How Much You Should Be Able to Bench, Squat & Deadlift to Be Considered Strong | Strength Chart 

If you squat more then you deadlift, your probably not squatting low enough.

Don't forget leverages. Dwarves can hit 2 - 4 their body weight in these lifts easily due to short limbs.

Why does this topic always bring out the worst in people. Just work hard and be proud of your lifts. It doesn't matter if you can only bench 100 pounds if you worked hard for it be proud of it and don't compare yourself to others

I was today years old when I learned I was strong for a man.

I hope you guys understand the effect you are having on people beyond what you see. Your words mean so much to people like me man, fitness has changed my life. I don’t think there’s a end of the road for me with fitness, I want to do it FOREVER, I’m not aiming for a shirtless picture on the beach not aiming for an Instagram post to show all my work I just want to do this the right way FOREVER, I know if I continue down my path others will notice and be inspired without me trying to inspire. You’re doing so much to help me keep my vehicle steady on this life long fitness journey, thank you.

I'm okay with benching 2 plates and a bit, squatting three plates and a bit, and deadlifting four plates and a bit.

OPINION STRENGTH STANDARDS OVERHEAD PRESS: 225-275LBS BENCH PRESS: 315-405LBS DUMBBELL CHEST PRESS: 125-150LBS IN EACH HAND CURLS: 100-140LBS TOTAL PULL UPS: 25-34 REPS PUSH UPS: 38-52 REPS BARBELL ROWS: 225-315 LBS SQUAT: 545-635LBS DEADLIFT: 545-625LBS LEG PRESS: 990LBS

Things like this always throw me for a loop. I was a really big dude growing up and could out lift most of my peers, but got tossed around really easily by guys half my size because I was so clumsy and slow, and never put any sort of premium on things like agility and stamina. If it's what motivates you that's great, but the older I get the more I think these arbitrary lift numbers are precisely that; and don't do much to really tell you about someone's ability to functionally express their strength. Not saying chasing big lifts is a waste of time, but it's definitely not the be-all-end-all of performance.

Wow, I am so proud of myself. I am a lady who lifts way more than the standards y'all have mentioned here. Been discouraged by friends' comments of late and have some sort of muscle dysmorphia but this encourages me. At least I am strong! 😍💪💯

I've been powerlifting for a little over a year. I started out weighing 132 pounds and my lifts were 110 bench, 145 squat, and 185 deadlift. Now I weigh 149 pounds. My lifts currently are 190 bench, 290 squat and 315 deadlift. Update ig Now about a year and a half. I got injured a couple of months ago so these number would be before that. Bench 210 Squat 315 Deadlift 345

Strength is a weird thing. While I believe bench, deadlift, squat and military press are great indicators of strength, I know guys that are super tough and strong just from genetics and/or hard work. When I was wanting to become a serious lifter, I remember my first milestone of a 225 bench, 315 squat and 315 deadlift which is a decent strength for the average person. Got into a playing around pushing match with my father who never lifted weights in his life. He destroyed me 😂. He has 17 inch arms and weighs 240. He is just big and strong from construction. I then had him bench, he couldn’t even do 200.

I feel much better about where I am outside of my bench. I can squat about 110 and deadlift close to 150 and I weigh 105 pounds roughly being 5’1”

“Don’t try and match weight, match effort”. Always about how hard you’re trying not the numbers you’re putting up

Bench: body weight Squat: 1.25 body weight Deadlift: 1.5x body weight

I totally agree that it's all about personal progress. Personal progress, gainz in technique, mobility, and even marginal strength gainz are so motivating and that's how it should be. HOWEVER, arbitrary strength standards can also be very motivating lol. So to that end- these ratios, HOW MANY REPS are they referring to? 1RM? I don't train 1RM because I want to produce clean and replicatable strength...and I train solo with no spotter. I'm a lady, 32yo, 153lb. I bench 135x3 Squat 225x5 DL 245x6 I'm proud of these numbers no matter what because I earned them but I still want to know how I compare to other ladies in my age and weight class who aren't competing in powerlifting

Great advice. Too often people get caught up on the numbers of other and feel like they are a failure because they do not compare. This tends to them giving up and I see this a lot with this blogs and sites that say we need to be deadlifting 3x our body weight. If you get there amazing if not your better then you were yesterday.

When I see graphs like this, I feel like I am not a human being. Everything is very different

4.37 second's is the Best fitness advice you'll ever get.

But how many reps?

I can squat 1.5x my body weight 2x deadlift and lift bench press a little bit more than my body weight im 18years

I started deadlifting 6 months ago, I started with 135lbs and today I managed to lift 380lbs, I was sad because my friends lift more, but watching this video made me realize that I can be more careful with myself.

For bench atleast I'd say no matter what your body weight is 225 for a few clean reps is amazing for the average person. Deadlift and squat I'd put closer to 300+ since I never so legs but I can still do clean squat reps of 185 or deadlift 225+ with little struggle. Elite for sure is double body weight+ bench and triple/quad squat and dead.

Growing up a was weaker than most guys, even in my 20s. I can now bench my body weight of 180 without a spotter. I'm stronger than a good percentage of guys I come across on a daily bases. If someone is stronger than me it's either because they have been lifting a long time or they are just a bigger guy with those genetics. Most people don't lift heavy weight.

I don’t understand this ratio. So if I maintain my strength while losing 40lbs that moves me from the beginner to advanced ranking?

I’m 126lbs (female) and my personal best in squats is 110lbs. I usually do 90lbs all the time and still a challenge for me to do 3x10 everyday. Some days I’m stronger and some days I’m not. I was complimented by some power lifters at the gym for squatting and they said “I was strong for my size” lol 😆

I think chart is little high but probably going off ppl who train the lifts, and if you have been consistently training the lifts for years then I think pretty accurate. The key is long rest though I think ppl get stuck in bodybuilding mode to develop strength and not gonna get results need to take at least 5 mins to make sets count. When building strength and even size I think better to do less volume and better quality and then overtime add frequency. Avoid the pumping the muscle short rests if want size and or strength

I've watched a few of these guys' videos and they will forever be known to me as the "I had this client" guys

Dude with the black hat doesn’t even look like he lifts weights.

I guess I'm a female then according to the charts🤣 I'm 5'7, 22 yrs old, 147 lbs, only started weight training 2 month now and my squat is 110 lbs for 5 reps, bench is 100 lbs for 8, and deadlift is 150 lbs for 5. I know I can push the weight for PR but I guess I'm still scared. Hopefully one day.

I’m 56 and been lifting for 2 years. Just did my first deadlift of 135 pounds for a set of 5. Slow and steady wins the race. I weigh 122 pounds.

I am too heavy to deadlift 2.5 my body weight any time soon

I got long arms, I'm almost 6'7 and I bench really well. My squat is trash though lol

Our problem nowadays is that the "average" person is obese and not in shape. So saying the average person who lifts should be happy to do their bodyweight on bench is extremely underselling what people can ultimately do. Most people after 1 or 2 years of training correctly blow away those low standards

My stats with a 195 lb BW Bench 1.2 x BW Squat 1.6 x BW Dead lift 1.75 x BW

I think that the ratios that most people come up with are a good idea of what general goals for people should strive towards in the long term, however if people wanna enjoy improving in the gym, they need to focus on the short term of adding on 5-10 pounds to their current maxes, rather than focusing on a number thats way out of reach in a short amount of time

With bench I’m in a weird spot. I’m 6’ 150 lbs, but that’s with XTRA long legs. My arms and torso are normal in proportion, so I have quite relatively low upper body mass. Im a lanky guy but I’m a climber, so I’m fine with that. To say that I should be able to bench 225 at the weight I am now at my height and proportions is a trap. If I can even bench 200 I’ll be happy with myself with how little mass I acctually have. A 5’ 8 stocky 150 lbs will kick my ass cuz they have more real muscle. Imma be as strong as I know I can be.

Are those 1 rep numbers in the chart?

Are these for your one rep max? How many reps are we talking?

6:19 this guy doesnt know about the Rivian

I’m 6’6 250 and at one time I could squat 600 lbs (I’m talking hamstrings touching calves deep) but at the same time could only deadlift 500. I was training specifically Olympic style with a trainer at the time. I think my body type hurts because my arms are fairly short for how tall I am. It helped for cleans and presses but not so much for deadlift.

Yep. As gym rats we overestimate the avg strength levels. Most people i train are weak, but they always get stronger. I usually tell the men they should be able to bench their bw and deadlift twice their bw. For a gym rat it aint good, but for a middle aged man who have at most played some youth soccer it is great. Using bodyweight metrics instead of absolute numbers also helps with Weight loss :)

3:4:5 is more or less ratio (so 300 bench / 400 squat / 500 deadlift) BW ratio is not normalized for heavier guys. You need to discount some for heavier guys >200

What is training consistently?

You never compare yourself to anyone ever you are you better yourself 🏋️

It’s hard to not compare because you want to see how fast you progressed compared to someone else. When I was 2 years in, I would only compare my lifts to those who are 1.5-3 years in. Anyone who lifted more I would ask how long they’ve been lifting and it’s usually at least 1-2 ahead of me so it makes me think I’m on the right track.

Justin hit the nail on the head with the practice comment about deadlifting. For years, my bench was always way higher than my squat and deadlift because when I started lifting all I focused on was getting stronger in the bench press. That's what happens when you get picked on in gym class freshman, sophomore and junior year. Couple that with Monday's being universal chest day for years and I am really efficient at the bench. Once I switched to full body routines and really started focusing on the squat and deadlift, my numbers started matching the "norm" Sal describes. Took almost three years, but give it another two years I will match the ratios.

Good bless my genetics started deadlift at 2x body weight .

Damn. I thought I was lagging behind. Bench is hardest for me because I am 6'2 but have a 6'8 wingspan (long arms). Those long arms make deadlifting easy for me though. So, at 185lbs my bench is 165lbs, squat is 305lbs, and deadlift is 485lbs.

I worked out probably 3 or 4 months out of every year up till I was 43. Started at 12. I could always push 3 plates. Many have seen it. My 3 youngest sons all seen me do it at 43. That was the best. And they all took that as motivation and all lift to this day. Now I never squated at all since highschool. And at 43 I had a chance and struggled with 275. I got 3 reps. But hard. Now I never did deadlifts until I was 40. And I never tried a max. But was up to 3 plates doing 3 reps. I would do 1 plate for 5 then 2 plates for 3 as my warm up. I knew not to try to over do it. Didn't want to mess back up. I was working on form still threw all the reps. What's funny is im.short with short arms and im think in the torso. I'm built like a baby guerilla. Lol Haven't lifted since Thanksgiving 2015 hard. Tried coming back in May of 2016 to lift. And can't. At 51 I'm still stronger then 99 percent of people over 40. At least around these parts. Man I miss the iron. I was between 190lbs and 240 for most of adult life. The more I weighed the stronger i was. At 32 I benched 340lbs. I was about 200lbs. That was most I ever did in front of people. Or did.

For ten reps, overhead press 135, bench 225, squat 315, deadlift 405

I’m 5’11 265. 33 1/2 inch arms Bench 375 Squat 500 Deadlift 560

I'm female. 165lbs. I'm benching 145lbs/ Smith Machine squatting 135lbs and deadlifting 185lbs. I feel like im abnormally strong for a woman. I don't know why. I was a tennis player.

Strong: bench your bodyweight. squat x1.25 your bodyweight deadlift x1.5 your bodyweight. Super strong: bench x1.5 bodyweight. squat x2 your bodyweight deadlift x2.5 your bodyweight. So roughly how long would it take to become strong or super strong?

Bench 295 Squat 375 Deadlift - dunno lol 😂 I do other back exercises Weight - 170

Me hearing the super strong ratio category: Deadlift 2.5x :) bench 1.6x :) squat 1.8x :(

260 lbs bw. So I am supposed to just bang out 260 lb bench and 390 lb deadlift? You crazy goofy silly. I don't squat, it just hurts my shoulders too much.

And here I am with a 405 bench and 385 squat. 😂😂😂🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

Damn, I'm still pretty weak then. 😬 I'm currently squatting just above my body weight and deadlifting about 40 lbs above that.

Bench 1.5x1 or 1 x 10 (big window) squat BW x 15, DL BW x 2, ohp 1.0x5. Chin ups work up to 5 with ladders 1,2,3

My dad benches 2x deadlift 3x body weight. Granted he ran a 4.4 and sub 11 100m. Those “great” numbers are not attainable for your average guy. However, anyone can get to “good”

I must be strong😂🤣. At 180, my bench is 225 a set, easy work. I can squat 315 max, not sure what my deadlift max is. Try to focus or my form more when i deadlift😳🤷🏾‍♂️

female numbers are way off though they have about 0.6 times the strength of a man on bench (on average), so the equivalent of 365 (great) for them should be almost 2 plates (225) 135 is WAY too low to be considered great

I’ve been working out for 3 months and I bench 160 squat 260 and deadlift 315 at 140lbs body weight

I'm sort of an average guy who's been training for a few years and I've hit the bench bodyweight, squat 1.5x and deadlift 2x, so I feel good about that. Not done, though. I'm still working on my 500 lb. deadlift.

My goal is: bench 150% body weight, squat 175%, deadlift 200%..I'm 47 and weigh 170

Squat 1.5 Deadlift 1.75 Bench 1 Ohp 0.8 These are legit number, i just aim for these ratio. After that it need more serious lifestyle change to keep progressing. Now i just doing sport and sometime lift simply to maintain my strengths in big 4

495 deadlift is at the most in my opinion equal to a 315 bench. 365 bench is way better then a 495 deadlift

I am 73kg and should be able to squat 100-150kg? Wow. Well I cant. When we talk about squats we mean going deep (little below 90 degrees) and around 8-10 repetitions, right?

64 body weight. Bench= 70 Squat= 90 Deadlift= 120 Of mine

Bicep curling 81 kg??? Surely I misunderstood something 3:04

i hit a 70kg bench first time ever touched a weight at 65kg ish bw, 2 years later, bencjing 140kg at 88kg bw

I cant event bench without hurting my shoulders. So i kind of just avoid doing it. I can deadlift 300lbs and squat 185lbs

I meet those low standards except for squat I'm wayy off. Have never felt comofortable with them, feels like I cant produce enough force

Weight: 68kg Bench: 100kg 1RM (90 for reps) Squat: 80kg reps Deadlift 70kg reps My legs are a bit lagging behind I think XD and I havent been deadlifting for long yet but seems like legs is a problem there aswell

I weigh 165 and can deadlift 405

These are definitely completely realistic standards for most people who are natural :)

Meh, the best thing I recommend is just be able to do 10 reps with your bodywegiht and great form. And that is bench, squat ,deadlift, row. At the minimum. Below that, work towards it. You will look great and be strong. Then decide on if you are going to go further.

So this is strictly speaking in terms of 1RM right? I would be interested to know what the rep range of say 8-12 would be..

So if i'm 1 year and 4 months training in the gym, i'm 86 kg and I can bench 100 kg x 3 , deadlift 180 kg and squat 160 kg i'm considered as strong?

Women don’t bench at the club, they’re always doing squats and deadlifts lower body exercises.

Incredible video. These men are the only ones around who consistently instruct that "comparison is the thief of joy", that comparing yourself to others is a TRAP. For that reason alone, let alone the multitude of other reasons, Sal, Adam, and Justin are and will always be among the top trainers and weightlifting gurus of their generation. Period.

I can deadlift 2x my BW, squat 1.5 BW, and bench 1X my body weight (roughly). Been lifting for 10+ years now though. Which I had better numbers but once you start focusing on yourself and less about keeping up with others the better you'll feel. They'll always be someone bigger or stronger than you.

This just made me feel so much better!! Those standard charts always made me feel like I was so weak! 135lbs and can leg press 348 - but can only deadlift 110lbs and struggle gripping bar. I feel less overwhelmed hearing those are not fair comparison- I’m just gonna stick to tracking my own progress and not be bothered as much by the weight on bar ..

250 bench , 315 squat , 315 deadlift regularly now

Naturals, as long as you can hit your body weight for all three lifts you’re good! Meaning a 3x10 that will measure true strength

My weight is 81 kg. I can bench 100 kg, squat 120 kg, and deadlift 120 kg

For me my squats are 180kgs for 6reps while 150 for 8reps in deadlift and 30kgs for 5 reps in bench

Those standards by T Nation are exaggerated imho. For regular people deadlifting 2 times bodyweight is really hard.

My bench is better than my squat or my deadlift but my squat is getting better. My deadlift still needs work.

I want the 1200 club (all three at 400 lbs) Got the squat should be there with bench by next year currently at mid 300’s but deadlift is shit. Lol

I like how done to earth these guys are. Good influence!

Awesome video! You made fantastic points near the end. It's a lifelong journey vs yourself to constantly improve.

Some people can squat more than deadlift. Me 🙋‍♂️: w short arm & leg long torso

Leg press numbers on that chart are way off surely 1000 , your going to blow your kneecap off ffs😂

Damn I thought I was doing something being able to lift 315 on all of the big 3 SMH I'm 240 I got work to do

im 68 kg and can only decent bench 3series 12reps 25 kg only !!!!

Damn I’m decent and I’ve been training for 3 years 😔😔

I think some comparison to a standard is healthy and it’s easy to be sh*t and average or less than by comparison only to yourself yesterday. Being focused on others entirely though is not what the journey is about.

Comparing yourself to me? Ha! You're not even good enough to be my fake...

I used to Bench Press 600 trucks in a fasted state, so I wouldn’t have to train close to my one rep max