How Much Weight Can the Average Man Lift, Including Bench Press, Deadlift and Squat?

"Average" is a tricky word when it comes to weightlifting. Fitness level, body type and exercise experience make for a lot of variation. But weightlifting standards can help you get a grasp on roughly how much weight a typical man can lift.

Beyond the bench press, you can also take a look at the current men's standards for tried-and-true tests of strength, such as the deadlift and squat. These numbers help paint a broader picture of how much weight the average American man is able to lift at different fitness experience levels.

Strength standards are an estimate of the one-rep max weight for different types of exercises, according to the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). In any weight-lifting category, standards are based on lifts properly performed with no additional gear (except lifting belts, which are allowed).

As you look through the national standards for different lifts, keep in mind that these numbers don't exactly show how much the average man can lift, per NASM. So it's totally normal if your personal records don't exactly match the standard, as there are a lot of variables at play..

Instead, these values are a rough example of what an "average" adult man can lift, based on their body weight and experience level. Here, the data are broken down into three categories, including untrained (no prior lifting experience), novice (several months of experience) and intermediate (a few years of experience).

The bench press can serve as one indicator of your strength in other exercises, according to a small March 2013 study in the ‌Journal of Sports Science and Medicine.‌ Researchers found that those who had higher max loads for the bench press also lifted more weight for at least four other exercises, including hammer curl, barbell biceps curl, overhead triceps extension and dumbbell shoulder press.

"Bench press has been a staple exercise for both testing and training the upper body strength of athletes in many professional sports including American football and basketball," write researchers, noting its consistent use as a measure for upper-body strength in numerous studies among the non-athlete population, too.

Body weight plays a key role in how much weight an individual is able to lift. The average American adult man weighs about 199 pounds, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. And the average, untrained 198-pound man bench presses about 135 pounds, according to ExRx.net.

Use the chart below to get an idea of how you compare to the national average for the bench press.

In addition to the many benefits of deadlifting — like strengthening your glutes, legs and back — this classic barbell lift is a reliable and repeatable way to assess one-rep maxes, according to a small March 2018 study in the ‌Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.‌

Use the chart below to get an idea of how you stack up against the national average deadlift, according to ExRx.net.

Alongside the bench press and deadlift, the squat is another solid indicator of overall strength, according to a small May 2015 study in the ‌Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.‌ Researchers found the squat to be a good measure of improvements in strength and explosiveness in training for men.

You can use the chart below to get an idea of how your squats compare to the national average squat standards.

Shoulder presses help build upper-body strength and core stability, and they can even help improve your overall posture.

Use the chart below to get an idea of the national standards for the men's overhead press.

Stepping well outside of the average, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) tracks the most exceptional weightlifters' records at the Olympic games. As per IWF rules, athletes perform a series of snatch and clean-and-jerk barbell lifts, with the best weight of each individual lift being added to an overall total.

These are the current world records for the clean and jerk.

• ‌55-kg (121-lb) weight class:‌ 366 pounds, Om Yun Chol (People's Republic of Korea), 2019
• ‌61-kg (134-lb) weight class:‌ 384 pounds, Eko Yuli Irawan (Indonesia), 2018
• ‌67-kg (148-lb) weight class:‌ 414 pounds, Pak Jong Ju (People's Republic of Korea), 2019
• ‌73-kg (161-lb) weight class:‌ 437 pounds, Shi Zhiyong (China), 2019
• ‌81-kg (179-lb) weight class:‌ 459 pounds, Karlos Nasar (Bulgaria), 2021
• ‌96-kg (212-lb) weight class:‌ 509 pounds, Tian Tao (China), 2019
• ‌109-kg (240-lb) weight class:‌ 531 pounds, Ruslan Nurudinov (Uzbekistan), 2021

These are the current world records for the snatch.

• ‌61-kg (134-lb) weight class:‌ 320 pounds, Li Fabin (China), 2019
  
• ‌67-kg (148-lb) weight class:‌ 342 pounds, Huang Minhao (China), 2019
• ‌73-kg (161-lb) weight class:‌ 371 pounds, Shi Zhiyong (China), 2021
• ‌81-kg (179-lb) weight class:‌ 386 pounds, Li Dayin (China), 2021
• ‌96-kg (212-lb) weight class:‌ 412 pounds, Lesman Paredes Montano (Colombia), 2021
• ‌109-kg (240-lb) weight class:‌ 441 pounds, Yang Zhe (China), 2021