How Much Weight Can a Tongue Hold?

A human tongue is not designed to safely “hold” external weight; in practical terms, you should not hang or suspend objects from it. In laboratory tests of tongue strength, healthy adults typically generate 40–70 kPa of isometric pressure against the palate—roughly 4–7 newtons per square centimeter, which equates to about 0.4–0.7 kilograms of force per square centimeter under ideal conditions. While a few professional performers have lifted more than 12 kilograms using a tongue piercing for brief moments, those stunts are extreme, risky, and not representative of normal or safe capability.

What the Question Really Asks: Pressing vs. Hanging

“How much weight can a tongue hold?” can refer to two very different ideas: the tongue’s ability to press upward against the palate (how clinicians measure strength), versus suspending an external load from the tongue (a circus-style feat). These are not comparable. Pressing involves distributed pressure over a broad surface within the mouth, whereas hanging concentrates stress at a small point—often a piercing—creating a high risk of tearing, bleeding, or nerve damage.

What Studies Show About Tongue Strength

Clinicians assess tongue strength using devices that record pressure while the tongue presses against a small bulb near the palate. These tests quantify how strongly the tongue can compress an object, not how much it can hold dangling from it.

How Researchers Measure Tongue Strength

In clinical and research settings, peak isometric tongue pressures for healthy younger adults commonly fall between about 40 and 70 kilopascals (kPa), with older adults typically measuring lower. Converting pressure to force depends on the area: on a 1 cm² surface, 60 kPa is about 6 newtons of force—roughly 0.6 kilograms of weight under Earth gravity. Across several square centimeters of contact during a strong press, total upward force can reach into the tens of newtons, but that is a supported press rather than an unsupported “hold.”

Records and Extreme Feats

Publicized stunt performances—often documented by record-keeping organizations—show that a small number of trained professionals have briefly lifted more than 12 kilograms (about 27 pounds) using a tongue piercing and specialized rigs. These feats are conducted under controlled conditions, for seconds at a time, and carry significant risk even for experts. They should not be taken as a benchmark of normal, repeatable, or safe human capacity.

Medical Risks of Hanging Weight from the Tongue

Suspending weight from the tongue is hazardous because the tissue is highly vascular, innervated, and tethered by delicate structures. Below are the principal medical risks identified by clinicians and sports-medicine experts when focal loads are applied to the tongue.

• Laceration or tearing of the tongue tissue or frenulum
• Bleeding and hematoma due to injury of lingual arteries and veins
• Nerve injury leading to numbness, altered taste, or chronic pain
• Dental fractures, gum trauma, or temporomandibular joint (TMJ) strain
• Airway compromise from swelling or uncontrolled bleeding
• Infection, particularly around piercings, with potential for serious spread

Because these injuries can be severe and difficult to treat, medical guidance is unequivocal: do not attempt to lift or hold weight with your tongue.

Practical Guidance

If your interest in tongue strength relates to health or performance—such as speech clarity, swallowing rehabilitation, or sleep-disordered breathing—there are safe, evidence-based approaches that do not involve external loads.

1. Use clinician-guided exercises: Speech-language pathologists employ standardized protocols and devices to build functional tongue strength and endurance.
2. Focus on pressure, not weight: Therapeutic goals emphasize controlled, repeatable tongue–palate pressures rather than lifting objects.
3. Avoid loading piercings: If you have a tongue piercing, do not attach or hang any weight; monitor for signs of irritation or infection.
4. Seek evaluation for symptoms: Difficulty swallowing, slurred speech, or snoring may warrant assessment and targeted therapy rather than self-experimentation.

These steps help improve function safely and effectively, avoiding the serious harms associated with stunt-style loading of the tongue.

Bottom Line

In everyday, safe terms, the tongue should not be used to hold external weight. Laboratory measurements show typical adult tongues can generate around 40–70 kPa of pressure—approximately 0.4–0.7 kilograms of force per square centimeter—when pressing against the palate. Spectacular lifts above 12 kilograms seen in performances are rare, dangerous, and not representative of normal or safe human capacity.

Summary

A human tongue can press firmly but is not suited to suspending weight. Clinically, adults produce about 40–70 kPa of tongue–palate pressure (roughly 0.4–0.7 kg of force per cm²). Stunt records exceeding 12 kg exist but are extreme outliers with high risk of injury. For health or performance goals, pursue clinician-guided, pressure-based training—not weight hanging.

How much weight can the tongue hold?

Before going too deep, know that tongue weight is literally how much weight the trailer pushes down on the hitch ball. This number will vary depending on what you are towing. Your vehicle’s tongue weight capacity is directly related to how much weight you tow and must never exceed 10-15% of that number.

How many pounds can a human tongue hold?

The heaviest weight lifted with the tongue is 13 kg (28 lb 10.5 oz) and was achieved by Thomas Blackthorne (UK) on the set of Lo Show Dei Record, in Milan, Italy, on 22 February 2022. This record was a part of Italy-based production “Lo Show Dei Record” 2022.

What is a tongue weight limit?

The “max tongue weight” is not a single, universal number, but rather a value determined by the lowest rating of your tow vehicle’s hitch, the tow vehicle itself, or the trailer. You can find your vehicle’s and hitch’s maximum tongue weight in the owner’s manual or on the hitch’s specifications plate. A safe tongue weight generally falls within 9-15% of the trailer’s total gross weight.
 
How to Find Your Specific Max Tongue Weight

1. Check your vehicle’s owner’s manual: Look for the towing and payload sections to find the tongue weight limits for your specific vehicle. 
2. Check the hitch specifications: The maximum tongue weight capacity will be listed on the hitch itself. 
3. Find the lowest rating: The true “max tongue weight” is limited by the component with the lowest rating. For example, if your truck can handle 500 lbs of tongue weight but your hitch is only rated for 300 lbs, then 300 lbs is your maximum. 

Why Tongue Weight Matters

• Too Little Tongue Weight (under 10%): Can lead to dangerous trailer sway, especially at highway speeds. 
• Too Much Tongue Weight (over 15%): Can overload the vehicle’s suspension, lift weight off the front wheels, and make the vehicle less responsive, impacting braking and turning. 

How to Achieve Proper Tongue Weight

• Ideal Ratio: Aim for 9-15% of the gross trailer weight (GTW) on the tongue. 
• Adjust Cargo: To increase tongue weight, move cargo forward on the trailer; to decrease it, move cargo backward. 
• Use Scales: For accuracy, use a bathroom scale or a specialized scale to measure the force exerted on the trailer’s tongue. 

What does 200 lbs tongue weight mean?

Tongue weight is the amount of weight a trailer puts on the towing vehicle’s trailer ball. The tongue is the part of the trailer that sticks out ahead of the cargo area; it’s typically two rails that form a V shape, but sometimes it’s just a single rail.