Overhead press strength standards
Updated 16 July 2026
A strict overhead press at bodyweight is an advanced, impressive lift; most trained men press around 0.6 to 0.8 times bodyweight. The overhead press is the smallest of the main barbell presses, so its ratios are lower than the 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 | 0.55× | 50 kg | 0.35× | 21 kg |
| Intermediate | 0.80× | 72 kg | 0.55× | 33 kg |
| Advanced | 1.00× | 90 kg | 0.75× | 45 kg |
| Elite | 1.20× | 108 kg | 0.95× | 57 kg |
| World class | 1.40× | 126 kg | 1.15× | 69 kg |
Standards for other lifts
- Squat standards
- Bench press standards
- Deadlift 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 bench press 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 overhead press?
Pressing 0.8 times bodyweight overhead is a solid intermediate lift for men, and a full bodyweight strict press is advanced to elite. Women reach the tiers at lower ratios.
Is a bodyweight overhead press good?
Very. A strict bodyweight overhead press is an advanced to elite feat that few lifters reach without years of dedicated pressing.
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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