Is a bodyweight bench press good?
For an 83 kg man at the top of his class, a 1× bodyweight bench press is 83 kg (185 lb) — around the 9th percentile of 83 kg men's raw OpenPowerlifting meet results, below that class's 125 kg (275 lb) median. For a 63 kg woman it is 63 kg (140 lb), the 56th percentile, above the 60 kg (130 lb) median there. Weighted across 99,386 raw male meet results, roughly 87% record at least 1× the class limit; among 46,190 female entries, roughly 40% do. Every load on this page is taken at the class limit — the most a lifter in that class can weigh — so it is the largest the ratio can mean inside the class, and the percentile is a floor for anyone lighter. The open class has no upper limit and is left out rather than guessed.
In OpenPowerlifting raw meet results, 1× bodyweight bench press at the 83 kg class limit — 83 kg (185 lb) — is stronger than 9% of 83 kg men's meet-result entries; at the 63 kg limit — 63 kg (140 lb) — it is stronger than 56% of 63 kg women's entries.
1× bodyweight bench press for men
The load column is 1 × the class limit; the percentile is that load's rank in the class's raw OpenPowerlifting meet results. n counts entries, not unique people.
| Class limit | 1× limit | Percentile | Reads as |
|---|---|---|---|
| 53 kg 117 lb | 53 kg115 lb | 54th | stronger than 54% of raw meet results |
| 59 kg 130 lb | 59 kg130 lb | 17th | stronger than 17% of raw meet results |
| 66 kg 146 lb | 66 kg145 lb | 13th | stronger than 13% of raw meet results |
| 74 kg 163 lb | 74 kg165 lb | 10th | stronger than 10% of raw meet results |
| 83 kg 183 lb | 83 kg185 lb | 9th | stronger than 9% of raw meet results |
| 93 kg 205 lb | 93 kg205 lb | 10th | stronger than 10% of raw meet results |
| 105 kg 231 lb | 105 kg230 lb | 14th | stronger than 14% of raw meet results |
| 120 kg 265 lb | 120 kg265 lb | 20th | stronger than 20% of raw meet results |
1× bodyweight bench press for women
The load column is 1 × the class limit; the percentile is that load's rank in the class's raw OpenPowerlifting meet results. n counts entries, not unique people.
| Class limit | 1× limit | Percentile | Reads as |
|---|---|---|---|
| 43 kg 95 lb | 43 kg95 lb | 80th | top 20% of raw meet results |
| 47 kg 104 lb | 47 kg105 lb | 54th | stronger than 54% of raw meet results |
| 52 kg 115 lb | 52 kg115 lb | 54th | stronger than 54% of raw meet results |
| 57 kg 126 lb | 57 kg125 lb | 49th | stronger than 49% of raw meet results |
| 63 kg 139 lb | 63 kg140 lb | 56th | stronger than 56% of raw meet results |
| 69 kg 152 lb | 69 kg150 lb | 58th | stronger than 58% of raw meet results |
| 76 kg 168 lb | 76 kg170 lb | 67th | stronger than 67% of raw meet results |
| 84 kg 185 lb | 84 kg185 lb | 77th | top 23% of raw meet results |
Where 1× bodyweight stands in the field
For men, a 1× bodyweight bench press is at or below the field median from 59 kg up.
For women, a 1× bodyweight bench press is top-quartile through 84 kg, at or below the field median from 57 kg up.
Weighted across 99,386 raw male meet results, roughly 87% record 1× bodyweight or more. Weighted across 46,190 raw female meet results, roughly 40% record 1× bodyweight or more.
What the median lifter reaches
For men the class median itself runs from 0.94× the limit at 53 kg to 1.27× at 120 kg, peaking at 1.52× in the 66 kg class. For women the class median itself runs from 0.70× the limit at 43 kg to 0.80× at 84 kg, peaking at 1.01× in the 57 kg class. That curve is strength scales sub-linearly with bodyweight (heavier lifters lift more in absolute terms but less per kilo of bodyweight) (Vanderburgh & Batterham 1999) — which is why a fixed ratio is an above-median lift in the lightest classes and a below-median one where the field is deepest, and why federations rank across classes with coefficients rather than ratios. Score a total across the three coefficients with the powerlifting score calculator.
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 bodyweight bench press good?
- At the 83 kg class limit, 1× bodyweight bench press is 83 kg (185 lb) and sits around the 9th percentile of 83 kg men's raw OpenPowerlifting meet results; for 63 kg women it is 63 kg (140 lb) at the 56th percentile. Lighter classes rank the same ratio higher and heavier classes lower — read your own class in the tables above.
- How much is 1× bodyweight for my weight class?
- Taken at the men's class limits: 53 kg → 53 kg (115 lb); 59 kg → 59 kg (130 lb); 66 kg → 66 kg (145 lb); 74 kg → 74 kg (165 lb); 83 kg → 83 kg (185 lb); 93 kg → 93 kg (205 lb); 105 kg → 105 kg (230 lb); 120 kg → 120 kg (265 lb). A lifter below the limit of the class needs proportionally less for the same ratio; the tables above show the women's classes.
- What percentage of meet results record 1× bodyweight?
- Weighted across 99,386 raw male meet results, roughly 87% record 1× bodyweight or more. Weighted across 46,190 raw female meet results, roughly 40% record 1× bodyweight 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.
- Does this ratio use my exact bodyweight?
- No — every load is the ratio multiplied by the class upper limit, the most a lifter in that class can weigh. That makes it the largest load the ratio can mean inside the class, and the percentile a floor for anyone lighter. For an exact-bodyweight read, enter your own bench press and bodyweight in the percentile calculator.
- Why do lighter lifters reach higher bench press ratios?
- Strength scales sub-linearly with bodyweight — heavier lifters lift more in absolute terms but less per kilo of bodyweight (Vanderburgh & Batterham 1999, PMID 10613442). For men the class median itself runs from 0.94× the limit at 53 kg to 1.27× at 120 kg, peaking at 1.52× in the 66 kg class. That is why cross-class comparison uses percentiles or coefficients rather than a multiplier.
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.