Bench press standards for a 53 kg (117 lb) man

OpenPowerlifting records a median bench press of 50 kg (110 lb) across 1,221 raw male meet results in the 53 kg class.

How a 53 kg man ranks in raw meet results OpenPowerlifting

This field contains 1,221 raw meet results in the 0–53 kg / 0–117 lb class. Percentiles describe recorded entries, not the general population, and repeat competitors may contribute more than one result.

At 53 kg (117 lb), Within the recorded meet results the top 10% reach 87.5 kg (195 lb), 37.5 kg (85 lb) above the median 50 kg (110 lb); the top 1% reach 117.5 kg (260 lb), a further 30 kg (65 lb) on top. Based on 1,221 raw meet results in this class.

The 53 kg class in the data what makes it different

Of the 107,887 raw men's bench press entries behind these standards, 1,221 — about 1.1% — come from the 53 kg class, the thinnest qualifying cell in the men's field. It is also the lightest men's class with enough raw meet data to rank.

The step to 59 kg adds 33.9 kg (75 lb) (+68%) — the biggest single-class jump in the men's bench press field.

In relative terms the median works out to 0.94× bodyweight, down from the field's per-kilo peak of 1.52× at 66 kg — the sub-linear scaling that makes the percentile, not the raw kilos, the honest comparison.

The median 53 kg man in this dataset squats 82.5 kg, benches 50 kg, and deadlifts 105 kg — a bench-to-squat ratio of 0.61 and a squat-to-deadlift ratio of 0.79. If your own ratios sit far from that, the outlier lift is usually the one with the most room to grow.

The classic milestones read differently in every class: here a 135 lb bench press sits at roughly the 66th percentile (stronger than 66% of meet-result entries), and a 185 lb bench press sits at roughly the 87th percentile (top 13% of meet-result entries).

Competition bench is paused on the chest; a touch-and-go rep inflates the number by 3–6% from the chest-bounce. The standards below are raw (no bench shirt). Because Strength scales sub-linearly with bodyweight — heavier lifters lift more in absolute terms but less per kilo of bodyweight (Vanderburgh & Batterham 1999 (PMID 10613442)), the most honest read of "is this good" is your percentile at your bodyweight, not the raw kilos.

FAQ

What is a good raw bench press for a 53 kg (117 lb) man?

In raw meet results at this bodyweight the median recorded bench press is 50 kg (110 lb), the top 10% reach 87.5 kg (195 lb), and the top 1% 117.5 kg (260 lb). Source: OpenPowerlifting public competition meet data (CC0), dataset date 2026-05-10; this cell contains 1,221 meet results.

What bench press puts me in the top 1% at 53 kg?

The 99th-percentile raw meet result for a 53 kg (117 lb) man is 117.5 kg (260 lb). The top-5% threshold starts at 98 kg (215 lb).

Where does this data come from?

Every figure is computed from OpenPowerlifting meet results (CC0 public dataset, dataset date 2026-05-10) for raw entries at this exact sex and bodyweight class. This cell contains 1,221 meet results; n is an entry count, not a unique-person count.

How much more do 59 kg men bench than 53 kg men?

At the median, 33.9 kg (75 lb) more — 83.9 kg (185 lb) versus 50 kg (110 lb). At the top-10% mark the gap is 32.5 kg (70 lb) (120 kg (265 lb) versus 87.5 kg (195 lb)). Per kilo of bodyweight the lighter class is the stronger one — which is why cross-class comparison uses percentiles or coefficients, not raw kilos.

Figures: OpenPowerlifting (public competition meet data (CC0), dataset date 2026-05-10). Cell n is a meet-result count, not a unique-person count. Full method at /method. Check your own lift on the percentile calculator.