Comparing Weightlifting Performances of Masters Athletes Across Age, Body Mass, and Sex From 2000 to 2025

The purpose of the study was to jointly estimate the effects of body mass and age on the total of the sum of snatch and clean & jerk in weightlifting and to examine sex- and age-related performance decline in male and female Masters weightlifters.

Generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape were used to estimate the distribution of the weightlifting total, based on world championships of Masters athletes 2018-2025 and checked for robustness during 2000-2025. The model ranks weightlifting performances on the same scale for both sexes across body mass and age.

Among 4939 Masters weightlifting results (ages 35-92), a higher total correlated with a higher body mass, but this effect weakened with age (P < .001). Body mass (mean = 85.6 kg for males, 67.7 kg for females) had a 1.5 times larger impact on the total in males. The decline with age was steeper for females between ages 45 and 55 but otherwise similar to males. Scaled performances over 25 years (12,060 results) were stable over time in males but rose to a plateau from 2018 in females.

Weightlifting performances based on the total can be ranked on the same scale for male and female Masters athletes. This method can be incorporated in competitions for mixed teams. It aids athletes, coaches, and health professionals in monitoring progress over time relative to the performance of age and body mass groups.