Built from 1,160,161 verified lifts · updated Sep 2026
Squat Strength Standards: Average, Good & Elite
Among people who compete, the average man squats about 413 lb187 kg; the average woman, about 237 lb108 kg. Here is where every number sits, by bodyweight, age and sex, on the same six-level scale Stronger uses.
Men · 180 lb82 kg bodyweight
six levels · one-rep max
- Beginner
- from the bar
- Novice
- from 225102
- Intermediate
- from 270122
- Advanced
- from 405184
- Elite
- from 495225
- World Class
- from 594269
Women · 140 lb64 kg bodyweight
Find your rank
Where does your squat sit?
Your bodyweight, your best set, and the level you are at right now, against lifters your size. One rep is a one-rep max; a set of up to twelve gets estimated.
1 rep = your one-rep max. Enter a set of up to 12 reps and we estimate it (Epley).
Calculations run in your browser. We measure usage, including strength levels and broad bodyweight ranges.
Your squat
413lb
Advanced
at or above 57% of men competing in the data at your bodyweight
A 2.29× bodyweight squat is Advanced for a 180 lb82 kg man. Elite starts at 495 lb225 kg, 82 lb37 kg away.
Standards by bodyweight
Squat standards for men and women
| Bodyweight | Beginner | Novice | Intermediate | Advanced | Elite | World Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| under 14365 | 4520<1% | 165756% | 1989013% | 29813555% | 36416585% | 43719898% |
| 14365–16575 | 4520<1% | 193883% | 2311056% | 34715744% | 42419280% | 50923197% |
| 16575–18785avg man | 4520<1% | 2201002% | 2651206% | 39718050% | 48522086% | 58226499% |
| 18785–20995 | 4520<1% | 2481123% | 2981357% | 44620257% | 54624891% | 65529799% |
| 20995–231105 | 4520<1% | 2761253% | 3311508% | 49622565% | 60627594% | 728330100% |
| 231105–254115 | 4520<1% | 3031375% | 36416513% | 54624876% | 66730397% | 800363100% |
| 254115–276125 | 4520<1% | 3311506% | 39718014% | 59527078% | 72833098% | 873396100% |
| 276125+ | 4520<1% | 36516611% | 43819926% | 65729889% | 80336499% | 964437100% |
| Bodyweight | Beginner | Novice | Intermediate | Advanced | Elite | World Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| under 12155 | 45201% | 83382% | 1386315% | 1657530% | 22010070% | 26512091% |
| 12155–14365avg woman | 4520<1% | 99451% | 1657515% | 1989032% | 26512078% | 31714495% |
| 14365–16575 | 4520<1% | 116531% | 1938818% | 23110540% | 30914085% | 37016897% |
| 16575–18785 | 4520<1% | 132602% | 22010027% | 26512053% | 35316090% | 42319299% |
| 18785–20995 | 4520<1% | 149685% | 24811242% | 29813569% | 39718096% | 476216100% |
| 20995–231105 | 4520<1% | 165757% | 27612550% | 33115075% | 44120098% | 529240100% |
| 231105+ | 4520<1% | 186849% | 31014161% | 37216984% | 49622599% | 595270100% |
Each cell is the floor of its level for a lifter in the middle of that bodyweight bracket. The app works from your exact bodyweight, so a 180 lb82 kg man who squats 405 lb184 kg is Advanced, and stays Advanced until 495 lb225 kg. Beginner starts at the empty bar, because everyone starts there. Find your row by bodyweight (the top bracket is open-ended), read across, and the column your best single sits under is roughly your level; the Find-your-rank tool above gives the exact answer for your bodyweight.
Distribution
How rare is a good squat?
Every tested one-rep max in the data, men, all bodyweights. 95% of them have squatted 225 lb; 82% have squatted 315.
By age
Squat by age
The teenage years are where the number changes fastest. Nobody has measured a representative teen average, so we show the median among boys who compete in our data instead: 193 lb88 kg at 13, 386 lb175 kg at 18, a competition benchmark for each age. Each age has its own page, with its own standards by bodyweight.
boys, median competitor girls, median competitorage · lbkg · among lifters of that age who compete in our data
Milestones
The plates, and who gets there
Squat milestones are counted in 45s. One plate a side is 135; three is 315, the number most lifters chase first. Here is what each rung means for a 180 lb82 kg man, and how many men in the data have reached it.
How we calculate
Where these numbers come from
Percentiles are built from 1,160,161 verified squat attempts by 422,537 lifters, updated September 2026. We show the method so you can judge it.
The distribution. Our percentiles come from competition results in the OpenPowerlifting open dataset: each lifter's best successful raw squat, with sex, bodyweight and age recorded at the meet. These numbers describe competitive powerlifters, people who entered a sanctioned meet and trained for it. They are stronger than the general gym population, and far stronger than the general public. We say so wherever a percentile appears. Drug-tested divisions squat less at the median than untested ones (men: 408 lb vs 430 lb); the headline numbers pool both.
The levels. Six bands, the same six Stronger uses to score every lift in the app, and read the same way. The app divides your best estimated one-rep max by your bodyweight and compares it with a set of multipliers for each lift, so each cutoff is the floor of its band for that bodyweight, and crossing it puts you in. World Class starts at 1.2 times the Elite floor. We do not redraw the scale from the competition data; we put the competition percentile beside every floor so you can see how rare each level is among people who compete.
The lift. The standards assume a barbell back squat taken to competition depth, hip crease below the top of the knee, high bar or low bar, in sleeves or bare knees. That is the lift a meet judges and the one the competition percentiles come from. A squat cut above parallel is an easier lift and will not compare.
Testing a one-rep max. Warm up to it in jumps that get smaller as the bar gets heavier, take three to five minutes between the last attempts, and squat inside a rack with the safeties set, or with two spotters. If you would rather not max out, take a set of two to six clean reps and let the calculator estimate it; the Epley formula we use is accurate to within a few percent under ten reps.
- Beginner
- Can perform the movement with the empty bar or light weight; strength is still mostly a skill and nervous-system story.
- Novice
- Ahead of most people who do not train. Typically a few months of consistent, progressive work.
- Intermediate
- Ahead of the majority of regular gym-goers. Usually one to two years of structured training.
- Advanced
- Rare in a commercial gym. Years of programming, technique and bodyweight management.
- Elite
- The second-highest band on Stronger’s scale. Competition rankings are shown separately.
- World Class
- The highest band on Stronger’s scale, not a claim of a federation record or qualification.
Sources
- OpenPowerlifting open datasetOpenPowerlifting project2026-09-05CC0Percentile curves, milestone shares, age curves and population counts: 422,537 raw lifters (best successful competition squat each), sanctioned meets only, para and equipped divisions excluded.
- Stronger's Strength Score scale for the squatStrongerThe six level floors per sex and bodyweight bracket, exactly as the app scores a lift.
- Youth Resistance Training: Updated Position Statement Paper From the National Strength and Conditioning AssociationNational Strength and Conditioning Association / Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research2009-08NSCA: Youth Resistance Training: Updated Position Statement Paper From the National Strength and Conditioning Association
- NSCA Strength and Conditioning Professional Standards and GuidelinesNational Strength and Conditioning Association / Strength and Conditioning Journal2017-12NSCA: NSCA Strength and Conditioning Professional Standards and Guidelines
- Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology position paper: resistance training in children and adolescentsCanadian Society for Exercise Physiology / Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism; abstract hosted by NLM2008-06Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology: Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology position paper: resistance training in children and adolescents
- Strength TrainingAmerican Academy of Pediatrics / HealthyChildren.org2011-07-08American Academy of Pediatrics: Strength Training
1 more cited source
- Strength Level squat standardsStrength LevelA published table we compare our six levels against (self-submitted user data).
What moves the number
Why your squat is where it is
Four things explain most of the gap between any two lifters. In order of how much they matter.
Bodyweight
The biggest predictor, as on every lift. The Advanced line for men runs from 298 lb135 kg at 132 lb60 kg to 657 lb298 kg at 292 lb132 kg+. A heavier lifter has more muscle to drive with and a thicker trunk to brace against the bar. That is why the table has rows, and why a squat number without a bodyweight next to it says very little.
Depth
The squat is the lift where the number is only as honest as the rep. Every competition figure on this page is a squat taken to competition depth, hip crease below the top of the knee, because that is what a meet judges. A half squat with the same weight is a different, easier lift. If you cut the depth to hit a number, the number moves and the strength does not.
Bar position and stance
High bar or low bar, narrow or wide, both count, and most lifters squat a little more with the bar low on the rear delts and the hips further back, because the hips and back take more of the load. Neither changes the scale. Pick the one your hips and shoulders let you hold, and stay with it long enough for the technique to settle. Our squat guide walks through the set-up.
Training age
Not your age, your years of consistent, progressive squatting. The first year of real training moves most men from Beginner to Intermediate. Advanced takes longer than everything before it, and Elite is years of programming, bodyweight management and joints that have been kept healthy.
Men and women
Squat standards for women
The gap between men's and women's squats is real but narrower than the gap on the bench, because the squat is a hip-and-leg lift and women carry proportionally more of their muscle below the waist. It is still wide enough that scoring a woman's squat against the men's table would misplace almost every woman, so the women's standards are their own table, built from women's lifts, and we never score a woman against the men's numbers.
For a 140 lb64 kg woman: Novice from 105 lb48 kg, Intermediate from 175 lb79 kg, Advanced from 210 lb95 kg, Elite from 280 lb127 kg. A bodyweight squat to depth is a real milestone for a woman; two plates a side is Advanced for her.
The full women's standards, by age and weightWomen · all tested lifts
The questions everyone asks
Is 135, 225, 315 or 405 a good squat?
Short answers, for the reference lifter. Each number has its own page with the answer by bodyweight and age.
Is 135 lb61 kg a good squat?
Beginner for a 180 lb82 kg man
99% of men in the data have lifted it, which is most lifters.
Full answer
Is 225 lb102 kg a good squat?
Novice for a 180 lb82 kg man
95% of men in the data have lifted it, which is most lifters.
Full answer
Is 315 lb143 kg a good squat?
Intermediate for a 180 lb82 kg man
82% of men in the data have lifted it, which is most lifters.
Full answer
Is 405 lb184 kg a good squat?
Advanced for a 180 lb82 kg man
54% of men in the data have lifted it, about 1 in 2.
Full answer
One-rep max
How to estimate your squat max
You do not need to max out to know your max. Take a set you are sure of, somewhere between two and six reps, and multiply the weight by one plus the reps over thirty. That is Epley's formula, and under ten reps it is accurate to within a few percent. Five reps at 225 lb predicts about 262 lb; three reps at 315 predicts about 346.
The estimate drifts as reps climb, because a twelve-rep set tests endurance as much as strength, so we cap the Find-your-rank module at twelve. Every rep in the set has to reach depth, or the estimate is of a different lift.
| Reps | Weight | Predicted max |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 225 lb102 kg | 225 lb102 kg |
| 2 | 210 lb95 kg | 224 lb102 kg |
| 3 | 205 lb93 kg | 226 lb103 kg |
| 5 | 195 lb88 kg | 228 lb103 kg |
| 8 | 180 lb82 kg | 228 lb103 kg |
| 10 | 170 lb77 kg | 227 lb103 kg |
Getting stronger
How to add fifty pounds to your squat
If you are below the line you want to be on, this is the order we would fix things in.
Squat twice a week
One heavy day (sets of three to five) and one lighter day (sets of six to ten, or pause squats) beats one big day. The squat is a skill under load, and the second session is where the depth and the bracing get rehearsed.
Own your depth
Find the depth where your hip crease passes the top of the knee, film it once, and never squat above it again. Every rep to the same depth is the only way the numbers on this page mean anything about you.
Brace before you move
Big breath into the belly, tighten the whole trunk against it, then descend. Most missed squats are lost at the bottom because the brace went first. A belt helps once the brace is a habit; it does not replace one.
Eat and sleep like you mean it
A lifter who gains five pounds of muscle over a block almost always squats more at the end of it. Protein around 0.7 to 1 g per pound, and sleep that is not negotiable.
In competition
Powerlifting squat standards
A competition squat is stricter than a gym squat: the lifter walks the bar out, waits for the start command, descends until the hip crease is below the top of the knee, stands up without any downward movement, and waits for the rack command. A gym squat is not directly interchangeable with a judged competition result. Our percentiles describe competition results; the six strength levels belong to Stronger’s scale.
Elite and World Class are labels on Stronger's scale, not federation qualifications or record predictions. The competition percentiles show how those thresholds compare with measured lifts.
Safety
Squat safely
Use a rack with correctly adjusted safeties or a competent spotter for heavy squats. Learn the setup with a qualified coach and follow your gym’s equipment instructions.
Stop the exercise if it hurts. Persistent or sudden pain needs assessment rather than a technique diagnosis from a benchmark page. Young lifters should train with qualified supervision; see the AAP’s strength-training guidance.
Questions people ask
Squat standards, answered
What is the average squat?
In our data the average man squats about 413 lb187 kg for one rep and the average woman about 237 lb108 kg. Those are one-rep maxes among people who train and test the lift, not the general population, and they move a lot with bodyweight. The tables above give the number for your weight.
What is a good squat?
For a 180 lb82 kg man, Intermediate starts at 270 lb122 kg and Advanced at 405 lb184 kg; for a 140 lb64 kg woman, Intermediate starts at 175 lb79 kg and Advanced at 210 lb95 kg. We would call anything Intermediate or above a good squat. It is stronger than most people who lift.
How many people can squat 315?
About 82% of the men in our data have squatted 315 lb, which is most lifters. Among men who do not train it is far rarer. The 315 page has the number by bodyweight and age.
Does a half squat count?
Not on this page. Every percentile here comes from squats to competition depth, with the hip crease below the top of the knee, because that is what a meet judges. A half squat with the same weight is an easier lift, and the number is not comparable. Stronger scores whatever you log, so log the depth you actually hit and compare like with like.
What are the squat standards in kg?
Every number on this page switches to kilograms with the lb/kg toggle. For a 82 kg man the cutoffs are Novice 102 kg, Intermediate 122 kg, Advanced 184 kg, Elite 225 kg and World Class 269 kg.
How does age change the standards?
Squat strength rises through the teens, peaks in the late twenties to thirties and declines slowly after forty. Nobody has measured a representative teen average, so we do not print one; among 15-year-old boys who compete in our data the median is 287 lb130 kg, a competition benchmark for that age. The by-age page has the median for every age from 13 up, and each teen age has its own scale by bodyweight.
How do I find my one-rep max without maxing out?
Take a set of two to six clean reps with a weight you are sure of and use the Epley estimate: weight × (1 + reps ÷ 30). Five reps at 185 lb predicts about 216 lb. Our 1RM calculator does the arithmetic, and the Find-your-rank module above accepts a set instead of a max.
Does the squat weight include the bar?
Yes. Every number on this page is the total on the bar, bar included, which is how a lift is recorded at a meet and how Stronger logs it. A standard barbell weighs 45 lb20 kg, so a 45 lb plate on each side is 135 lb61 kg, the “one plate” squat, and two plates a side is 225 lb102 kg. If your gym's bar is lighter or a machine adds its own resistance, the number is not comparable.
Do the standards change for high bar or low bar?
No. Both are a back squat, both are legal at a meet, and the app scores them the same. Most lifters squat somewhat more with the bar low, because the hips take more of the load, so if your best number is a low-bar squat and you switch to high bar, expect it to drop for a while. Front squats and safety-bar squats are different lifts and are not on this scale.
Are these numbers averages of everyone, gym members or powerlifters?
Competitors. The percentiles come from 1,160,161 verified squat attempts by 422,537 lifters in the OpenPowerlifting open dataset, so every “% of men” on this page means men who entered a powerlifting meet. These numbers describe competitive powerlifters, people who entered a sanctioned meet and trained for it. They are stronger than the general gym population, and far stronger than the general public. The six levels are a different thing. They are Stronger's scale, the same one the app scores every lift on, and we put the competition percentile beside each level so the two never blur.
Why do different strength-standard sites give different answers?
Because they measure different people in different ways. Strength Level's tables are built from lifts its users log; ours are competition results with a judge watching. None of them is wrong about its own population, and none of them is the average of everyone. The Methodology section on this page lists every published table we cross-checked against, so you can see where each number comes from.
Sources: Strength Level squat standards (Strength Level)
Track your strength level, every lift, every workout.
The tables above are a snapshot. Stronger scores every set you log on its strength scale, adjusted for your bodyweight and sex, and shows you which muscle is holding your squat back. This is the Strength Score, and it is the reason the app exists.
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Keep going
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- The Strength ScoreStronger
Levels: Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Elite, World Class. Average man 413 lb.