Part of the data ring
WHITELIGHTS

Real judged lifts. Zero self-reported numbers. This is what strong actually is.

Age 70 and over

Average deadlift at 70 and over

Median 145 kg for men in this age band, from 980 judged lifts.

Where a deadlift lands at this age

Intermediate Advanced Elite World-class 0255075100 6090120150180210240 kg lifted →
kg

Percentile

980 judged deadlifts, men aged 70 and over

No lift entered. The curve is every judged deadlifts in this class — add yours to it.

SOURCE·Judged competition results (OpenPowerlifting)·980 judged deadlifts, men aged 70 and over·REVIEWED JUL 2026

From 1.8 million judged lifts to one percentile

  1. Take only judged lifts. Every row is an attempt performed on a competition platform in front of three referees. Anything from a phone, a survey or a training log is not in the archive at all.
  2. Drop equipped lifts. Raw only — no squat suits, no bench shirts. A suit is worth tens of kilos and would silently inflate every figure on the page.
  3. Count each lifter once, at their best. Somebody who competes twenty times is one data point, not twenty, so the curve is a population of people rather than a population of meets.
  4. Split by sex and 5 kg bodyweight class, then by age band. A lift is a different achievement at 60 kg and at 120 kg, so a single national average would be an average of two different questions.
  5. Sort the class and read off the 99 cut points. Your percentile is the position of your lift in that sorted list — not a score, a rank against named people.
  6. On an age page, pool every bodyweight class. Age is the only thing allowed to vary, which is what makes this page answer "what does age do" rather than "what should someone my size lift".
  7. Publish nothing thin. A slice with fewer than 500 lifters is not given a page: its tails would be noise dressed as a standard.
percentile(x)  =  100 × count(best_raw ≤ x) ÷ n

  class   =   sex  ×  5 kg bodyweight bucket  [ ×  age band ]
  n       =   lifters in that class, each counted once, at their best
  x       =   your lift, in kilograms

  band    =   01–19  novice        50–79  advanced      95–99  world class
              20–49  intermediate  80–94  elite

The full method, including what is excluded and why →

Men, 70 and over

980 lifters, all bodyweights pooled.

PercentileLift (kg)Lift (lb)Band
10th102.5226Novice
20th115.0254Intermediate
25th120.0265Intermediate
30th125.0276Intermediate
40th137.5303Intermediate
50th145.0320Advanced
60th155.0342Advanced
70th165.0364Advanced
75th170.0375Advanced
80th177.5391Elite
90th190.1419Elite
95th210.0463World-class
99th235.0518World-class

SOURCE·Judged competition results (OpenPowerlifting)·980 judged deadlifts, men aged 70 and over·REVIEWED JUL 2026

Read this next to your bodyweight

Age bands pool every bodyweight class, so a 60 kg lifter and a 120 kg lifter are in the same column here. That makes the page good for one question — how does age move the number — and bad for another: what should someone of my size lift.

For that second question, go to the deadlift standards by bodyweight class, where the age breakdown appears again inside your own class.

Deadlift at 70 and over — common questions

What is the average deadlift at 70 and over?

145 kg (320 lb) is the median for men in this band, from 980 judged competition lifts with every bodyweight class pooled. Half of that group lifted less and half lifted more.

What counts as strong at 70 and over?

Within this age band the top fifth of men deadlift 178 kg or more, and the top 5% 210 kg or more. Everyone counted here entered a powerlifting meet, so the bar is higher than a gym average.

Does this account for bodyweight?

No — this page pools every bodyweight class so that age is the only thing changing. For a figure that holds your size fixed, use the deadlift standards for your own bodyweight class, which repeat the age breakdown inside that class.

See all 10 sites in this family, with what each one answers

Published by

Amit Sharma

Auckland real-estate agent and marketer. Builds free, sourced data tools.