Bench press percentile
Your bench press ranked against all adults of your age and sex — and against NCAA Division I athletes. Barbell touches the chest, no bounce, hips stay on the bench, full lockout. Enter your best recent set.
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StrengthLifts, pulling and grip
Barbell touches the chest, no bounce, hips stay on the bench, full lockout. Enter your best recent set.
This is one test of the full battery. Get your overall athleticism rank across strength, power, agility and endurance.
Bench press standards by age — men
Result needed to beat the given share of all men in each age group, for a bodyweight of 179 lb (the calculator adjusts for yours).
| Age | 10th | 25th | 50th | 75th | 90th | 95th | 99th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18-29 | 115 lb | 130 lb | 155 lb | 190 lb | 230 lb | 255 lb | 315 lb |
| 30-39 | 110 lb | 125 lb | 150 lb | 185 lb | 220 lb | 250 lb | 305 lb |
| 40-49 | 100 lb | 120 lb | 145 lb | 175 lb | 210 lb | 230 lb | 285 lb |
| 50-59 | 90 lb | 110 lb | 130 lb | 155 lb | 185 lb | 210 lb | 255 lb |
| 60-69 | 80 lb | 95 lb | 115 lb | 135 lb | 165 lb | 185 lb | 225 lb |
Modeled — estimated from indirect evidence; treat as an informed estimate. Modeled as a blend of untrained, recreationally trained and serious lifters, anchored to free-weight bench studies of untrained adults and strength-standards data.
Bench press standards by age — women
Result needed to beat the given share of all women in each age group, for a bodyweight of 153 lb (the calculator adjusts for yours).
| Age | 10th | 25th | 50th | 75th | 90th | 95th | 99th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18-29 | 55 lb | 60 lb | 70 lb | 85 lb | 100 lb | 115 lb | 150 lb |
| 30-39 | 50 lb | 60 lb | 70 lb | 85 lb | 100 lb | 110 lb | 145 lb |
| 40-49 | 45 lb | 55 lb | 65 lb | 75 lb | 90 lb | 105 lb | 135 lb |
| 50-59 | 40 lb | 50 lb | 55 lb | 70 lb | 80 lb | 90 lb | 120 lb |
| 60-69 | 35 lb | 40 lb | 50 lb | 60 lb | 70 lb | 80 lb | 100 lb |
Modeled — estimated from indirect evidence; treat as an informed estimate. Modeled as a blend of untrained, recreationally trained and serious lifters, anchored to free-weight bench studies of untrained adults and strength-standards data.
Bench press — NCAA Division I athletes
Pooled across sports with published testing data, weighted by the number of D1 athletes in each sport.
| 10th | 25th | 50th | 75th | 90th | 95th | 99th | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | 170 lb | 200 lb | 240 lb | 285 lb | 335 lb | 365 lb | 410 lb |
| Women | 75 lb | 85 lb | 100 lb | 110 lb | 120 lb | 125 lb | 140 lb |
Men: Modeled — estimated from indirect evidence; treat as an informed estimate. Pooled from published D1 team testing (football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse) with a modeled component for sports that have no data.
Women: Modeled — estimated from indirect evidence; treat as an informed estimate. Pooled from published D1 team testing (basketball, swimming, softball, volleyball, soccer) with a modeled component for sports that have no data.
Bench press questions
What is a good bench press for a 30-year-old man?
For a 30-year-old man of median US size (179 lb), 155 lb beats half of them, 185 lb reaches the 75th percentile, and 225 lb reaches the 90th of all men that age. The calculator adjusts these for your own bodyweight.
What is a good bench press for a 30-year-old woman?
For a 30-year-old woman of median US size (153 lb), 70 lb beats half of them, 85 lb reaches the 75th percentile, and 100 lb reaches the 90th of all women that age. The calculator adjusts these for your own bodyweight.
How does that compare with D1 athletes?
Division I is a different population: our estimated median NCAA Division I man is at 240 lb, which would be the 92nd percentile among all men aged 18-29; and our estimated median NCAA Division I woman is at 100 lb, which would be the 88th percentile among all women aged 18-29. The D1 comparison is raw — no age or size adjustment — so it is you against the athletes as they are.
How accurate are these bench press percentiles?
Modeled — estimated from indirect evidence; treat every number here as an informed estimate, not a measurement. Modeled as a blend of untrained, recreationally trained and serious lifters, anchored to free-weight bench studies of untrained adults and strength-standards data. Modeled percentiles have no validated error margin. Results past the 99th percentile are shown as 99+ because the data cannot support more precision.
Related
- How much should I bench for my bodyweight?
- Is a 135 lb bench press good?
- Is a 185 lb bench press good?
- Is a 225 lb bench press good?
- Is a 315 lb bench press good?
- All standards and averages
Sources
- Mayhew JL, et al. Accuracy of prediction equations for determining one repetition maximum bench press in women before and after resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2008;22(5):1570-7.
- Kim PS, Mayhew JL, Peterson DF. A modified YMCA bench press test as a predictor of 1RM bench press strength. J Strength Cond Res. 2002;16(3):440-5.
- Cooper Institute. Physical Fitness Assessments and Norms — 1RM bench press ratio table (machine-based; used for the age gradient only).
- Strength Level. Bench press standards.
- Hoffman J. Norms for Fitness, Performance, and Health. Human Kinetics; 2006 — NCAA Division I bench press tables, as reproduced in NSCA Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning.
- Latin RW, Berg K, Baechle T. Physical and performance characteristics of NCAA Division I male basketball players. J Strength Cond Res. 1994;8(4):214-8.
- Sell KM, et al. Comparison of physical fitness parameters for starters vs. nonstarters in an NCAA Division I men's lacrosse team. J Strength Cond Res. 2018;32(11):3160-8.
- Guthrie B, Fields JB, Thompson B, Jones MT. Physical performance assessments of strength and power in women collegiate athletes. Int J Exerc Sci. 2021;14(6):984-93.