What is a good bench press for a man?

In raw OpenPowerlifting meet results at the 83 kg (183 lb) reference bodyweight, the median recorded bench press is 125 kg (275 lb), the top 10% reach 157.5 kg (345 lb), and the top 1% 188.4 kg (415 lb). Bodyweight shifts these numbers sharply, so read your own class in the table above.

At what bodyweight do men bench the most?

In absolute terms the 120 kg+ open class (every entry above 120 kg bodyweight), with a median of 160 kg (355 lb). Per kilo of bodyweight the order flips: the 66 kg class holds the men's per-kilo peak at 1.52× bodyweight, which is why cross-class comparison uses percentiles or coefficients rather than raw kilos.

How does age change a bench press standard for men?

At the 83 kg reference class the median recorded bench press is 130 kg (285 lb) at age 25 and 116.3 kg (255 lb) at age 60. The exact-age table above tracks the full curve for five male classes.

Bench press standards for men

What do men bench in raw competition? Across 107,887 raw male OpenPowerlifting meet results, the median recorded bench press climbs from 50 kg (110 lb) in the 53 kg class to 160 kg (355 lb) in the 120 kg+ open class. Every table on this page is men-only, by bodyweight and by exact competition age, in kg and lb.

Updated 2026-09-10 · OpenPowerlifting meet-result data

OpenPowerlifting records a median bench press of 125 kg (275 lb) for 83 kg men across 21,716 raw meet results.

Bench press by bodyweight — men's raw meet results OpenPowerlifting

Each row is one male IPF bodyweight class; the columns move from the median recorded result to the top 1%. Click a bodyweight for that class's full detail page. n across these male cells is 107,887 meet results — entry counts, not unique people.

Bodyweight	Median	Top 25%	Top 10%	Top 5%	Top 1%
53 kg	50110 lb	68150 lb	87.5195 lb	98215 lb	117.5260 lb
59 kg	83.9185 lb	102.5225 lb	120265 lb	127.5280 lb	147.5325 lb
66 kg	100220 lb	117.5260 lb	132.5290 lb	142.5315 lb	160355 lb
74 kg	110245 lb	127.5280 lb	145320 lb	155340 lb	175385 lb
83 kg	125275 lb	140310 lb	157.5345 lb	167.5370 lb	188.4415 lb
93 kg	132.5290 lb	152.5335 lb	170375 lb	182.5400 lb	205450 lb
105 kg	142.5315 lb	162.5360 lb	182.5400 lb	192.5425 lb	215475 lb
120 kg	152.5335 lb	175385 lb	197.5435 lb	210465 lb	232.5515 lb
120 kg+	160355 lb	190420 lb	215475 lb	230505 lb	257.5570 lb

Median bench press by age — men exact competition ages

The recorded median at twelve exact competition ages for five male classes, from 9,209 age-exact raw meet results. A dash is a cell below 30 meet results — it fails closed rather than publishing noise.

Age	66 kg 146 lb	74 kg 163 lb	83 kg 183 lb	93 kg 205 lb	105 kg 231 lb
18	102.5225 lb	112.5250 lb	120265 lb	130285 lb	135300 lb
20	110245 lb	115255 lb	127.5280 lb	135300 lb	140310 lb
25	113.8250 lb	122.5270 lb	130285 lb	142.5315 lb	150330 lb
30	120265 lb	122.5270 lb	137.5305 lb	142.5315 lb	152.5335 lb
35	122.5270 lb	122.5270 lb	132.5290 lb	145320 lb	155340 lb
40	—	108.8240 lb	132.5290 lb	150330 lb	145320 lb
45	—	113.8250 lb	128.8285 lb	140310 lb	150330 lb
50	—	—	120265 lb	131.5290 lb	147.5325 lb
55	—	112.5250 lb	110245 lb	133.8295 lb	137.5305 lb
60	—	105230 lb	116.3255 lb	125275 lb	140310 lb
65	—	—	110245 lb	132.5290 lb	120265 lb
70	—	—	97.5215 lb	96.3210 lb	110245 lb

Bodyweight changes the read per-kilo view

In these men's cells the per-kilo median peaks at 1.52× bodyweight in the 66 kg class and falls to at most 1.33× in the 120 kg+ open class (taken at the class floor — open-class entries weigh more, so their true ratio is lower still). Heavier classes lift the biggest absolute loads at the lowest relative strength. Compare yourself inside your own class, or let the percentile calculator normalise sex, age, bodyweight, and equipment at once.

Competition bench is paused on the chest. García-Ramos, Janicijevic and Jukic (2021, Sports Health) compared touch-and-go with concentric-only bench in 113 adults (PMID 33541232); this is not a universal conversion to competition-paused bench. Compare results performed with consistent technique. These standards are raw (no bench shirt). Strength scales sub-linearly with bodyweight — heavier lifters lift more in absolute terms but less per kilo of bodyweight — Vanderburgh & Batterham 1999 (PMID 10613442) — so the most honest read of "is this good" is your percentile at your bodyweight, not the raw kilos.

FAQ

What is a good bench press for a man?: In raw OpenPowerlifting meet results at the 83 kg (183 lb) reference bodyweight, the median recorded bench press is 125 kg (275 lb), the top 10% reach 157.5 kg (345 lb), and the top 1% 188.4 kg (415 lb). Bodyweight shifts these numbers sharply, so read your own class in the table above.
At what bodyweight do men bench the most?: In absolute terms the 120 kg+ open class (every entry above 120 kg bodyweight), with a median of 160 kg (355 lb). Per kilo of bodyweight the order flips: the 66 kg class holds the men's per-kilo peak at 1.52× bodyweight, which is why cross-class comparison uses percentiles or coefficients rather than raw kilos.
How does age change a bench press standard for men?: At the 83 kg reference class the median recorded bench press is 130 kg (285 lb) at age 25 and 116.3 kg (255 lb) at age 60. The exact-age table above tracks the full curve for five male classes.

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.