | 225 lbs | 300 lbs | 375 lbs | 450 lbs |
| 170 lbs | 170 lbs | 255 lbs | 340 lbs | 425 lbs | 510 lbs |
| 190 lbs | 190 lbs | 285 lbs | 380 lbs | 475 lbs | 570 lbs |
| 210 lbs | 210 lbs | 315 lbs | 420 lbs | 525 lbs | 630 lbs |
| 230 lbs | 230 lbs | 345 lbs | 460 lbs | 575 lbs | 690 lbs |
Women's deadlift standards by bodyweight#
Every cell is a one-rep max, rounded to the nearest 2.5 kg or 5 lbs. Find the row closest to your bodyweight and read across.
In kilograms#
| Bodyweight | Beginner | Novice | Intermediate | Advanced | Elite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 kg | 37.5 kg | 62.5 kg | 75 kg | 100 kg | 125 kg |
| 55 kg | 42.5 kg | 70 kg | 82.5 kg | 110 kg | 137.5 kg |
| 60 kg | 45 kg | 75 kg | 90 kg | 120 kg | 150 kg |
| 70 kg | 52.5 kg | 87.5 kg | 105 kg | 140 kg | 175 kg |
| 80 kg | 60 kg | 100 kg | 120 kg | 160 kg | 200 kg |
| 90 kg | 67.5 kg | 112.5 kg | 135 kg | 180 kg | 225 kg |
In pounds#
| Bodyweight | Beginner | Novice | Intermediate | Advanced | Elite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110 lbs | 85 lbs | 140 lbs | 165 lbs | 220 lbs | 275 lbs |
| 125 lbs | 95 lbs | 155 lbs | 190 lbs | 250 lbs | 315 lbs |
| 140 lbs | 105 lbs | 175 lbs | 210 lbs | 280 lbs | 350 lbs |
| 155 lbs | 115 lbs | 195 lbs | 235 lbs | 310 lbs | 390 lbs |
| 175 lbs | 130 lbs | 220 lbs | 265 lbs | 350 lbs | 440 lbs |
| 195 lbs | 145 lbs | 245 lbs | 295 lbs | 390 lbs | 490 lbs |
How do you compare?#
To place your own pull, find your bodyweight in the table above and read across until you reach the number closest to your one-rep max — the column you land in is your level. If your best set was three or five reps rather than a single, estimate the max with the one-rep max calculator first, or the table will place you a level below where you actually are.
Compare levels rather than kilograms, because the same bar means different things on different lifters. A 70 kg man pulling 175 kg and a 100 kg man pulling 250 kg are both intermediate at 2.5× and 2.5×; the lighter lifter is doing the rarer thing. When you want a single number that settles it, the Wilks calculator and the DOTS calculator score both pulls on the same scale.
Your other lifts are the fastest comparison available. A deadlift should sit roughly 20 to 25% above your squat and around double your bench press at any level, so a 100 kg bench, 150 kg squat, and 200 kg deadlift is a balanced set of numbers. A pull that trails your squat usually means the deadlift is undertrained, not that you are built wrong.
How to test your one-rep max safely#
Deadlift maxes are expensive to test — a true single leaves most people flat for days. Take a set of three to five with a rep or two left in the tank instead, and estimate from it with the one-rep max calculator. You get a number accurate enough to programme from without spending the week recovering from it.
If you are going to test, ramp deliberately rather than jumping straight to the target. The warm-up calculator builds the ladder for you — doubles at 70% and 80%, singles at 88% and 94% — with three to five minutes of rest between the top attempts. Cut the session the moment your lower back starts rounding before the bar leaves the floor.
Two rules make deadlift numbers comparable. Reset each rep on the floor rather than bouncing, and let your grip fail honestly instead of reaching for straps — a strapped pull is a legitimate training tool but a different number from the one these standards describe.
How standards shift with bodyweight#
The deadlift favours heavier lifters more than any other lift, because the bar has a fixed distance to travel and a bigger body usually means better leverage and more muscle in the pull. That is why relative standards drop so sharply across the weight classes: a triple-bodyweight pull at 60 kg is far rarer than the same multiple at 110 kg.
For a fair comparison, score the lift rather than dividing it. The Wilks calculator and the DOTS calculator both apply a coefficient that flattens the advantage of bodyweight, which is how meets rank lifters who weigh 30 kg apart.
Height and limb length matter here in a way they do not elsewhere. A long-armed lifter has a shorter bar path and usually pulls well relative to their squat; a long-torso, short-armed lifter often finds the opposite. Neither changes what the tables say, but both explain why two people at the same bodyweight and training age can sit a level apart.
How to move up a level#
Deadlifts respond badly to being maxed and well to being repeated. Pull once or twice a week at submaximal loads, add the smallest jump each time the set feels clean, and use the progressive overload guide when the linear phase runs out — for this lift, adding a set or a rep almost always beats adding weight.
A 5x5 program handles the novice-to-intermediate stretch well, provided you treat the deadlift as the one lift that does not need five heavy sets. One top set with back-off work builds the pull without wrecking the rest of the week.
Beyond double bodyweight, find where the bar actually stops. Slow off the floor means quads and starting position, so add deficit pulls and paused pulls just below the knee. Slow at lockout means hips and upper back, so add Romanian deadlifts, rack pulls, and heavy rows. Grip that opens before either usually just needs double-overhand holds and more time under the bar.
Frequently asked questions#
How much can the average person deadlift?
An untrained man pulls roughly his own bodyweight and an untrained woman around three quarters of hers. Among people who train regularly the average is far higher — one and a half to two times bodyweight for men and one and a quarter to one and a half for women, with two times bodyweight being the number lifters treat as the real benchmark.
How much should I be able to deadlift?
Your bodyweight and your training age decide the answer, which is what the tables above give you. As a working target, a man should reach one and a half times bodyweight in the first year, double bodyweight by the second or third, and treat two and a half times as the long-term goal; for a woman the same three markers are one and a quarter, one and a half, and double bodyweight. At 80 kg (175 lbs) that is 120 kg, 160 kg, and 200 kg (265, 350, and 440 lbs).
What is an average deadlift for men and women?
Among men who train, the average pull sits between one and a half and two times bodyweight — roughly 120 to 160 kg (265 to 350 lbs) at an 80 kg (175 lb) bodyweight. Among women it sits between one and a quarter and one and a half times bodyweight, about 75 to 90 kg (165 to 200 lbs) at 60 kg (135 lbs). Include people who have never trained and the averages drop to bodyweight and three quarters of bodyweight respectively.
Is a 245 lb deadlift good?
It depends almost entirely on what you weigh. At 175 lbs (80 kg), 245 lbs is about 1.4× bodyweight — a novice pull for a man and an intermediate one for a woman. At 135 lbs (60 kg) the same bar is 1.8×, which is close to the intermediate mark for men and advanced for women. As an absolute number it is a respectable first year of pulling and roughly two plates a side plus a 25, but the level it earns you moves with your bodyweight.
What is a standard deadlift, and does it have to be conventional?
A standard deadlift for these tables is a bar pulled from the floor to a locked-out standing position, one rep, no straps and no suit, with the weight reset on the floor between reps. Both conventional and sumo stances count — competitions treat them as the same lift. Trap bar pulls, rack pulls, and Romanian deadlifts all move different amounts of weight and are not what the numbers above describe.
How do my lifts compare to the average lifter?
Take your one-rep max in each lift, divide it by your bodyweight, and read the level off the ratio table on each standards page. Most people who train consistently land at novice to intermediate across the board — bodyweight bench, one and a half times squat, double bodyweight deadlift for a man. Comparing your four lifts to each other is just as useful as comparing them to other people: the usual balance is roughly 1 : 1.5 : 2 for bench, squat, and deadlift, with a strict overhead press around 60 to 70% of the bench.
Is deadlifting twice your bodyweight good?
Yes. For a man it is the intermediate standard and it puts you ahead of nearly everyone in a general gym; for a woman it is an advanced pull that takes years of consistent work. Reaching it means your back position holds under load and your programme has been built around repeatable pulling rather than periodic testing.
What is a good deadlift for a beginner?
Bodyweight on the bar for a man and around three quarters of it for a woman is where most untrained adults land after a few sessions of learning the setup. What matters more at this stage is that the bar stays over midfoot, the back stays flat, and the lockout is achieved with the hips rather than by leaning back.
Should I deadlift more than I squat?
Almost always, by around 20 to 25%. The deadlift has a shorter range of motion, no eccentric to control, and better leverage at the point of maximum effort. If your squat and deadlift are equal, the deadlift is usually the one being undertrained — or the squat is being cut high.
Do sumo and conventional deadlifts use the same standards?
Yes, and both count. Sumo shortens the bar path and shifts work toward the hips and quads while conventional asks more of the back, but competitions treat them as the same lift and so do these tables. Use whichever suits your leverages — the difference between the two is usually a few percent, not a training level.
About the lift#
Barbell Deadlift — form, muscles worked, and common mistakes →