The median best-ever competition total for a 160 lb man is 1,021 lb — among 33,141 male raw powerlifters aged 20–45 who competed at a bodyweight of 155–165 lb. The 25th percentile is 419 lb and the 90th is 1,301 lb.
Best-ever competition total, male raw powerlifters, age 20–45, bodyweight 155–165 lb. n = 33,141.
| Percentile | Lift | × bodyweight |
|---|---|---|
| 5th | 254 lb (115 kg) | 1.59× |
| 10th | 276 lb (125 kg) | 1.73× |
| 25th | 419 lb (190 kg) | 2.62× |
| 50th (median) | 1,021 lb (463 kg) | 6.38× |
| 75th | 1,179 lb (535 kg) | 7.37× |
| 90th | 1,301 lb (590 kg) | 8.13× |
| 95th | 1,372 lb (623 kg) | 8.57× |
Source: OpenPowerlifting database, build 2026-07-25-606a59af (public domain). Percentiles computed by Motus. Method.
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Everyone in this table entered a judged powerlifting meet. They are not a sample of gym-goers and they are not a sample of the general population. People who compete in powerlifting have self-selected for being strong, have usually trained specifically for a one-rep max, and lift under competition commands — which is typically harder than the same lift performed in a gym.
If you have never competed, your comparison point is not the 50th percentile here. A more honest reading: this tells you what strong, specifically-trained men at your bodyweight actually do.
We publish no figure for the average man in the general population, because no comparable dataset of measured one-rep maxes among non-competitors exists. Numbers of that kind circulating online generally come from user-submitted app data, from estimated rather than measured maxes, or from tables with no stated sample. Full method and limitations.
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