Is a 300 lb bench press good?
Weighted across 107,887 OpenPowerlifting raw male meet results, fewer than 42% record 300 lb (136 kg) or more. Bodyweight changes the answer more than anything else, so the tables below give the percentile for every men's and women's class, in kg and lb.
In OpenPowerlifting, fewer than 42% of 107,887 raw male meet results record 300 lb or more after bodyweight-class percentiles are weighted by entry count.
Exact-load note. 300 lb is 136.1 kg; it is not the same load as the nearby 140 kg milestone (3.9 kg difference). This page answers the exact 300 lb query. If that other load is on your bar, use the 140 kg bench press page.
Treat that as a competition-field share, not population prevalence — the denominator is meet entries, and one competitor can appear more than once. Because bodyweight moves the percentile more than any other input, every men's and women's class gets its own row below, loads beyond the highest recorded breakpoint are flagged, and kilograms sit beside pounds. Read your own class first, then let the percentile calculator add age, equipment, and exact bodyweight.
300 lb bench press for men
OpenPowerlifting raw meet-result percentile by bodyweight class:
| Bodyweight | Percentile | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 53 kg 117 lb | 99th+ | top 1% of raw meet results or stronger |
| 59 kg 130 lb | 97th | top 3% of raw meet results |
| 66 kg 146 lb | 92nd | top 8% of raw meet results |
| 74 kg 163 lb | 82nd | top 18% of raw meet results |
| 83 kg 183 lb | 68th | stronger than 68% of raw meet results |
| 93 kg 205 lb | 54th | stronger than 54% of raw meet results |
| 105 kg 231 lb | 43rd | stronger than 43% of raw meet results |
| 120 kg 265 lb | 34th | stronger than 34% of raw meet results |
| 120 kg+ 265 lb+ | 30th | stronger than 30% of raw meet results |
300 lb bench press for women
OpenPowerlifting raw meet-result percentile by bodyweight class:
| Bodyweight | Percentile | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 43 kg 95 lb | 99th+ | top 1% of raw meet results or stronger |
| 47 kg 104 lb | 99th+ | top 1% of raw meet results or stronger |
| 52 kg 115 lb | 99th+ | top 1% of raw meet results or stronger |
| 57 kg 126 lb | 99th+ | top 1% of raw meet results or stronger |
| 63 kg 139 lb | 99th+ | top 1% of raw meet results or stronger |
| 69 kg 152 lb | 99th+ | top 1% of raw meet results or stronger |
| 76 kg 168 lb | 99th+ | top 1% of raw meet results or stronger |
| 84 kg 185 lb | 99th+ | top 1% of raw meet results or stronger |
| 84 kg+ 185 lb+ | 99th | top 1% of raw meet results |
Where 300 lb stands in the field
For men, a 300 lb bench press is a top-10% lift up to the 66 kg class, top-quartile through 74 kg, at or below the field median from 105 kg up.
For women, a 300 lb bench press stays a top-10% lift at every recorded bodyweight, from 43 kg to 84 kg+.
Weighted across 107,887 raw male meet results, fewer than 42% record 300 lb or more. Weighted across 56,646 raw female meet results, fewer than 2% record 300 lb or more.
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
- Is a 300 lb bench press good?
- A 300 lb bench press ranks much higher in lighter classes than heavier classes — bodyweight decides. The tables on this page give the percentile at every qualifying bodyweight class in OpenPowerlifting raw meet results.
- 300 lb bench press — what bodyweight makes it impressive?
- Read down the bodyweight column: the lighter you are, the higher the percentile a fixed 300 lb bench press represents, 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 same bar is a top-tier lift at one bodyweight and a working set at another.
- What population does this comparison represent?
- OpenPowerlifting raw meet results, separated by sex and bodyweight class. It describes recorded competition entries rather than population prevalence, and n is a meet-result count rather than a unique-person count.
- How rare is a 300 lb bench press?
- Among 107,887 raw male OpenPowerlifting meet-result entries, fewer than 42% record 300 lb or more after bodyweight-class weighting. Among 56,646 female entries, fewer than 2% do. The denominator is competition entries, not the general population — prevalence among all gym-goers is lower than either figure.
- Is benching 300 lb impressive?
- In raw male meet results 300 lb reads around the 99th percentile in the 53 kg class and the 30th in the 120 kg+ class — bodyweight decides how impressive it is. The tables above give every class in between, for men and women.
- What percentage of meet results record 300 lb?
- Weighted across 107,887 raw male meet results, fewer than 42% record 300 lb or more. Weighted across 56,646 raw female meet results, fewer than 2% record 300 lb or more. The share is computed from per-bodyweight-class percentiles weighted by each class's meet-result count in the OpenPowerlifting raw dataset. n counts entries, not unique people, and the result is not a population survey estimate.
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.