Average deadlift: strength standards by bodyweight

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.

What each level means#

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#

About the lift#

Deadlift (Barbell) — form, muscles worked, and common mistakes →