What's a Decent Deadlift?

I was wondering what a decent deadlift would be for a 51 (soon to be 52 )yo male?
I’ve lifted so long without a partner, and the gyms aren’t exactly filled with 50+ yo guys lifting seriously.

I’m ~ 6’, 230lbs. I just came back in the last month from a 5 month lay off; otherwise I’ve been training for 25+ years. I’m pulling 455lbs. right now, after my 4th dead session since I’ve been back. Is this any good?

P.S. I’ve never considered myself a powerlifter, I’ve never trained specifically for powerlifting, and I’ve never competed.

Thanks,

Crowbar

3x Bodyweight

Oh golly. Cmon man. The thread directly below this one at this time of posting is a question that is exactly the same.

Use the powerlifting USA site for tables for a masters lifter and check it.

I am about your same dimensions and age. My last deadlift PR was 405, but I have done plenty of work simce then so think it might be close to yours. So heck yeah, 455 is a great deadlift!

Seriously though, as suggested check out one of the powerlifting charts for masters if you want true comparisons.

[quote]detazathoth wrote:
3x Bodyweight[/quote]
decent - adequate, passable

Your definition of decent seems… indecent :slight_smile:

3x is above decent.

I would say maybe 2.5x BW is a decent deadlift for someone of any age.

Not to mention the dude asked “for a 51 year old”!

3x BW for a 51 year old would be pretty nuts.

You know looking at the USPA classifications, if you have a 3x bodyweight deadlift:
if you’re in the 148’s that is 39lbs less than what they define as elite
165’s is 27lbs less
181’s is 19lbs less
198’s is 10lbs more
220’s is 44lbs more
242’s is 97lbs more
and so on

Anyway to answer your question for a 51 year old bloke I’d be pretty impressed with a 455 pull :slight_smile:

You can use this chart and then take off about 10% due to age

Thanks everyone–and thank you very much Tim. This was what I was asking I guess: how much does age affect strength. If I deduct 10% for age then I’m approaching a Class I lift.

I just never knew where to place myself against others my age. I knew I didn’t see anyone my age pulling (or pushing, or anything) these weights, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

Again, thanks. I now have a better idea where I stand.

Crowbar

[quote]csulli wrote:

[quote]detazathoth wrote:
3x Bodyweight[/quote]
decent - adequate, passable

Your definition of decent seems… indecent :slight_smile:

3x is above decent.

I would say maybe 2.5x BW is a decent deadlift for someone of any age.

Not to mention the dude asked “for a 51 year old”!

3x BW for a 51 year old would be pretty nuts.[/quote]

^^^

690 deadlift for 6’3 51 year old is “decent” to say the least

I forgot to mention that I’m cutting body fat right now; so, I’m doing 6 pulses of MAG-10/day (plus 1 Fini bar on training days) and one healthy solid meal. I’m getting ~ 2000 Kcal/day–not much!

Crowbar

As a point of reference, 699 is the top current raw deadlift in the 220 pound masters category over the past year and the bottom of the top thirty in that weight class is 551.

I’m 46 and pulled 512 at 183 pounds during my last meet in February (screwed up my weight reduction plan and missed the 181’s). I consider that a decent pull but nothing more.

Considering you said your not training specifically for powerlifting I think 455 qualifies as decent as my guess is that number would shoot up considerably if you focused on the lift.

Yeah, I think you’re right DBasler. Not only that, but at ~ 2000Kcal/day I’ll be surprised if I add too much to that pull right now.

One thing I’ve noticed is that my strength did decline somewhat when I hit 50 or so; however, I attribute this more to age related decline in the efficiency of the nervous system, than any musculo-skeletal issues. I think I’ll be doing more monitoring and training with HRV (heart rate variability). I’ve been using–not as consistently as I need to–a program called Heart Math. It teaches you to voluntarily enter a state they call “coherence”, in which input from the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the nervous system are balanced, thus preventing “sympathetic overdrive”. It really does help with recovery, as well (when using HRV as a diagnostic tool) as letting you see when your nervous system is recovered and ready for hard training, or conversely when it’s not.

The “home” versions of HRV training and testing obviously don’t have the precision of a lab or medical setting, but they are nevertheless helpful: at least that has been my experience.

Crowbar

decent depends on the people are you talking to. i talk to my friends at the gym and i am one of the weakest people in that group. i talk to pretty much everyone else i know on the planet and i am a juggernaught of strength. for strength athletes i would use the link Tim posted above as a reference point.

[quote]sexyxe wrote:
Oh golly. Cmon man. The thread directly below this one at this time of posting is a question that is exactly the same.

Use the powerlifting USA site for tables for a masters lifter and check it.

[/quote]

Oh golly, ya poor fellow, you had to read his entire question!
I’ve read these kinds of boards for awhile now, and that’s one major sub-thread running through all threads: A guy with legit questions who’s looking for answers from those who may have an answer constantly get told that they’re doing “it” wrong–their question should not have been asked for some reason.

If this dude knew about master lifter tables on a powerlifting site, he’s have likely gone there. At least you were gentle, but the big groan at the beginning was dramatic and ridiculous.

I’m 51 (June 1963) and 169 pounds and pulled 500 even last night. After having deadlifted 500+ in my late 20’s, I got way WAY off track behind drug addiction. After approx 23 years of trying to get back in some semblance of the shape I was in long ago, I finally hit the 500 mark–one rep, with belt & straps. I did it a week ago and wanted to see that it wasn’t just a fluke so I did it again last night. Then I dropped to 405 x 8. That was much more taxing, but it feels great!

[quote]macintox wrote:

[quote]sexyxe wrote:
Oh golly. Cmon man. The thread directly below this one at this time of posting is a question that is exactly the same.

Use the powerlifting USA site for tables for a masters lifter and check it.

[/quote]

Oh golly, ya poor fellow, you had to read his entire question!
I’ve read these kinds of boards for awhile now, and that’s one major sub-thread running through all threads: A guy with legit questions who’s looking for answers from those who may have an answer constantly get told that they’re doing “it” wrong–their question should not have been asked for some reason.

If this dude knew about master lifter tables on a powerlifting site, he’s have likely gone there. At least you were gentle, but the big groan at the beginning was dramatic and ridiculous.[/quote]

Speaking of doing it wrong congrats on bumping a thread that’s a good bit over a year inactive and pretty much irrelevant.

[quote]macintox wrote:
I’m 51 (June 1963) and 169 pounds and pulled 500 even last night. After having deadlifted 500+ in my late 20’s, I got way WAY off track behind drug addiction. After approx 23 years of trying to get back in some semblance of the shape I was in long ago, I finally hit the 500 mark–one rep, with belt & straps. I did it a week ago and wanted to see that it wasn’t just a fluke so I did it again last night. Then I dropped to 405 x 8. That was much more taxing, but it feels great![/quote]

Thanks for the life story. Maybe you could have spent your first two posts on this site commenting on recent threads, rather than telling some random story in this ancient 1 page thread.

The USAPL American Raw records for age 50-54 is 633 for 220s and 650 for 242s…I would say your pretty good for your age, don’t mind the younger guys, I doubt they will even be lifting after 40.