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WHITELIGHTS

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

Verdict

Is a 500 kg total 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, 500 kg is the 42nd percentile of judged lifts — intermediate among people who compete.

Intermediate Advanced Elite World-class 0255075100 260340420500580660740 kg lifted →
kg

Percentile

20,368 judged totals, men, 82.5–87.5 kg

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

Not your class?

500 kg is 1102 lb. The chart is preloaded with it — change the number to check your own.

What 500 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

BodyweightPercentileBandMedian for the class
up to 52.5 kg 99+ World-class 220.0
52.5–57.5 kg 99th World-class 312.5
57.5–62.5 kg 94th Elite 372.0
62.5–67.5 kg 80th Elite 430.0
67.5–72.5 kg 77th Advanced 440.0
72.5–77.5 kg 58th Advanced 485.0
77.5–82.5 kg 43rd Intermediate 515.0
82.5–87.5 kg 42nd Intermediate 520.0
87.5–92.5 kg 27th Intermediate 555.0
92.5–97.5 kg 26th Intermediate 562.5
97.5–102.5 kg 20th Intermediate 585.0
102.5–107.5 kg 16th Novice 605.0
107.5–112.5 kg 17th Novice 605.0
112.5–117.5 kg 16th Novice 615.0
117.5–122.5 kg 12th Novice 645.0
122.5–127.5 kg 15th Novice 630.0
127.5–132.5 kg 16th Novice 627.5
132.5–137.5 kg 11th Novice 652.5
137.5 kg and above 12th Novice 665.0

Women

BodyweightPercentileBandMedian for the class
up to 52.5 kg 99+ World-class 232.5
52.5–57.5 kg 99+ World-class 267.5
57.5–62.5 kg 99+ World-class 281.2
62.5–67.5 kg 99+ World-class 295.0
67.5–72.5 kg 99+ World-class 305.0
72.5–77.5 kg 99th World-class 320.0
77.5–82.5 kg 99th World-class 320.0
82.5–87.5 kg 98th World-class 323.7
87.5–92.5 kg 98th World-class 327.5
92.5–97.5 kg 98th World-class 325.0
97.5–102.5 kg 98th World-class 342.5
102.5–107.5 kg 97th World-class 342.5
107.5–112.5 kg 97th World-class 347.5
112.5–117.5 kg 96th World-class 350.0
117.5–122.5 kg 95th Elite 362.5
122.5–127.5 kg 94th Elite 370.0
137.5 kg and above 86th Elite 380.0

The road from here

LiftPercentileBand
500.042ndIntermediate
525.053rdAdvanced
550.063rdAdvanced
575.073rdAdvanced

Men at 82.5–87.5 kg bodyweight. Percentile gained per 25 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.

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Published by

Amit Sharma

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