Bench press standards for a 74 kg (163 lb) man
The median gym-goer at this bodyweight benches 85 kg (185 lb); an advanced lifter 112 kg (245 lb). Among raw competitors the median lifter benches 110 kg (245 lb) and the top 10% reach 145 kg (320 lb) — all from real data, in kg and lb.
Average bench press for a 74 kg man
This is the everyday yardstick — what gym-goers who log their lifts actually bench at this bodyweight (the 66–74 kg / 146–163 lb band). Source: StrengthLevel (153 million+ self-reported gym-log lifts); self-reported, so it skews a little stronger than a typical gym floor.
| Level | man, 74 kg | in lb |
|---|---|---|
| Beginneraround a first-month lifter | 44 kg | 95 lb |
| Novicea few months of consistent training | 62 kg | 135 lb |
| Intermediatethe median logged gym-goer | 85 kg | 185 lb |
| Advancedstronger than 80% of gym-goers | 112 kg | 245 lb |
| Elitetop 5% of recreational lifters | 141 kg | 310 lb |
How a 74 kg man ranks among competitors
If you compete (or want to know where you'd land at a raw meet), this is the field. Based on 14,028 raw lifters in the 66–74 kg / 146–163 lb class.
| Percentile | man (raw) | in lb |
|---|---|---|
| Median competitormiddle of the meet field | 110 kg | 245 lb |
| Top 25%experienced competitor | 127.5 kg | 280 lb |
| Top 10%regionally competitive | 145 kg | 320 lb |
| Top 5%nationally competitive | 155 kg | 340 lb |
| Top 1%international / record territory | 175 kg | 385 lb |
At 74 kg (163 lb) the median raw competitor lifts 25 kg (55 lb) more than the median logged gym-goer — 110 kg (245 lb) versus 85 kg (185 lb) at the 50th percentile. Within the competitive field the top 10% reach 145 kg (320 lb), 35 kg (75 lb) above the median 110 kg (245 lb); the top 1% reach 175 kg (385 lb), a further 30 kg (65 lb) on top.
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 the average bench press for a 74 kg (163 lb) man?
- Among logged gym-goers at this bodyweight, the median (50th-percentile) bench press is 85 kg (185 lb). A beginner is around 44 kg (95 lb) and an advanced lifter around 112 kg (245 lb). Source: StrengthLevel, 153 million+ self-reported gym-log lifts; self-reported, so the population skews stronger than a typical gym floor.
- What counts as a good bench press at 74 kg?
- "Good" depends on the room you compare against. For a recreational lifter, anything above the 112 kg (245 lb) advanced mark is strong. To rank among people who actually compete, the median raw competitor at this bodyweight lifts 110 kg (245 lb) and the top 10% reach 145 kg (320 lb).
- What bench press puts me in the top 1% at 74 kg?
- The 99th-percentile raw competitive bench press for a 74 kg (163 lb) man is 175 kg (385 lb) — international and record territory. The top 5% (nationally competitive) starts at 155 kg (340 lb).
- Where does this data come from?
- Competitive figures are real OpenPowerlifting meet results (CC0 public dataset, snapshot 2026-05-16) for raw lifters at this exact sex and bodyweight class; the gym-goer figures are from StrengthLevel's 48,420,918 self-reported bench press logs. No numbers are estimated — every figure is a percentile from the underlying sample.
Competitive figures: OpenPowerlifting (public competition meet data (CC0), snapshot 2026-05-16, CC0). Recreational figures: StrengthLevel (153 million+ self-reported gym-log lifts; self-reported). Full method at /method. Check your own lift on the percentile calculator.