Is a 120 kg deadlift good?
Short answer: it depends entirely on your bodyweight, and here is the table that says by how much.
At 82.5–87.5 kg bodyweight, 120 kg is the 2nd percentile of judged lifts — novice among people who compete.
Percentile
—
24,058 judged deadlifts, men, 82.5–87.5 kg
No lift entered. The curve is every judged deadlifts in this class — add yours to it.
Not your class?
120 kg is 265 lb. The chart is preloaded with it — change the number to check your own.
What 120 kg means at every bodyweight
The same lift is a different achievement at 60 kg and at 120 kg. This is the whole answer, not one row of it.
Men
| Bodyweight | Percentile | Band | Median for the class |
|---|---|---|---|
| up to 52.5 kg | 74th | Advanced | 95.0 |
| 52.5–57.5 kg | 35th | Intermediate | 135.0 |
| 57.5–62.5 kg | 16th | Novice | 160.0 |
| 62.5–67.5 kg | 6th | Novice | 180.5 |
| 67.5–72.5 kg | 5th | Novice | 185.0 |
| 72.5–77.5 kg | 2nd | Novice | 200.0 |
| 77.5–82.5 kg | 1st | Novice | 212.5 |
| 82.5–87.5 kg | 2nd | Novice | 215.0 |
| 87.5–92.5 kg | <1 | Novice | 227.5 |
| 92.5–97.5 kg | 1st | Novice | 230.0 |
| 97.5–102.5 kg | <1 | Novice | 237.5 |
| 102.5–107.5 kg | <1 | Novice | 245.0 |
| 107.5–112.5 kg | <1 | Novice | 245.0 |
| 112.5–117.5 kg | <1 | Novice | 245.0 |
| 117.5–122.5 kg | <1 | Novice | 255.0 |
| 122.5–127.5 kg | <1 | Novice | 250.0 |
| 127.5–132.5 kg | <1 | Novice | 250.0 |
| 132.5–137.5 kg | <1 | Novice | 255.0 |
| 137.5 kg and above | <1 | Novice | 257.5 |
Women
| Bodyweight | Percentile | Band | Median for the class |
|---|---|---|---|
| up to 52.5 kg | 74th | Advanced | 105.0 |
| 52.5–57.5 kg | 55th | Advanced | 117.5 |
| 57.5–62.5 kg | 47th | Intermediate | 122.5 |
| 62.5–67.5 kg | 39th | Intermediate | 130.0 |
| 67.5–72.5 kg | 33rd | Intermediate | 132.5 |
| 72.5–77.5 kg | 27th | Intermediate | 140.0 |
| 77.5–82.5 kg | 25th | Intermediate | 140.0 |
| 82.5–87.5 kg | 26th | Intermediate | 140.0 |
| 87.5–92.5 kg | 23rd | Intermediate | 140.6 |
| 92.5–97.5 kg | 23rd | Intermediate | 142.5 |
| 97.5–102.5 kg | 20th | Intermediate | 145.0 |
| 102.5–107.5 kg | 20th | Intermediate | 145.0 |
| 107.5–112.5 kg | 19th | Novice | 147.9 |
| 112.5–117.5 kg | 20th | Intermediate | 147.5 |
| 117.5–122.5 kg | 15th | Novice | 150.0 |
| 122.5–127.5 kg | 15th | Novice | 154.2 |
| 137.5 kg and above | 16th | Novice | 152.5 |
The road from here
| Lift | Percentile | Band |
|---|---|---|
| 120.0 | 2nd | Novice |
| 130.0 | 3rd | Novice |
| 140.0 | 4th | Novice |
| 150.0 | 6th | Novice |
Men at 82.5–87.5 kg bodyweight. Percentile gained per 10 kg, so you can see what the next plate is actually worth.
Who these numbers describe. Everyone in this dataset entered a powerlifting competition. They are stronger than the general gym population, so a 50th percentile here is well above an average gym-goer — we would rather tell you that than quietly flatter you. Nobody has ever published a trustworthy random sample of what people lift in commercial gyms; what exists instead is app data that people type in themselves.