How much should a 45-year-old woman squat?
225 lb (102 kg) is a good squat for a 45-year-old woman: it beats about 98% of women her age and sits at the 72nd percentile of lifters who track their training (Intermediate). The median woman squats 140 lb (63.5 kg); Elite starts around 310 lb (140.5 kg).
A 45-year-old woman of average bodyweight (171 lb) who squats 140 lb (63.5 kg) is stronger than about 56% of women her age, right at the general-population median. Among lifters who track their training the same lift sits at the 27th percentile, Novice on the Strength Level scale. The strength age it implies is 43.
The ladder
Each weight a 45-year-old woman of average bodyweight (171 lb) might squat, ranked two ways, with the strength age the general-population ranking implies. Weights are total bar weight, plates plus bar.
| Weight (lb) | kg | Stronger than (general population) | Strength age | Percentile (lifters who track) | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75 | 34 | 4% | 80+ | 5th | BEGINNER |
| 95 | 43 | 5% | 80+ | 8th | BEGINNER |
| 115 | 52 | 20% | 80+ | 16th | BEGINNER |
| 135 | 61 | 45% | 47 | 24th | NOVICE |
| 140MEDIAN | 63.5 | 56% | 43 | 27th | NOVICE |
| 165 | 75 | 82% | 26 | 42nd | NOVICE |
| 185 | 84 | 91% | 25 | 53rd | INTERMEDIATE |
| 225 | 102 | 98% | 25 | 72nd | INTERMEDIATE |
| 275 | 124.5 | 99% | 25 | 88th | ADVANCED |
| 315 | 143 | 99% | 25 | 96th | ELITE |
This page assumes average bodyweight (171 lb) and a single lift. The calculator uses your bodyweight and your best bench and squat set, in your browser, and gives you the Weyt Age the app would show.
Quick answers
What is a good squat for a 45-year-old woman?
Among lifters who track their training, a 45-year-old woman at average bodyweight (171 lb) reaches Intermediate (the 50th percentile) at about 180 lb (81.5 kg), Advanced (the 80th percentile) at about 245 lb (111 kg), and Elite (the 95th percentile) at about 310 lb (140.5 kg). Against the general population the median is lower, about 140 lb (63.5 kg), because people who log their lifts are a strong, self-selected crowd.
Is 225 lb a good squat for a 45-year-old woman?
225 lb (102 kg) puts a 45-year-old woman of average bodyweight at the 72nd percentile of lifters who track their training, Intermediate on the Strength Level scale. Against the general population it is stronger than 98% of women her age, a strength age of 25.
How this is computed
vs general population uses the Cooper Institute one-repetition-maximum bench press norms (weight pushed divided by bodyweight, by sex and age bracket) as published in the ACSM Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. No credible general-population squat norms exist, so each squat weight is first translated into the bench press that sits at the same Strength Level percentile for this sex and bodyweight, and that bench equivalent is scored against the same Cooper table. The two lifts stay on one calibrated scale. vs lifters who track uses Strength Level community standards (one-rep-max thresholds by sex and bodyweight, with their age adjustment), a self-selected crowd of people who log their training, which is why its median sits well above the general population's. Strength age is the age whose median general-population woman of this sex lifts that weight at average bodyweight; the published curves bottom out at 25 and we stop at 80. Weights are one-rep maxes or estimated one-rep maxes (Epley, from any set of one to ten reps).
Sources: The Cooper Institute, Physical Fitness Assessments and Norms for Adults and Law Enforcement, as reprinted in ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 8th ed., Table 4.9; Strength Level strength standards, strengthlevel.com/strength-standards/squat/lb. This is the same math the weyt.ai app runs on your logged sets. Not medical advice.
Other ages
How much should a 45-year-old man squat?
Other lifts
- Bench press standards for women, age 45
- Romanian deadlift standards for women, age 45
- Deadlift standards for women, age 45
- Incline bench press standards for women, age 45
- Close-grip bench press standards for women, age 45
- Front squat standards for women, age 45
- Hip thrust standards for women, age 45
- Overhead press standards for women, age 45
- Barbell row standards for women, age 45
- Bulgarian split squat standards for women, age 45
- Goblet squat standards for women, age 45
- Incline dumbbell press standards for women, age 45
- Dumbbell bench press standards for women, age 45
- Dumbbell shoulder press standards for women, age 45
- Dumbbell row standards for women, age 45
- Dumbbell Romanian deadlift standards for women, age 45
- Dumbbell lunge standards for women, age 45
- Hammer curl standards for women, age 45
- Dumbbell curl standards for women, age 45