How much should a 70-year-old man bench?
185 lb (84 kg) is a good bench for a 70-year-old man: it beats about 94% of men his age and sits at the 80th percentile of lifters who track their training (Advanced). The median man benches 140 lb (63.5 kg); Elite starts around 225 lb (102 kg).
A 70-year-old man of average bodyweight (200 lb) who benches 140 lb (63.5 kg) is stronger than about 55% of men his age, right at the general-population median. Among lifters who track their training the same lift sits at the 43rd percentile, Novice on the Strength Level scale. The strength age it implies is 62.
The ladder
Each weight a 70-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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75 | 34 | 4% | 80+ | 4th | BELOW BEGINNER |
| 95 | 43 | 5% | 80+ | 9th | BEGINNER |
| 115 | 52 | 21% | 80+ | 20th | NOVICE |
| 125 | 56.5 | 29% | 73 | 29th | NOVICE |
| 140MEDIAN | 63.5 | 55% | 62 | 43rd | NOVICE |
| 145 | 66 | 61% | 59 | 48th | NOVICE |
| 165 | 75 | 81% | 47 | 64th | INTERMEDIATE |
| 185 | 84 | 94% | 36 | 80th | ADVANCED |
| 205 | 93 | 96% | 28 | 88th | ADVANCED |
| 245 | 111 | 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 70-year-old man?
Among lifters who track their training, a 70-year-old man at average bodyweight (200 lb) reaches Intermediate (the 50th percentile) at about 150 lb (68 kg), Advanced (the 80th percentile) at about 185 lb (84 kg), and Elite (the 95th percentile) at about 225 lb (102 kg). Against the general population the median is lower, about 140 lb (63.5 kg), because people who log their lifts are a strong, self-selected crowd.
Is 185 lb a good bench for a 70-year-old man?
185 lb (84 kg) puts a 70-year-old man 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 94% of men his age, a strength age of 36.
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). The general-population table’s oldest column is ages 60 and over, so the general-population columns here use that column.
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 70-year-old woman bench?
Other lifts
- Squat standards for men, age 70
- Romanian deadlift standards for men, age 70
- Deadlift standards for men, age 70
- Incline bench press standards for men, age 70
- Close-grip bench press standards for men, age 70
- Front squat standards for men, age 70
- Hip thrust standards for men, age 70
- Overhead press standards for men, age 70
- Barbell row standards for men, age 70
- Bulgarian split squat standards for men, age 70
- Goblet squat standards for men, age 70
- Incline dumbbell press standards for men, age 70
- Dumbbell bench press standards for men, age 70
- Dumbbell shoulder press standards for men, age 70
- Dumbbell row standards for men, age 70
- Dumbbell Romanian deadlift standards for men, age 70
- Dumbbell lunge standards for men, age 70
- Hammer curl standards for men, age 70
- Dumbbell curl standards for men, age 70