Deadlift calculator

How your deadlift 1RM is calculated

The calculator projects a submaximal deadlift set forward to an estimated one rep max, using the fairly predictable relationship between reps completed and the percentage of your max they represent.

Feed in the weight and reps from a set that was hard but not an all-out grind, choose a formula, and the calculator extrapolates where that set would land as a single rep.

Worked example, Epley

You pull 180 kg for 4 reps and use Epley: 180 × (1 + 4 ÷ 30) = 180 × 1.133 = 204 kg estimated 1RM. Get 6 reps instead of 4 at the same weight and the estimate rises, because more reps at a fixed weight means that weight was a smaller share of your true max.

Why the deadlift is the hardest of the three to predict

The deadlift is unique among the three main lifts because grip strength and nervous system fatigue often limit how many reps you can complete before your muscles are the limiting factor. That means a deadlift set can end for a different reason than a squat or bench set at the same relative intensity, which is part of why formula-based estimates for the deadlift tend to carry a wider margin and, in practice, often sit slightly under what lifters can actually pull for one.

Reps in reserve and RPE

The formulas assume the input set stopped a rep or two short of failure, roughly RPE 8 or 9 in coaching shorthand, but that assumption sits less comfortably on the deadlift than on the squat or bench press. A deadlift set often ends because grip gives out, the lower back rounds, or bar speed off the floor slows to a crawl, not because the hips and legs have nothing left. A set that ends this way looks like it reached a genuine RPE 9 or 10 by rep count, but the muscles actually doing the lifting may have had more in reserve than the formula assumes, one reason deadlift estimates already run conservative before this effect is even considered.

The cleanest input set is one where every rep left the floor at roughly the same speed and finished with the same lockout, with no noticeable grip slip or rounding creeping in on the last rep or two. If grip or lower back position was the reason the set ended rather than your legs and hips giving out, treat the resulting estimate as more conservative still than the deadlift's usual floor, and consider retesting with straps or a mixed grip to isolate leg and hip strength from grip endurance.

Which formula to use for the deadlift

All five formulas here, Epley, Brzycki, Lombardi, Wathan and O'Conner, were tested against real deadlift 1RMs by LeSuer and colleagues in 1997, alongside the squat and bench press. Every equation they tested, including all five here, significantly underestimated the deadlift, so read any number on this page as a floor rather than a target.

Epley (default)

Weight × (1 + reps ÷ 30). A reasonable middle ground for the deadlift, though given the lift's tendency to be underestimated by formulas built mainly on upper body and squat data, treat the number as a likely floor rather than a ceiling.

Brzycki

Weight × 36 ÷ (37 minus reps). More conservative than Epley up to about 10 reps, which compounds the deadlift's tendency toward underestimation, but its denominator collapses past that point and it overtakes every other formula on this page, which is why it should never be used on high rep AMRAP sets.

Lombardi and Wathan

Lombardi (weight × reps to the power of 0.10) sits a little higher than Epley below about 6 reps but crosses below it above that, so it is the wrong pick for a lift formulas already underestimate. Wathan runs highest of the five from 6 to 10 reps and is the better cross-check on the deadlift.

O'Conner

Weight × (1 + 0.025 × reps). The most conservative of the five from about 6 to 10 reps, and on the deadlift specifically it is more likely to undersell a genuine max than to oversell one, so pair it with a second formula before setting a training max from it.

Given the deadlift's wider spread, cross-checking two formulas is more useful here than on the bench press, where they tend to agree closely.

Why the five formulas disagree

Run the same 180 kg set through all five formulas and the spread follows the same widening pattern seen on the other lifts, layered on top of the deadlift's general tendency to run low. At 3 reps, Brzycki gives 190.6 kg and Lombardi gives 200.9 kg, a spread of about 10 kg, roughly 5 percent. At 6 reps the range runs from O'Conner's 207 kg to Wathan's 216.6 kg, still around 5 percent. By 10 reps it opens up to nearly 18 kg, from O'Conner's 225 kg to Wathan's 242.5 kg, close to 8 percent of the estimate.

Because every formula on this page underestimates a tested deadlift max to begin with, a wide spread between formulas here does not mean pick the highest number and trust it. It means the input set sat far enough from a true single that even the formulas most likely to run high, Wathan and Lombardi at low reps, deserve a second look before you use the number to set a training max.

Deadlift percentages at a glance

Once you have an estimated max, this is the loading range deadlift programmes actually train in. The table assumes a 180 kg estimated 1RM; the calculator above works from your own number.

Deadlift technique standards

The number only means something if the reps behind it were legitimate. These are the standards most coaches and federations judge a deadlift against.

Conventional or sumo

In a conventional deadlift the feet sit roughly hip width apart with the hands outside the knees; in a sumo deadlift the stance is wide and the hands grip inside the knees. Research comparing the two styles found sumo pulls involve a more upright trunk, 5 to 10 degrees more vertical than conventional, and a shorter bar path, with conventional lifters covering 25 to 40 percent more vertical bar distance and doing correspondingly more mechanical work. Hip extensor demand was similar between the two; the significant differences showed up at the knee and ankle. Lifters often report moving slightly more weight sumo, which fits the shorter range of motion, though that study did not compare the loads lifted. Neither is more correct; pick the one that suits your build and stay consistent between test sets.

Bar path and set-up

The bar should stay directly over the midfoot from the floor to lockout, travelling in as close to a straight vertical line as the body allows. Starting with the bar drifting toward the toes, or letting it swing away from the shins as it passes the knees, adds distance and leverage the lift does not need and usually signals the set-up broke down before the rep did.

Bracing and lockout

A hard brace and engaged lats before the pull keeps the spine in a neutral, protected position rather than rounding under load. The rep finishes with hips and knees fully extended and shoulders back, not by overextending the lower back past neutral, which adds risk without adding anything to a lift that is, by that point, already complete.

Bar and grip

A standard barbell, mixed or hook grip and chalk are enough for most lifters testing or estimating a max. Deficit pulls, standing on a small platform to increase the range of motion, and block pulls, starting the bar above the floor, are useful training variations but will shift the number in either direction, so use a standard floor pull for any set you plan to feed into the calculator.

Deadlift strength standards by body weight

Strength standards let you see how your deadlift compares to other lifters at your body weight, though they are approximate and vary by dataset. The figures below are drawn from Strength Level, which aggregates millions of user-submitted lifts, and sit broadly in line with the categories Symmetric Strength derives from competition results (both cited in Sources below). Treat them as a compass, not a target: stance choice, limb length and training age all move the number.

How to use your deadlift max

Set a training max around 90 percent of your estimated 1RM and build working sets off that, leaving slightly more of a buffer than you might on the squat or bench, given how much a deadlift estimate can shift with grip and set-up. Since every formula here already underestimates the deadlift on average, that 90 percent training max is a genuinely conservative number, not an aggressive one, and there is little reason to push much closer to 100 percent for regular working sets.

Programming around the deadlift

Because the deadlift is taxing on the nervous system and lower back, most programmes keep frequency and volume lower than for the squat, often one to two hard sessions a week. Working sets of 3 to 6 at 75 to 90 percent build strength without accumulating fatigue that bleeds into squat and general training.

Retesting

Recalculate every 4 to 8 weeks, or sooner if you changed stance, grip or footwear, since any of those can shift the number independently of a real strength change.

Accessory work that moves this number

A deadlift 1RM is built as much off the platform as on it. Romanian deadlifts and good mornings strengthen the posterior chain through the hip hinge pattern without the grip and lower back fatigue of a full pull from the floor, useful for adding volume between heavy deadlift sessions. Rack pulls and block pulls, starting the bar a few centimetres off the floor, let you overload the lockout portion of the lift and build the confidence to finish a heavy rep once it clears the knees.

Grip strength is worth training directly rather than assuming it will keep up: farmer carries, dead hangs and static holds with a loaded bar build the grip endurance that often ends a deadlift set before the legs and back do. Rows and other upper back work keep the lats engaged and the bar close through the pull, which protects the lower back and keeps more of your strength working through the bar rather than leaking out through a rounding spine. None of these lifts appear in the calculator, but a programme that skips them tends to show up as a deadlift estimate capped by grip or back position long before leg and hip strength are the limiting factor.

Common deadlift mistakes

Rounding the lower back under load. It usually happens when the weight exceeds what the set-up can control, and it makes the rep a different, riskier movement than the one the formula assumes.

Letting the bar drift away from the shins. Extra horizontal distance from the body adds leverage the lift does not need and usually shows up as a grindy, technically ugly rep rather than a true reflection of strength.

Hips shooting up before the bar leaves the floor. This turns the first part of the pull into a stiff-legged movement, changes which muscles are doing the work, and often signals the set-up was rushed.

Overextending at lockout. Leaning back past a neutral, tall position at the top adds spinal load without adding anything to a completed rep, and can make an otherwise good set look heavier or harder than it was.

Losing grip before muscular failure. A rep that ends because the bar slipped, not because the legs and back gave out, does not represent the same limiting factor the prediction formulas assume, and should be treated with more caution than a clean, complete set.

Resetting between reps without resetting the brace. Touching the floor between reps of a multi-rep set is not the same as fully resetting position and bracing. A rushed reset on rep 2 or 3 often turns into the technique breakdown that ends the set early.

How coaches use a deadlift calculator

For a coach, a deadlift calculator turns one logged set into a week of percentages without reworking the maths by hand for every client on a different number, which matters most on a lift where fatigue management is as important as the load itself.

A practical routine: have clients log a hard triple or set of 5 on the deadlift every 4 to 6 weeks, recalculate the estimated max, and let the block's working percentages update from the new number automatically.

Scraler's workout builder does this for you: set percentages on a template once, and each client's deadlift working weight recalculates from their own logged numbers instead of you rebuilding plans by hand. See workout programming.