Standards
Strength Standards
Updated 31 Oct 2026 · Source: OpenPowerlifting meet data ↗
Choose a lift, then enter your sex, bodyweight and best result to see your percentile among adult meet lifters in your bodyweight class. The tables below show the raw three-lift total by class and the bench press by age.
Worked example
- Bodyweight 181 lb puts you in the up to 183 lb class.
- In that class the middle raw bench press is 270 lb.
- Your 225 lb sits about the 20th percentile.
Raw total (all three), men (lb)
| Bodyweight class | 10th | 25th | 50th | 75th | 90th | Lifters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| up to 130 lb | 535 | 671 | 821 | 959 | 1,069 | 5,100 |
| up to 146 lb | 696 | 832 | 965 | 1,086 | 1,190 | 11,106 |
| up to 163 lb | 805 | 931 | 1,058 | 1,179 | 1,284 | 27,895 |
| up to 183 lb | 898 | 1,023 | 1,146 | 1,274 | 1,394 | 47,533 |
| up to 205 lb | 959 | 1,091 | 1,224 | 1,356 | 1,483 | 48,926 |
| up to 231 lb | 1,014 | 1,157 | 1,301 | 1,444 | 1,576 | 40,728 |
| up to 265 lb | 1,053 | 1,207 | 1,367 | 1,532 | 1,676 | 24,723 |
| over 265 lb | 1,069 | 1,246 | 1,439 | 1,620 | 1,801 | 15,699 |
Raw total (all three), women (lb)
| Bodyweight class | 10th | 25th | 50th | 75th | 90th | Lifters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| up to 104 lb | 342 | 413 | 496 | 584 | 667 | 2,796 |
| up to 115 lb | 408 | 480 | 562 | 650 | 733 | 7,409 |
| up to 126 lb | 446 | 524 | 606 | 694 | 777 | 12,495 |
| up to 139 lb | 474 | 551 | 639 | 733 | 821 | 19,220 |
| up to 152 lb | 502 | 584 | 672 | 772 | 865 | 19,546 |
| up to 168 lb | 524 | 606 | 700 | 805 | 904 | 18,791 |
| up to 185 lb | 529 | 617 | 717 | 827 | 931 | 13,240 |
| over 185 lb | 546 | 639 | 750 | 865 | 987 | 18,606 |
Raw bench press by age, all bodyweights (median, lb)
| Age group | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 18-23 | 276 | 132 |
| 24-39 | 309 | 138 |
| 40-49 | 314 | 134 |
| 50-59 | 287 | 123 |
| 60+ | 231 | 100 |
Each lifter's best result per lift in 2016-2026, from the OpenPowerlifting archive (public domain). A cell is shown only with at least 200 lifters.
How we built these standards
Every number here comes from our own pass over the public OpenPowerlifting archive, a record of results from powerlifting meets. The filters were kept simple so anyone can check them:
- Meets from 2016 to 2026 only.
- Valid results only: disqualified lifts and guest lifters are out.
- Adults only, so known ages under 18 and youth age classes are dropped.
- One best result per lifter for each lift, so frequent competitors count once.
- A cell appears only when at least 200 lifters stand behind it.
Raw or equipped
Raw means no supportive squat suit or bench shirt. Equipped means single-ply or multi-ply gear, which lets lifters handle more weight. Results listed with knee wraps fit neither group cleanly, so we left them out of both.
Pick raw unless you train and compete in that gear. Comparing a lift in sleeves and a belt with equipped results will make you look weaker than you are.
Why the middle of these tables is a high bar
Everyone in this data trained for strength and then chose to step on a platform, and we kept each person's best day across ten years. That group is far from a random sample of gym members.
So a mid-table result is a serious lift. In the default example, a 181 lb man who benches 225 lb sits at about the 20th percentile of meet lifters, which says more about how strong this group is than about the lift.
Reading a row of the total table
Find your class first. Each class is a kilogram limit shown in pounds, so a 181 lb man falls in the class that runs up to 183 lb. Then read across from the 10th to the 90th percentile.
In that men's class the median raw total is 1,146 lb and the 90th percentile is 1,394 lb, with 47,533 lifters behind the row. For women up to 139 lb, the median total is 639 lb. The last column tells you how many lifters back each row.
Age changes the picture
The age table uses all bodyweights together. For men, the median raw bench is 309 lb at 24 to 39, peaks at 314 lb at 40 to 49, and falls to 231 lb at 60 and over. Women run from 138 lb at 24 to 39 to 100 lb at 60 and over. Use the age box in the calculator to compare within your own group.
One lift at a time
For full percentile tables on a single lift, see the bench press standards, the squat standards and the deadlift standards. Our method page covers the data steps in more detail.
Related pages
Questions
Do these standards include people who never competed?
No. They only include lifters who completed a meet, which is why the numbers run higher than gym averages.
What does it mean if my class shows n/a?
That class had fewer than 200 lifters for the chosen group. When an age group is too thin, the calculator falls back to all ages and says so.
Should I use a meet lift or a gym lift?
Either works, but a gym lift without depth and pause rules is not quite the same test. Read the result as a rough place, not an exact rank.
How we calculate: every formula, with its author and year, is on our method page; data sources and their licenses are on sources.
This page uses data from the OpenPowerlifting project, https://www.openpowerlifting.org.
gymnical.com gives estimates from published formulas and public data. It is not medical advice and not a training prescription. Last reviewed November 2026.