How much should a 50-year-old woman bench?
155 lb (70.5 kg) is a good bench for a 50-year-old woman: it beats about 99% of women her age and sits at the 80th percentile of lifters who track their training (Advanced). The median woman benches 85 lb (38.5 kg); Elite starts around 200 lb (90.5 kg).
A 50-year-old woman of average bodyweight (171 lb) who benches 85 lb (38.5 kg) is stronger than about 54% of women her age, right at the general-population median. Among lifters who track their training the same lift sits at the 27th percentile, Novice on the Strength Level scale. The strength age it implies is 49.
The ladder
Each weight a 50-year-old woman of average bodyweight (171 lb) might bench, ranked two ways, with the strength age the general-population ranking implies. Weights are total bar weight, plates plus bar.
| Weight (lb) | kg | Stronger than (general population) | Strength age | Percentile (lifters who track) | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 20.5 | 4% | 80+ | 5th | BEGINNER |
| 65 | 29.5 | 11% | 80+ | 14th | BEGINNER |
| 85MEDIAN | 38.5 | 54% | 49 | 27th | NOVICE |
| 105 | 47.5 | 84% | 30 | 44th | NOVICE |
| 125 | 56.5 | 95% | 25 | 59th | INTERMEDIATE |
| 135 | 61 | 96% | 25 | 66th | INTERMEDIATE |
| 155 | 70.5 | 99% | 25 | 80th | ADVANCED |
| 175 | 79.5 | 99% | 25 | 87th | ADVANCED |
| 205 | 93 | 99% | 25 | 96th | ELITE |
This page assumes average bodyweight (171 lb) and a single lift. The calculator uses your bodyweight and your best bench and squat set, in your browser, and gives you the Weyt Age the app would show.
Quick answers
What is a good bench for a 50-year-old woman?
Among lifters who track their training, a 50-year-old woman at average bodyweight (171 lb) reaches Intermediate (the 50th percentile) at about 115 lb (52 kg), Advanced (the 80th percentile) at about 155 lb (70.5 kg), and Elite (the 95th percentile) at about 200 lb (90.5 kg). Against the general population the median is lower, about 85 lb (38.5 kg), because people who log their lifts are a strong, self-selected crowd.
Is 155 lb a good bench for a 50-year-old woman?
155 lb (70.5 kg) puts a 50-year-old woman of average bodyweight at the 80th percentile of lifters who track their training, Advanced on the Strength Level scale. Against the general population it is stronger than 99% of women her age, a strength age of 25.
How this is computed
vs general population uses the Cooper Institute one-repetition-maximum bench press norms (weight pushed divided by bodyweight, by sex and age bracket) as published in the ACSM Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. vs lifters who track uses Strength Level community standards (one-rep-max thresholds by sex and bodyweight, with their age adjustment), a self-selected crowd of people who log their training, which is why its median sits well above the general population's. Strength age is the age whose median general-population woman of this sex lifts that weight at average bodyweight; the published curves bottom out at 25 and we stop at 80. Weights are one-rep maxes or estimated one-rep maxes (Epley, from any set of one to ten reps).
Sources: The Cooper Institute, Physical Fitness Assessments and Norms for Adults and Law Enforcement, as reprinted in ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 8th ed., Table 4.9; Strength Level strength standards, strengthlevel.com/strength-standards/bench-press/lb. This is the same math the weyt.ai app runs on your logged sets. Not medical advice.
Other ages
How much should a 50-year-old man bench?
Other lifts
- Squat standards for women, age 50
- Romanian deadlift standards for women, age 50
- Deadlift standards for women, age 50
- Incline bench press standards for women, age 50
- Close-grip bench press standards for women, age 50
- Front squat standards for women, age 50
- Hip thrust standards for women, age 50
- Overhead press standards for women, age 50
- Barbell row standards for women, age 50
- Bulgarian split squat standards for women, age 50
- Goblet squat standards for women, age 50
- Incline dumbbell press standards for women, age 50
- Dumbbell bench press standards for women, age 50
- Dumbbell shoulder press standards for women, age 50
- Dumbbell row standards for women, age 50
- Dumbbell Romanian deadlift standards for women, age 50
- Dumbbell lunge standards for women, age 50
- Hammer curl standards for women, age 50
- Dumbbell curl standards for women, age 50