If you’re applying for Social Security Disability based on physical problems, one question matters more than most people think:

How much can you lift?

I see disability claims go off the rails all the time because of how someone answers this question. It sounds simple, but the way you respond can have a huge impact on whether your case is approved or denied. Here are some of the most common mistakes I see, and how to avoid them.

A lot of people don’t actually know how much weight they can lift. They guess. They think about what they used to be able to do, or what they think sounds reasonable, instead of what they can safely lift right now. One way to think about this is to compare it to real objects in your daily life. For example:

Ask yourself: What is the heaviest thing I actually lift in my normal day-to-day life? Then look up how much that object weighs instead of guessing.

This is a big one. Someone might say they can lift 25 pounds because they did it one time, even though it hurt badly, caused a flare-up, or left them in pain for days. But when you tell Social Security you can lift 25 pounds, they don’t assume you mean once.

They assume you can lift that much repeatedly, throughout a full workday, five days a week. That makes you sound capable of doing physically demanding work, even if that’s not true.

Mistake #3: Giving an answer that doesn’t match your medical records

Consistency matters a lot in disability cases. If your doctor says you can lift 20 pounds, but you say you can only lift 10, it can look like you’re exaggerating. If your doctor says you’re limited to 10 pounds, but you say you can lift 20, you may accidentally weaken your own case.

Either way, inconsistent answers make the decision maker question your credibility, and once that happens, it’s hard to fix. Before answering questions about lifting, you should know what your medical records say.

Many people don’t realize that the difference between lifting 10 pounds and lifting 20 pounds can change the entire outcome of a case. Social Security has very specific rules about physical work levels, like sedentary, light, and medium work. Small differences in lifting ability can move you from one category to another.

And that can be the difference between winning and losing. Most people don’t know where those cutoffs are. Lawyers do.

Before you give an answer about how much you can lift, you should understand:

You don’t want to guess, and you don’t want to contradict your own evidence. Consistent evidence is believable evidence. Contradictions lose disability cases.

The question “How much can you lift?” sounds simple, but it’s one of the most important questions in a physical disability claim. Take the time to think about your real limitations, check your medical records, and make sure your answer is accurate and consistent. Small details like this can make a big difference in whether your claim is approved.

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If you want to book a call with our team to discuss applying for disability, call us at 972-532-6375 or book a time using this link.