Average Shoulder Press By Age, Sex + Level, How Do You Stack Up?

Although the bench press, squat, and deadlift are the three main powerlifting exercises, the barbell shoulder press is also a key upper-body lift.

As such, most athletes want to know: “How much should I be able to shoulder press?” In other words, what are the barbell shoulder press standards by age and weight? 

What is a good shoulder press weight for men and women? 

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

Let’s get started!

How Much Should I Be Able to Shoulder Press?

Unlike the barbell bench press, deadlift, or back squat, there are fewer available barbell shoulder press standards, but we can find the average shoulder press weight by age, sex, body weight, and training level by looking at various sources.

Strength Level reports average 1RM shoulder press weight for women and men by age and body weight based on fitness level by aggregating data from their community members through 4,087,637 lifts.

Based on this data, here are the average shoulder press 1RM weights for men by age:

Average Shoulder Press: Men

Age	Beginner		Novice		Intermediate		Advanced		Elite
Years	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg
15	56	25	85	39	121	55	164	75	211	96
20	64	29	97	44	138	63	187	85	241	110
25	66	30	99	45	142	65	192	87	248	113
30	66	30	99	45	142	65	192	87	248	113
35	66	30	99	45	142	65	192	87	248	113
40	66	30	99	45	142	65	192	87	248	113
45	62	28	94	43	135	61	182	83	235	107
50	58	26	88	40	126	57	171	78	220	100
55	54	25	82	37	117	53	158	72	204	93
60	49	22	75	34	107	49	145	66	186	85
65	45	20	67	30	96	44	131	60	168	76
70	40	18	61	28	87	40	117	53	151	69
75	36	16	54	25	77	35	105	48	135	61
80	32	15	48	22	69	31	94	43	121	55
85	29	13	43	20	62	28	84	38	108	49
90	26	12	39	18	56	25	76	35	97	44

We also created a table that shows the barbell shoulder press standards for men are based on body weight in pounds and kilograms for each training level.

Find your body weight in pounds or kilograms on the left, and then you can see what is considered a good shoulder press weight for men of your same body weight and strength level in the columns to the right of your body weight.

Body Weight		Beginner		Novice		Intermediate		Advanced		Elite
Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg
110	50	32	15	54	25	83	38	117	53	156	71
120	55	39	18	62	28	92	42	129	59	169	77
130	59	45	20	70	32	102	46	140	64	181	82
140	64	51	23	77	35	111	50	150	68	194	88
150	68	57	26	85	39	120	55	161	73	205	93
160	73	63	29	92	42	128	58	170	77	216	98
170	77	69	31	99	45	136	62	180	82	227	103
180	82	75	34	106	48	145	66	189	86	238	108
190	86	80	36	113	51	152	69	198	90	248	113
200	91	86	39	119	54	160	73	207	94	257	117
210	95	91	41	126	57	168	76	215	98	267	121
220	100	97	44	132	60	175	80	224	102	276	125
230	105	102	46	138	63	182	83	232	105	285	130
240	109	107	49	144	65	189	86	239	109	293	133
250	114	112	51	150	68	196	89	247	112	302	137
260	118	117	53	156	71	202	92	254	115	310	141
270	123	122	55	161	73	209	95	262	119	318	145
280	127	127	58	167	76	215	98	269	122	326	148
290	132	132	60	173	79	221	100	276	125	333	151
300	136	136	62	178	81	227	103	282	128	341	155
310	141	141	64	183	83	233	106	289	131	348	158

So, how do you interpret this data? If you ask the question, “How much should I be able to lift for the overhead press?” you should look at your training level and then see the average overhead shoulder press weight by age and the average barbell press weight by body weight for those in your same training level to see how your barbell shoulder press 1RM compares.

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

According to the training levels given on Strength Level for overhead pressing 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 shoulder press weight standards is to look at how much you can lift right now based on your training level and then see if it is above or below age-matched peers or those who weigh the same as you.

One important thing to bear in mind when looking at these average max shoulder press weights is that the data is self-reported by users on a website. 

That said, with over 4 million logged lifts, the average overhead press weights here are certainly crowdsourced from a very large pool of data.

How Much Should Men Be Able to Shoulder Press?

The following chart shows the average male shoulder press weights in pounds, kilograms, and percentage of body weight using the Strength Level data:

Strength Level	Weight (kg)	Weight (pounds)	Bodyweight Ratio
Beginner	30 kg	66 lb	0.35x
Novice	45 kg	99 lb	0.55x
Intermediate	64 kg	142 lb	0.80x
Advanced	87 kg	192 lb	1.10x
Elite	112 kg	248 lb	1.40x

Based on these barbell shoulder press standards from Strength Level, when all of the barbell press averages data is aggregated, the average overhead press 1RM weight for males just starting out is 66 pounds or 30 kg. 

If we are trying to look at the average shoulder press weight for men overall, we can look at the male overhead press standards and the average body weight.

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, so a good shoulder press for an intermediate man would be 160 pounds.

How Much Should Women Be Able to Shoulder Press?

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

Average Shoulder Press: Women

Age	Beginner		Novice		Intermediate		Advanced		Elite
Years	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg	Lbs	Kg
15	24	11	41	19	64	29	91	41	122	55
20	27	12	47	21	73	33	104	47	139	63
25	28	13	48	22	75	34	107	49	143	65
30	28	13	48	22	75	34	107	49	143	65
35	28	13	48	22	75	34	107	49	143	65
40	28	13	48	22	75	34	107	49	143	65
45	27	12	46	21	71	32	101	46	136	62
50	25	11	43	20	66	30	95	43	127	58
55	23	10	40	18	61	28	88	40	118	54
60	21	10	36	16	56	25	80	36	108	49
65	19	9	33	15	51	23	73	33	97	44
70	17	8	29	13	45	20	65	30	87	40
75	15	7	26	12	41	19	58	26	78	35
80	14	6	23	10	36	16	52	24	70	32
85	12	5	21	10	33	15	47	21	63	29
90	11	5	19	9	29	13	42	19	56	25

The table below shows the average barbell press for women 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	16	7	31	14	52	24	78	35	107	49
100	45	19	9	35	16	56	25	83	38	114	52
110	50	22	10	38	17	61	28	89	40	120	55
120	55	24	11	42	19	65	30	94	43	126	57
130	59	26	12	45	20	69	31	99	45	132	60
140	64	29	13	48	22	73	33	103	47	137	62
150	68	31	14	51	23	77	35	108	49	142	65
160	73	33	15	54	25	80	36	112	51	147	67
170	77	36	16	56	25	83	38	116	53	151	69
180	82	38	17	59	27	87	40	119	54	156	71
190	86	40	18	62	28	90	41	123	56	160	73
200	91	42	19	64	29	93	42	127	58	164	75
210	95	44	20	67	30	96	44	130	59	168	76
220	100	46	21	69	31	98	45	133	60	171	78
230	105	47	21	71	32	101	46	136	62	175	80
240	109	49	22	73	33	104	47	139	63	178	81
250	114	51	23	76	35	106	48	142	65	182	83
260	118	53	24	78	35	109	50	145	66	185	84

Finally, you can see the overall averages for women’s shoulder press weights:

Strength Level	Weight (kg)	Weight (pounds)	Bodyweight Ratio
Beginner	13 kg	28 lb	0.20x
Novice	22 kg	48 lb	0.35x
Intermediate	34 kg	75 lb	0.50x
Advanced	48 kg	107 lb	0.75x
Elite	65 kg	143 lb	1.00x

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

Therefore, a good beginner shoulder press weight for women who are just starting out is 36 pounds.

Again, keep in mind that these norms are based on the average American woman in terms of body weight. 

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

For the best exercises to strengthen your shoulders, check out our shoulder workout here.