What’s A Good Bench Press Weight? Average Bench Press By Age +Sex

The bench press is one of the three basic powerlifting exercises, and the only one of the three that targets the upper body muscles.

Accordingly, the bench press gets a lot of attention, and rightfully so: it is a highly effective exercise for the pushing muscles such as the pectoralis major and minor of the chest, the deltoid in the shoulders, the serratus anterior, and the triceps.

But most athletes want to know: “How much should I be able to bench press?”

In other words, what is the average bench press by age and weight? What is a “good bench press weight” or a good women’s bench press weight and a good men’s bench press weight?

In this guide, we will look at the average bench press by age, sex, body weight, and training level, helping answer the question: “How much should I be able to bench?”

We will look at: 

• How Much Should I Be Able to Bench Press?
• How Much Should I Be Benching?

Let’s get started!

How Much Should I Be Able to Bench Press?

Most athletes, even recreational people just trying to stay fit, want to know how strong they are and if they are “competitive“ in terms of how much weight they are lifting. 

For this reason, one of the most common questions is: how much should I be benching or how much should I be able to bench for my age?

Some of the most common questions that fall under this category include:

• What is a good bench press weight for women?
• What is a good bench press weight for men? What is the average bench press for women vs men?
• What is a good bench press for beginners?
• What is the bench press average by age?
• Should I be able to bench press my body weight?
• Is bench pressing your body weight good or above average?

There aren’t necessarily bench press standards for everyday weightlifters that are universally agreed upon, though there are bench pressing standards for powerlifters and competitive weightlifters.

However, unless you are a competitive powerlifter, it is more helpful to understand what the average bench press by age is or what constitutes a good bench press weight for your sex, body weight, and age so that you can get a sense of how much you should be able to bench relative to your peers.

One of the best resources to find the average bench press weight by age, a good women’s bench press weight, an average men’s bench press weight, or what a good bench press by body weight is is the vast records of max bench press lifts recorded by the community of everyday lifters on Strength Level.

This site has data that can help you find the average bench press by age, sex, and body weight in pounds or kilograms based on fitness level by aggregating data from their community members through 33,080,981 lifts.

Based on this data, here are the bench press standards for men by age:

Average Bench Press By Age: Men

Age	Beginner		Novice		Intermediate		Advanced		Elite
Years	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg
15	88	40	131	60	185	84	248	113	317	144
20	101	46	150	68	211	96	284	129	363	165
25	103	47	154	70	217	99	291	132	372	169
30	103	47	154	70	217	99	291	132	372	169
35	103	47	154	70	217	99	291	132	372	169
40	103	47	154	70	217	99	291	132	372	169
45	98	45	146	66	206	94	276	125	353	160
50	92	42	137	62	193	88	259	118	331	150
55	85	39	127	58	179	81	240	109	306	139
60	78	35	115	52	163	74	219	100	280	127
65	70	32	104	47	147	67	198	90	253	115
70	63	29	94	43	132	60	177	80	227	103
75	56	25	84	38	118	54	159	72	203	92
80	50	23	75	34	106	48	142	65	181	82
85	45	20	67	30	95	43	127	58	163	74
90	41	19	60	27	85	39	115	52	146	66

The average bench press for men by body weight is also available.

We have manipulated this data showing the men’s bench press by body weight into one table that shows pounds and kilograms for body weight as well as bench press weight in pounds and kilograms based on fitness level.

To find out how much men should be able to bench based on body weight, look for your body weight in pounds or kg on the left, and then you can see the average max bench press standards for each strength training level in the columns to the right.

Again, remember that these are the bench press 1RM standards, which is the maximum bench press weight you can lift for one complete rep with proper technique.

Body Weight		Beginner		Novice		Intermediate		Advanced		Elite
Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg
110	50	53	24	84	38	125	57	173	79	226	103
120	55	63	29	97	44	140	64	191	87	247	112
130	59	73	33	109	50	154	70	208	95	266	121
140	64	83	38	121	55	169	77	224	102	285	130
150	68	93	42	133	60	182	83	240	109	302	137
160	73	102	46	144	65	196	89	255	116	319	145
170	77	112	51	155	70	209	95	270	123	336	153
180	82	121	55	166	75	221	100	284	129	352	160
190	86	130	59	177	80	234	106	298	135	367	167
200	91	139	63	187	85	246	112	312	142	382	174
210	95	148	67	197	90	257	117	325	148	397	180
220	100	156	71	207	94	269	122	338	154	411	187
230	105	165	75	217	99	280	127	350	159	425	193
240	109	173	79	227	103	291	132	362	165	438	199
250	114	181	82	236	107	301	137	374	170	451	205
260	118	190	86	245	111	312	142	386	175	464	211
270	123	197	90	254	115	322	146	397	180	476	216
280	127	205	93	263	120	332	151	408	185	488	222
290	132	213	97	272	124	341	155	419	190	500	227
300	136	220	100	280	127	351	160	429	195	511	232
310	141	228	104	289	131	360	164	439	200	523	238

So, how do you interpret this data?

If you ask the question, “How much should I be able to bench for my weight?” you should look at your training level and then the average bench press 1RM for your body weight, or look at the first table to find the average bench press by age for men for those in your same training level and see how you compare.

A “good bench pressing weight“ would be benching a weight that is at or above the bench press norm for your age or body weight and training level.

According to the training levels given on Strength Level for bench press weight standards:

• Beginners have just started weightlifting. 
• Novice weightlifters usually have less than six months of training. 
• Intermediate lifters have been training for six months to 1-2 years.
• Advanced lifters have been lifting weights for more than two years.

The other way to look at these bench press standards charts is to look at how much you can bench at your bench press 1RM and then see where it falls in the training levels.

If you are below the bench pressing weight standard based on your training level and age or weight, your strength is below average.

If your max bench press is higher than the average bench press weight for men of your age or weight, you are above average relative to your peer group. 

One important caveat to bear in mind when looking at these average bench press weights is that the max benching weights were self-reported by users on a website. 

That said, with nearly 33 million logged lifts, the average bench press weights by training level and the other criteria here are certainly crowdsourced from a very large pool of data.

How Much Should Men Be Able to Bench Press?

The following chart shows the overall average weight for bench press in pounds, kilograms, and body weight for men using Strength Level data:

Strength Level	Weight (kg)	Weight (pounds)	Bodyweight Ratio
Beginner	47 kg	103 lb	0.50x
Novice	70 kg	154 lb	0.75x
Intermediate	98 kg	217 lb	1.25x
Advanced	132 kg	291 lb	1.75x
Elite	169 kg	372 lb	2.00x

Based on these bench press standards from Strength Level, when all of the max bench press data is aggregated, the average bench press weight for men is 98 kg or 217 pounds at the intermediate level, which represents benching bodyweight times 1.25.

Thus, men who are benching bodyweight loads with their bench press 1RM are considered to be between the average novice and intermediate bench pressing load.

Based on this data, a good bench press for beginners for men would be 103 pounds or benching half your body weight.

If we are trying to look at the average bench press weight for men overall, we can look at the bench press standards and then use the average body weight for men.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the average body weight for an adult male in the United States is 199.8 pounds.

For men, benching bodyweight divided by two is a good bench weight for beginners, so a good beginner bench press weight for men would be 100 pounds using this data.

Looking at the tables above, using 200 pounds as the average adult male body weight, we can determine that a good male bench press weight at the intermediate level would be 246 pounds.

How Much Should Women Be Able to Bench Press?

The female bench press standards or average bench press for females is lower than that for males because men tend to be stronger based on their body size and higher percentage of lean body mass.

The table below shows the average bench press weight for women by age, presented in pounds and kilograms based on training level using data for female bench press weights from Strength Level:

Average Bench Press By Age: Women

Age	Beginner		Novice		Intermediate		Advanced		Elite
Years	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg
15	33	15	59	27	95	43	139	63	190	86
20	37	17	67	30	109	50	159	72	217	99
25	38	17	69	31	111	50	164	75	223	101
30	38	17	69	31	111	50	164	75	223	101
35	38	17	69	31	111	50	164	75	223	101
40	38	17	69	31	111	50	164	75	223	101
45	36	16	66	30	106	48	155	70	211	96
50	34	15	62	28	99	45	146	66	198	90
55	32	15	57	26	92	42	135	61	183	83
60	29	13	52	24	84	38	123	56	167	76
65	26	12	47	21	76	35	111	50	151	69
70	23	10	42	19	68	31	100	45	136	62
75	21	10	38	17	61	28	89	40	121	55
80	19	9	34	15	54	25	80	36	109	50
85	17	8	30	14	49	22	71	32	97	44
90	15	7	27	12	44	20	64	29	88	40

The table below shows the average bench press for women by body weight. 

Here again, you can find the bench press standards by body weight in pounds and kilograms based on training level:

Body Weight		Beginner		Novice		Intermediate		Advanced		Elite
Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg
90	41	19	9	40	18	71	32	111	50	157	71
100	45	23	10	46	21	79	36	121	55	169	77
110	50	27	12	52	24	87	40	130	59	180	82
120	55	32	15	58	26	94	43	139	63	190	86
130	59	36	16	63	29	101	46	148	67	200	91
140	64	40	18	69	31	108	49	156	71	209	95
150	68	43	20	74	34	114	52	163	74	218	99
160	73	47	21	79	36	120	55	170	77	227	103
170	77	51	23	83	38	126	57	177	80	235	107
180	82	55	25	88	40	132	60	184	84	242	110
190	86	58	26	93	42	137	62	191	87	250	114
200	91	62	28	97	44	143	65	197	90	257	117
210	95	65	30	101	46	148	67	203	92	264	120
220	100	68	31	105	48	153	70	209	95	270	123
230	105	72	33	109	50	157	71	214	97	277	126
240	109	75	34	113	51	162	74	220	100	283	129
250	114	78	35	117	53	167	76	225	102	289	131
260	118	81	37	121	55	171	78	230	105	295	134

Finally, you can see the overall women’s bench press averages for women when all of the female bench press 1RM standards are aggregated.

Strength Level	Weight (kg)	Weight (pounds)	Bodyweight Ratio
Beginner	17 kg	38 lb	0.25x
Novice	31 kg	69 lb	0.50x
Intermediate	51 kg	111 lb	0.75x
Advanced	74 kg	164 lb	1.00x
Elite	101 kg	223 lb	1.50x

The average bench press weight for all women at the beginner level is 38 pounds for 17 kg, or benching a quarter of your body weight.

For advanced-level lifters, the average female bench press weight is bench pressing bodyweight.

As with the average weight for bench press 1RM for men, we can determine a good bench press weight for women using these bench press norms for females along with the average body weight for adult women.

According to the CDC, the average body weight for an adult female in the United States is 170.8 pounds.

Therefore, a good beginner bench press weight for women is 23 pounds. A good bench press for women at the intermediate level is 57 pounds.

Again, keep in mind that these standards for bench press averages are based on the average American woman in terms of body weight. 

You can find out how much weight you should be able to bench based on your actual body weight using the tables provided earlier.

How Much Should I Be Benching?

Regardless of whatever bench press standards are provided above, it is important to distinguish that the answer to the question: “How much should I bench press?” is often distinctly different than: “How much should I be able to bench press?”

When you are considering the question: “How much should men be able to bench press (or women),” you can use the above tables of bench press weight standards to see what is a good bench press 1RM weight for your age, sex, and body weight.

From there, you can use your level of training to find the appropriate column that shows how much weight you should be able to bench press based on your training level, age, sex, and body weight, as described before.

However, you personally may be above or below the average bench press weight for your body weight, age, or sex.

Thus, the answer to the question: “How much should I be benching?”, really has nothing to do with what constitutes a good bench press weight for men or women, a good bench press weight for seniors or by age, etc.

Instead, you should use the weight that is appropriate for you and your fitness goals, whether you are above or below the average max bench press weight for lifters like you.

If you are trying to increase strength, you will perform fewer bench press reps in each set at a higher percentage of your bench one-repetition maximum.

Generally, you will lift at least 85% of your 1RM for 2 to 5 reps and 3 to 5 sets to increase bench press strength.

If your goal is to build muscle, also known as hypertrophy training, you should use lighter loads for your bench press weight, typically somewhere between 70 and 85% of your bench 1RM weight, for three sets of 8-12 reps.

Remember, your strength training program should be individualized to you.

Thus, the answer to “How much should I be bench pressing?” is however much you are capable of lifting with proper form and technique for the correct number of reps and sets you want to do based on your training goals.

It’s also important to remember that if you are well below the average weight for benching for women or men based on your sex and training level, you can always get stronger and better at bench pressing with consistency.

You can learn more about how to improve your bench press here.