Introduction
The powerlifting attempt success rate tells us how often recorded first, second and third attempts were made in real meets. It offers useful context for choosing weights, but it cannot tell you what your own next attempt should be. An opener that establishes a total and a third attempt chasing a record serve different purposes.
We analyzed recent raw, full-power competition results from OpenPowerlifting. The live data below keeps squat, bench press and deadlift separate and compares attempt number within each lift. It counts recorded attempts, not every possible attempt slot, and updates when the Trend Radar dataset is refreshed.
Powerlifting Attempt Success Rate: First, Second and Third Attempts
Each row gives the success rate for a lift and attempt number, together with the recorded total, makes and misses. The graphic lets you compare the nine combinations at a glance; use the counts in the table to judge how much evidence sits behind a percentage.
Attempt Success by Attempt Number
Squat
Bench Press
Deadlift
| Lift | Attempt | Recorded | Successful | Failed | Success rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squat | 1 | 343,404 | 303,575 | 39,829 | 88.4% |
| Squat | 2 | 341,445 | 286,764 | 54,681 | 84.0% |
| Squat | 3 | 336,962 | 225,192 | 111,770 | 66.8% |
| Bench Press | 1 | 342,732 | 314,205 | 28,527 | 91.7% |
| Bench Press | 2 | 340,779 | 277,200 | 63,579 | 81.3% |
| Bench Press | 3 | 335,416 | 165,375 | 170,041 | 49.3% |
| Deadlift | 1 | 341,776 | 324,688 | 17,088 | 95.0% |
| Deadlift | 2 | 338,622 | 299,753 | 38,869 | 88.5% |
| Deadlift | 3 | 333,311 | 203,878 | 129,433 | 61.2% |
What the data shows
- For squat, third-attempt success was 21.6 percentage points lower than first-attempt success (66.8% vs 88.4%).
- For bench, third-attempt success was 42.4 percentage points lower than first-attempt success (49.3% vs 91.7%).
- For deadlift, third-attempt success was 33.8 percentage points lower than first-attempt success (61.2% vs 95.0%).
- These figures describe recorded competition attempts and do not by themselves show whether attempt selection strategy caused a make or miss.
Data source: OpenPowerlifting. Analysis generated by Powerlifting Calculator.
What the Data Shows
Read the results within each lift first: compare its opener, second and third attempts, then look across the lifts. A success rate is the share of recorded attempts that were successful, not a personal probability of making that weight. Differences can reflect changing goals, lifter experience, meet conditions and selection of who reaches a particular attempt.
Why First Attempts Matter
An opener normally aims to secure a valid lift and provide a reliable starting point. Missing it creates immediate pressure to get on the board. Our Powerlifting Attempt Selection guide explains how to choose openers and adapt after a miss under meet rules.
Why Third Attempts Are Different
A third attempt may be chosen for a personal record, qualifying total or placing. The lifter may deliberately accept more risk after securing an earlier result. A lower observed third-attempt success rate therefore does not by itself prove a poor strategy. The dataset records outcomes, not the reasons behind each decision.
Squat, Bench and Deadlift Are Not Identical
The three lifts occur at different points in the meet and present different technical and strategic choices. Fatigue, commands and the need for a final total can influence the weights selected. Keeping the lifts separate avoids hiding those differences inside one overall percentage. Your powerlifting total uses the best successful result from each lift, so one missed attempt does not necessarily reduce the final total.
How to Use This Data for Your Own Meet
Use the observed rates to ask better questions about your plan: is the opener repeatable under commands, what total does the second attempt secure, and what risk is worth taking on the third? Your recent training, judging standards and meet-day readiness matter more than matching an aggregate percentage. If a weight cut affects your plan, confirm your class and the event rules with our weight-class checker.
Plan Your Powerlifting Attempts
Turn a recent successful single into a tentative meet-day plan with the Powerlifting Attempt Planner. Reassess the plan after each lift rather than treating the suggested weights as a prediction.
After the meet, use the DOTS Calculator to put your successful total in bodyweight-adjusted context. The separate DOTS by weight class analysis explores observed score distributions; neither measure rates the quality of your attempt choices.
The data pipeline's inclusion rules, denominator and limitations are documented below.
Methodology
Squat
Bench Press
Deadlift
Methodology
- Source: OpenPowerlifting
- Source Url: https://www.openpowerlifting.org/
- Analysis Window: Last 3 years
- Cutoff Date: 2023-10-22
- Generated At: 2026-10-21T16:17:22.746910+00:00
- Event: SBD
- Equipment: Raw
- Sexes: M, F
- Success Definition: Positive attempt weight = successful; negative attempt weight = failed.
- Missing Attempts: Blank or zero attempt values are excluded from the denominator rather than counted as failures.
- Deduplication: Exact duplicate meet rows removed using lifter, date, meet, federation and all nine attempt fields.
- Unit Of Analysis: Recorded individual competition attempts.
Limitations
- OpenPowerlifting coverage is broad but is not a complete census of every powerlifting competition.
- Some federations or meets may have incomplete attempt-level data; blank or zero attempts are excluded.
- Federations differ in rules, judging standards, competitive depth and meet structure.
- The analysis is descriptive and does not establish that later attempt number itself causes a lower or higher success rate.
- A lifter can contribute attempts from multiple competitions within the analysis window.
- Only Raw full-power SBD performances are included in this version.
Data source: OpenPowerlifting. Analysis generated by Powerlifting Calculator.
A single missed attempt is different from losing every attempt on a lift. Our powerlifting bomb-out rates analysis compares confirmed three-miss sequences in squat, bench and deadlift, using a separate complete-attempt sample for each lift.
How We Define a Successful Attempt
In OpenPowerlifting attempt fields, a positive weight records a successful lift and a negative weight records a failed lift. A blank or zero value is missing or unrecorded and is excluded from the denominator. It must not be counted as a failed attempt.
This is a descriptive analysis of recorded competition outcomes. It does not prove that attempt number causes a make or miss, nor can it isolate the effect of coaching, judging, fatigue or goals. The live methodology and limitations above give the precise scope of the current snapshot.
Data Source
Source: OpenPowerlifting. Powerlifting Calculator Trend Radar generates the charts and summaries when its analysis pipeline is refreshed. For the site's calculation rules and general limitations, see Methodology & Sources.