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WHITELIGHTS

Real judged lifts. Zero self-reported numbers. This is what strong actually is.

Verdict

Is a 245 lb bench press good?

Short answer: it depends entirely on your bodyweight, and here is the table that says by how much.

At 82.5–87.5 kg bodyweight, 245 lb is the 30th percentile of judged lifts — intermediate among people who compete.

Intermediate Advanced Elite World-class 0255075100 5080110140170200 kg lifted →
kg

Percentile

29,914 judged bench presss, men, 82.5–87.5 kg

No lift entered. The curve is every judged bench presss in this class — add yours to it.

Not your class?

245 lb is 111 kg. The chart is preloaded with it — change the number to check your own.

What 245 lb means at every bodyweight

The same lift is a different achievement at 60 kg and at 120 kg. This is the whole answer, not one row of it.

Men

BodyweightPercentileBandMedian for the class
up to 52.5 kg 95th World-class 50.0
52.5–57.5 kg 92nd Elite 72.5
57.5–62.5 kg 85th Elite 85.0
62.5–67.5 kg 70th Advanced 100.0
67.5–72.5 kg 64th Advanced 102.5
72.5–77.5 kg 44th Intermediate 115.0
77.5–82.5 kg 32nd Intermediate 122.5
82.5–87.5 kg 30th Intermediate 125.0
87.5–92.5 kg 19th Novice 135.0
92.5–97.5 kg 18th Novice 137.5
97.5–102.5 kg 13th Novice 145.0
102.5–107.5 kg 11th Novice 150.0
107.5–112.5 kg 10th Novice 155.0
112.5–117.5 kg 11th Novice 155.0
117.5–122.5 kg 8th Novice 162.5
122.5–127.5 kg 9th Novice 165.0
127.5–132.5 kg 10th Novice 161.0
132.5–137.5 kg 8th Novice 165.6
137.5 kg and above 8th Novice 172.5

Women

BodyweightPercentileBandMedian for the class
up to 52.5 kg 99+ World-class 46.5
52.5–57.5 kg 99+ World-class 52.5
57.5–62.5 kg 99+ World-class 55.0
62.5–67.5 kg 99+ World-class 60.0
67.5–72.5 kg 99+ World-class 60.0
72.5–77.5 kg 98th World-class 62.5
77.5–82.5 kg 98th World-class 65.0
82.5–87.5 kg 97th World-class 65.0
87.5–92.5 kg 97th World-class 65.0
92.5–97.5 kg 98th World-class 65.0
97.5–102.5 kg 97th World-class 67.5
102.5–107.5 kg 96th World-class 67.5
107.5–112.5 kg 96th World-class 70.0
112.5–117.5 kg 95th World-class 70.0
117.5–122.5 kg 94th Elite 72.5
122.5–127.5 kg 93rd Elite 75.0
127.5–132.5 kg 93rd Elite 75.0
137.5 kg and above 88th Elite 80.0

The road from here

LiftPercentileBand
111.130thIntermediate
121.144thIntermediate
131.158thAdvanced
141.171stAdvanced

Men at 82.5–87.5 kg bodyweight. Percentile gained per 10 kg, so you can see what the next plate is actually worth.

Who these numbers describe. Everyone in this dataset entered a powerlifting competition. They are stronger than the general gym population, so a 50th percentile here is well above an average gym-goer — we would rather tell you that than quietly flatter you. Nobody has ever published a trustworthy random sample of what people lift in commercial gyms; what exists instead is app data that people type in themselves.

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Published by

Amit Sharma

Auckland real-estate agent and marketer. Builds free, sourced data tools.