Most strength charts online rest on gym-floor guesses. A 2024 analysis published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport went far bigger, pulling 809,986 competition results from drug-tested, unequipped powerlifting meets to build age-adjusted benchmarks for the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
The dataset covered 571,650 male entries and 238,336 female entries. Australian researchers led by Daniel J. van den Hoek then broke the numbers down by sex, age group, and weight class, and expressed each lift as a multiple of the lifter's bodyweight.
What elite strength looks like at 20, and at 80
At the 90th percentile, an 18 to 35-year-old man squatted 2.83 times his bodyweight, benched 1.95 times, and deadlifted 3.25 times. Women in the same age band hit 2.26, 1.35, and 2.66 times bodyweight, respectively.
By the time competitors passed 80, the top 10 percent still moved serious loads. Men in that group squatted 1.72 times bodyweight, benched 1.31, and pulled 2.30. Women hit 1.01, 0.92, and 1.68. Peak relative strength sat in the 18 to 35 window across all three lifts, with a steady drop after that.
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These numbers describe a very specific population. Competitors self-select for training, coaching, and drug-tested status, so the norms represent trained lifters, not the average adult. The authors themselves frame the tables as benchmarks for strength-trained individuals, not the general public.
Where an average exerciser fits in
For readers who lift casually, the top-end numbers can feel discouraging. They are meant to. The 90th percentile is the very upper edge of a competition dataset, roughly what a well-coached, drug-tested lifter with years of training might reach.
The middle of the distribution is a more useful mirror. Mid-percentile competitors still lift bodyweight and beyond, but the gap narrows with age, and the numbers make clear that raw strength is a moving target. What matters for most people is not matching a competition norm, but seeing where their own trajectory sits and what direction it is heading.
How fast strength fades, and what training does about it
Age-related muscle loss, called sarcopenia, is already underway well before retirement. Harvard Health notes that sarcopenia can begin at around age 35 and occurs at a rate of 1 to 2 percent a year for the typical person, accelerating to about 3 percent per year after 60.
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Strength drops faster than muscle mass. A quantitative review in Frontiers in Physiology reports average strength losses of 2 to 4 percent per year, which is 2 to 5 times faster than muscle mass is lost. At age 75, longitudinal data show men losing 3 to 4 percent of strength per year and women 2.5 to 3 percent.
The powerlifting dataset makes the same trend visible in real numbers on a barbell. It also shows the flip side: adults in their sixties, seventies, and eighties who kept training were still lifting more than their own bodyweight, in some cases well above it.
Resistance training remains the most consistent countermeasure. Public health reviews of older adults find that progressive strength work, done a few times a week, meaningfully offsets the loss of both muscle and force production. The specific program that fits a given person is best sorted with a clinician or a qualified coach, especially for readers managing joint pain, cardiovascular conditions, or a long gap since their last workout.
The takeaway
The value of this dataset is less about telling any one person how much they should lift, and more about anchoring the conversation in real numbers.
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Strength peaks early, fades faster than muscle mass, and responds to training at almost any age.
The 809,986 entries make that story harder to argue with.
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