LiftGauge

Deadlift standards for a 59 kg (130 lb) man

The median gym-goer at this bodyweight deadlifts 103 kg (225 lb); an advanced lifter 137 kg (300 lb). Among raw competitors the median lifter deadlifts 160 kg (355 lb) and the top 10% reach 215 kg (475 lb) — all from real data, in kg and lb.

Average deadlift for a 59 kg man recreational gym-goers

This is the everyday yardstick — what gym-goers who log their lifts actually deadlift at this bodyweight (the 53–59 kg / 117–130 lb band). Source: StrengthLevel (153 million+ self-reported gym-log lifts); self-reported, so it skews a little stronger than a typical gym floor.

Levelman, 59 kgin lb
Beginneraround a first-month lifter51 kg110 lb
Novicea few months of consistent training74 kg165 lb
Intermediatethe median logged gym-goer103 kg225 lb
Advancedstronger than 80% of gym-goers137 kg300 lb
Elitetop 5% of recreational lifters174 kg385 lb

How a 59 kg man ranks among competitors OpenPowerlifting raw

If you compete (or want to know where you'd land at a raw meet), this is the field. Based on 2,600 raw lifters in the 53–59 kg / 117–130 lb class.

Percentileman (raw)in lb
Median competitormiddle of the meet field160 kg355 lb
Top 25%experienced competitor191 kg420 lb
Top 10%regionally competitive215 kg475 lb
Top 5%nationally competitive230 kg505 lb
Top 1%international / record territory252.5 kg555 lb

At 59 kg (130 lb) the median raw competitor lifts 57 kg (125 lb) more than the median logged gym-goer — 160 kg (355 lb) versus 103 kg (225 lb) at the 50th percentile. Within the competitive field the top 10% reach 215 kg (475 lb), 55 kg (120 lb) above the median 160 kg (355 lb); the top 1% reach 252.5 kg (555 lb), a further 37.5 kg (85 lb) on top.

These are dead-stop pulls; raw competition allows both conventional and sumo stance on the same scoreboard, so the standard pools them. Dead-stop is the meet standard — touch-and-go reps use the stretch reflex off the floor and read higher than a competition pull. Vanderburgh & Batterham 1999 is why the deadlift standard climbs with bodyweight while strength-per-kilo falls (PMID 10613442).

FAQ

What is the average deadlift for a 59 kg (130 lb) man?
Among logged gym-goers at this bodyweight, the median (50th-percentile) deadlift is 103 kg (225 lb). A beginner is around 51 kg (110 lb) and an advanced lifter around 137 kg (300 lb). Source: StrengthLevel, 153 million+ self-reported gym-log lifts; self-reported, so the population skews stronger than a typical gym floor.
What counts as a good deadlift at 59 kg?
"Good" depends on the room you compare against. For a recreational lifter, anything above the 137 kg (300 lb) advanced mark is strong. To rank among people who actually compete, the median raw competitor at this bodyweight lifts 160 kg (355 lb) and the top 10% reach 215 kg (475 lb).
What deadlift puts me in the top 1% at 59 kg?
The 99th-percentile raw competitive deadlift for a 59 kg (130 lb) man is 252.5 kg (555 lb) — international and record territory. The top 5% (nationally competitive) starts at 230 kg (505 lb).
Where does this data come from?
Competitive figures are real OpenPowerlifting meet results (CC0 public dataset, snapshot 2026-05-16) for raw lifters at this exact sex and bodyweight class; the gym-goer figures are from StrengthLevel's 22,866,078 self-reported deadlift logs. No numbers are estimated — every figure is a percentile from the underlying sample.

Competitive figures: OpenPowerlifting (public competition meet data (CC0), snapshot 2026-05-16, CC0). Recreational figures: StrengthLevel (153 million+ self-reported gym-log lifts; self-reported). Full method at /method. Check your own lift on the percentile calculator.