Strength research · beyond competition
General population strength comparison
Compare with people outside powerlifting meets. Use a measured grip result for British population norms, or explore a separate bench press study of young university adults.
These are different tests and different populations. Choose the reference that matches your measurement.
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General population · Great Britain
12 population studies · 49,964 participants across the full study · measurements from 1990–2012
Start with your age
Enter your age and measurement, or explore the published tables below. No example result is filled in.
Published age anchors are used directly. Results stay within the reported percentile bands.
This measures grip strength. It cannot tell you your squat, bench press or deadlift rank.
Published grip strength references
The full reference tables are available without entering a result. p50 is the median; p90 is the reference load at the 90th percentile.
| Age | p10 | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 | Obs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 30 | 35 | 40 | 46 | 52 | 354 |
| 25 | 36 | 41 | 48 | 55 | 61 | 574 |
| 30 | 38 | 44 | 51 | 58 | 64 | 984 |
| 35 | 39 | 45 | 51 | 58 | 64 | 1,380 |
| 40 | 38 | 44 | 50 | 57 | 63 | 880 |
| 45 | 36 | 42 | 49 | 56 | 61 | 798 |
| 50 | 35 | 41 | 48 | 54 | 60 | 820 |
| 55 | 34 | 40 | 47 | 53 | 59 | 3,743 |
| 60 | 33 | 39 | 45 | 51 | 56 | 2,683 |
| 65 | 31 | 37 | 43 | 48 | 53 | 3,947 |
| 70 | 29 | 34 | 39 | 44 | 49 | 3,286 |
| 75 | 26 | 31 | 35 | 41 | 45 | 1,883 |
| 80 | 23 | 27 | 32 | 37 | 42 | 1,115 |
| 85 | 19 | 24 | 29 | 33 | 38 | 1,134 |
| 90 | 16 | 20 | 25 | 29 | 33 | 431 |
Source: Dodds et al. (2014), Table 2, CC BY. These are research-model centiles at the exact ages shown. “Obs.” counts observations within ±2.5 years of each age, not the number tested at that exact age. Repeat measurements contribute to the study.
| Percentile | Men · n=351 | Women · n=255 |
|---|---|---|
| 25th | 81 | 41 |
| 50th · median | 98 | 49 |
| 75th | 119 | 54 |
Source: Kwon et al. (2018), ACSM abstract 2480, Table 1. A conference abstract with 606 healthy university volunteers. Training experience is not specified in the abstract. These are absolute loads, not bodyweight-adjusted or nationally representative norms.
What the data can answer
Grip strength: the British study combines 60,803 observations from 49,964 participants in 12 general-population studies. LiftGauge uses the adult rows at ages 20–90. Enter the highest single-hand dynamometer reading, not the sum of your hands or the resistance printed on a hand gripper. Differences in devices and measurement protocols can affect comparisons.
Bench press: the university study provides three quartiles for ages 20–29. It offers context outside sanctioned meets, but its volunteers are not a random sample of all adults. A result above p75 stays “above p75”; we do not invent a top-1% estimate.
Squat and deadlift: the sources used here do not provide representative civilian barbell 1RM tables. Grip measurements cannot be converted into those lifts. For recorded competition results, use the powerlifting percentile calculator. If you have a working set rather than a tested max, start with the 1RM calculator.
Between the published five-year grip ages, LiftGauge interpolates reference loads and says so beside the result. Percentile bands are comparisons with historical research, not health diagnoses, global population estimates or predictions of your potential.