How much should a 40-year-old man bench?
295 lb (134 kg) is a good bench for a 40-year-old man: it beats about 98% of men his age and sits at the 76th percentile of lifters who track their training (Intermediate). The median man benches 180 lb (81.5 kg); Elite starts around 370 lb (168 kg).
A 40-year-old man of average bodyweight (200 lb) who benches 180 lb (81.5 kg) is stronger than about 53% of men his age, right at the general-population median. Among lifters who track their training the same lift sits at the 17th percentile, Beginner on the Strength Level scale. The strength age it implies is 38.
The ladder
Each weight a 40-year-old man of average bodyweight (200 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | 56.5 | 5% | 73 | 4th | BELOW BEGINNER |
| 145 | 66 | 16% | 59 | 5th | BEGINNER |
| 165 | 75 | 37% | 47 | 12th | BEGINNER |
| 180MEDIAN | 81.5 | 53% | 38 | 17th | BEGINNER |
| 185 | 84 | 59% | 36 | 19th | BEGINNER |
| 225 | 102 | 86% | 25 | 40th | NOVICE |
| 245 | 111 | 93% | 25 | 51st | INTERMEDIATE |
| 295 | 134 | 98% | 25 | 76th | INTERMEDIATE |
| 345 | 156.5 | 99% | 25 | 90th | ADVANCED |
| 405 | 183.5 | 99% | 25 | 97th | ELITE |
This page assumes average bodyweight (200 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 40-year-old man?
Among lifters who track their training, a 40-year-old man at average bodyweight (200 lb) reaches Intermediate (the 50th percentile) at about 245 lb (111 kg), Advanced (the 80th percentile) at about 305 lb (138.5 kg), and Elite (the 95th percentile) at about 370 lb (168 kg). Against the general population the median is lower, about 180 lb (81.5 kg), because people who log their lifts are a strong, self-selected crowd.
Is 295 lb a good bench for a 40-year-old man?
295 lb (134 kg) puts a 40-year-old man of average bodyweight at the 76th percentile of lifters who track their training, Intermediate on the Strength Level scale. Against the general population it is stronger than 98% of men his 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 man 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 40-year-old woman bench?
Other lifts
- Squat standards for men, age 40
- Romanian deadlift standards for men, age 40
- Deadlift standards for men, age 40
- Incline bench press standards for men, age 40
- Close-grip bench press standards for men, age 40
- Front squat standards for men, age 40
- Hip thrust standards for men, age 40
- Overhead press standards for men, age 40
- Barbell row standards for men, age 40
- Bulgarian split squat standards for men, age 40
- Goblet squat standards for men, age 40
- Incline dumbbell press standards for men, age 40
- Dumbbell bench press standards for men, age 40
- Dumbbell shoulder press standards for men, age 40
- Dumbbell row standards for men, age 40
- Dumbbell Romanian deadlift standards for men, age 40
- Dumbbell lunge standards for men, age 40
- Hammer curl standards for men, age 40
- Dumbbell curl standards for men, age 40