Dumbbell bench press strength standards
Updated 16 July 2026
For the dumbbell bench press you use the weight of one dumbbell: an intermediate lifter presses about 0.42 times bodyweight per hand. Two dumbbells demand more stability than a barbell, so the total is a little lower than your barbell bench.
Relative strength, your best lift divided by your bodyweight, is the fairest way to compare lifters of different sizes, so the tiers below are ratios. Open the calculator to see your exact tier adjusted for your bodyweight.
Not sure of your one rep max? Estimate it with the one rep max calculator.
| Tier | Men | Men at 90 kg | Women | Women at 60 kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Any | Any | Any | Any |
| Novice | 0.32× | 29 kg | 0.19× | 11 kg |
| Intermediate | 0.42× | 38 kg | 0.29× | 17 kg |
| Advanced | 0.63× | 57 kg | 0.42× | 25 kg |
| Elite | 0.84× | 76 kg | 0.57× | 34 kg |
| World class | 0.95× | 86 kg | 0.67× | 40 kg |
Standards for other lifts
- Squat standards
- Bench press standards
- Deadlift standards
- Overhead press standards
- Front squat standards
- Barbell row standards
- Hip thrust standards
- Power clean standards
- Incline bench press standards
- Romanian deadlift standards
- Close grip bench press standards
- Push press standards
- Barbell curl standards
- Barbell shrug standards
- Dumbbell shoulder press standards
- Dumbbell row standards
- Dumbbell curl standards
- Goblet squat standards
- Leg press standards
- Lat pulldown standards
- Machine chest press standards
- Leg extension standards
- Seated cable row standards
- Machine shoulder press standards
Or open the full strength standards calculator to check any of 26 lifts, adjusted for your bodyweight.
How this is calculated
The tiers are the bodyweight ratio milestones strength coaches have used for decades, the same five level vocabulary, beginner to elite, you will see on popular strength ranking sites. They are coaching conventions, not population percentiles, and they group all ages together.
Relative strength falls as bodyweight rises, so the table above is quoted at a 90 kg reference for men and 60 kg for women. The calculator scales the same standards to your exact bodyweight, holding lighter lifters to a higher ratio and heavier lifters to a lower one. The competition benchmark, where shown, comes from a 2024 peer reviewed analysis of 809,986 drug tested powerlifting competition entries and applies to the squat, bench, and deadlift only.
Common questions
What is a good dumbbell bench press?
Pressing about 0.42 times bodyweight per dumbbell is a solid intermediate dumbbell bench for men. Enter the weight of one dumbbell to see your tier.
Do I enter one dumbbell or both?
One dumbbell. Both are the same weight, so the standards are per hand, matching how people describe the lift.
More free tools
- One rep max calculator Estimate your 1RM for any lift from a recent set, with Epley and Brzycki formulas.
- Heart rate zone calculator Get your five training zones from your age, with an optional resting heart rate for Karvonen zones.
- Training volume calculator Find your weekly working set target per muscle group for your experience level and goal.
- BMI calculator Get your body mass index and WHO category, with an honest note on what BMI misses for lifters.
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