What is a good bench press weight?
What is a good bench press weight?
A good bench press weight depends on your age, body weight and your level of experience but an average 20 year old weighing just less than 200 lb should aim for between 135 and 360 pounds.
It’s natural to wonder how you compare to others in the gym and so you may be wanting to know what a good bench press weight actually is. You could compare yourself to the bodybuilder next to you and see if you match up. But if you dig a little deeper its actually a bit more complicated than that, and the bottom line is it depends on your body composition.
This article will set it out for you below what is a good bench press weight, and how you can help improve your own.
What is a good bench press weight for the average person?
The simple answer is 135 lbs for an average untrained male, but even this depends on your definition of average. Your age, weightlifting experience and bodyweight all come in to so if you’re younger, more experienced and heavier then the average for you will be higher than someone older who weighs less.
Traditional bench press standards indicate that an average 20 year old man weighing 179.9lbs should be aiming to bench press between 135 and 360 pounds, with the deciding factor being their level of experience.
Whereas other sources have added to this giving a percentage of your body weight you should be able to lift for a 3 rep max depending on your age.
- 20-29 years – 100% of your body weight
- 30-39 years – 90%
- 40-49 years – 80%
- 50-59 years – 75%
How can you get a good bench press weight?
If you’re not quite there yet here are the top tips for working your way up to a good weight.
Firstly increase the frequency of your workouts to at least 2 – 3 times per week to increase both your strength and your experience. After all as we’ve seen above the main determining factor between lifting 135 or 360 pounds was experience.
Don’t be afraid to make small progressions, any additional weight is progress and plates weighing just a few pounds are available so don’t be afraid to use them to help you progress.
Make sure you’re performing the bench press optimally:
- A tight core is essential to ensure full body stability
- Activate the shoulders and back by pressing as if you are trying to tear the bar apart
- Ensure that your wrists are directly over the elbow as having your grip too narrow or too wide can seriously undermine the amount you can lift.
- Keep your hips firmly on that bench, it’s OK if there is a bit of drive from the legs or an arch to the back.
- Finally and most importantly have patience!
What is a good bench press weight and how to achieve it?
As we mentioned at the start of this article, a good bench press weight depends on your age, body weight and your level of experience. However, a good scale for a 20 year old weighing just less than 200 lb should aim for between 135 and 360 pounds.
To build up your bench pressing weight takes practice, good technique, core stability and small increments in weight but above all the must have is a whole bucket load of patience.
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Paul Pardner is the editor of Bench-Press.net. He is obsessed with lifting weights, and the science of muscle building. Whenever he’s not in the gym attempting to maximize his bench press, he’s online looking for the best ways to optimize his body, strength and overall results.