Strength to bodyweight ratio standards

OpenPowerlifting raw meet results put the median 83 kg-limit man at 2.29× bodyweight in the squat, 1.51× in the bench press and 2.65× in the deadlift.

Median ratio by class — men median ÷ class limit, top 10% below

Each cell divides the class's median raw meet result by the class upper limit; the sub-line does the same for the top-10% result. Because the divisor is the limit rather than each entry's own bodyweight, every ratio is the smallest it can be for that class. The open class has no limit and is not shown. Click a class for its full men's squat page.

Median ratio by class — women median ÷ class limit, top 10% below

Each cell divides the class's median raw meet result by the class upper limit; the sub-line does the same for the top-10% result. Because the divisor is the limit rather than each entry's own bodyweight, every ratio is the smallest it can be for that class. The open class has no limit and is not shown. Click a class for its full women's squat page.

Is a given ratio good? nine questions, every class

The bench, squat and deadlift multiples people actually quote, each ranked at every class limit for men and women:

Ratio versus coefficient why meets do not score by multiple

A ratio treats strength as proportional to bodyweight. It is not: strength scales sub-linearly with bodyweight (heavier lifters lift more in absolute terms but less per kilo of bodyweight) (Vanderburgh & Batterham 1999), which the tables above show directly — the median multiple falls as the class limit rises for every lift and both sexes. A single ratio therefore flatters the lightest classes and penalises the heaviest. Federations rank across classes with fitted coefficients instead; the score calculator gives DOTS, Wilks 2020 and IPF GoodLift for any total, and the percentile calculator ranks a lift inside its own sex, age, bodyweight and equipment cell.

FAQ

What is a good squat to bodyweight ratio?

At the 83 kg men's class limit the median raw meet result is 2.29× the limit and the top 10% reach 2.89×; at the 63 kg women's limit the median is 1.75× and the top 10% 2.34×. Lighter classes post higher multiples and heavier classes lower ones — read your own class in the tables above.

What is a good bench press to bodyweight ratio?

At the 83 kg men's class limit the median raw meet result is 1.51× the limit and the top 10% reach 1.90×; at the 63 kg women's limit the median is 0.95× and the top 10% 1.35×. Lighter classes post higher multiples and heavier classes lower ones — read your own class in the tables above.

What is a good deadlift to bodyweight ratio?

At the 83 kg men's class limit the median raw meet result is 2.65× the limit and the top 10% reach 3.25×; at the 63 kg women's limit the median is 2.09× and the top 10% 2.70×. Lighter classes post higher multiples and heavier classes lower ones — read your own class in the tables above.

Why does the ratio fall as bodyweight rises?

Strength scales sub-linearly with bodyweight — heavier lifters lift more in absolute terms but less per kilo of bodyweight (Vanderburgh & Batterham 1999, PMID 10613442). The effect is visible in every column above and is the reason cross-class comparison uses coefficients or percentiles rather than a multiplier.

Is the ratio computed on each lifter’s exact bodyweight?

No. Each ratio divides a class percentile breakpoint by the class upper limit, the most a lifter in that class can weigh, so it is the smallest the ratio can be for that class. For an exact-bodyweight comparison use the percentile calculator with your own lift and bodyweight.

Figures: OpenPowerlifting (public competition meet data (CC0), dataset date 2026-05-10). Cell n is a meet-result count, not a unique-person count. Full method at /method. Check your own lift on the percentile calculator.