How Much Should I Be Able to Overhead Press?

Most lifters should be able to overhead press about 0.80x bodyweight (men) or 0.50x bodyweight (women) after a couple of years of consistent training. That is the intermediate line in Strength Level's community data, which lists the average overhead press at 137 lb for men and 72 lb for women. At 180 lb, a man reaches intermediate at 140 lb. At 140 lb, a woman reaches it at 70 lb. The press is also the lift where a loose standard costs the most, so this guide covers what counts as a rep before it covers what counts as good.

How much should you overhead press by bodyweight?

Start with the ratio, because a 135 lb press is a different achievement at 150 lb than at 240 lb. Strength Level's shoulder press standards, checked in October 2026, use these one-rep-max ratios for men:

• Beginner: about 0.35x bodyweight.
• Novice: about 0.55x bodyweight.
• Intermediate: about 0.80x bodyweight.
• Advanced: about 1.05x bodyweight.
• Elite: about 1.35x bodyweight.

In pounds, the novice, intermediate, and advanced lines look like this:

• At 150 lb: novice 83, intermediate 116, advanced 154.
• At 180 lb: novice 104, intermediate 140, advanced 181.
• At 200 lb: novice 117, intermediate 155, advanced 199.
• At 220 lb: novice 130, intermediate 170, advanced 215.
• At 240 lb: novice 142, intermediate 183, advanced 230.

Strength Level defines intermediate as stronger than 50% of its lifters after about two years of regular training, and advanced as stronger than 80% after more than five years. These are people who log lifts on a strength site, not a random sample of adults, so every line runs tougher than the general population. If you have been pressing for six months and sit near novice, you are on schedule.

How much should a woman be able to overhead press?

The female ratios are lower because the press depends heavily on upper-body muscle, which is where average strength differences between the sexes are largest. Strength Level lists beginner at about 0.20x bodyweight, novice 0.35x, intermediate 0.50x, advanced 0.70x, and elite 0.95x. In pounds:

• At 120 lb: novice 41, intermediate 63, advanced 89.
• At 140 lb: novice 47, intermediate 70, advanced 98.
• At 160 lb: novice 53, intermediate 77, advanced 106.
• At 180 lb: novice 58, intermediate 84, advanced 114.

The useful plate milestones for women are 65 lb (the bar plus a 10 lb plate per side), which is about intermediate at 120-130 lb bodyweight, and 95 lb (the bar plus 25s), which is close to advanced at 140 lb. A 135 lb press is above the listed elite standard for women up to about 150 lb bodyweight.

What is the average overhead press?

Two logging apps publish the biggest public datasets, and they disagree by about 10 lb. Strength Level lists 137 lb for men and 72 lb for women, built from 5,644,500 logged lifts between 2015 and 2026. StrengthLog lists 126 lb for men and 66 lb for women from 19,792 of its users, 14,081 men and 5,711 women.

The gap is a reminder that “average” depends on who is counted. Both samples are people who track workouts, which skews strong. Neither can tell whether a logged rep was strict. Use them as a range, not a line: an average male press is somewhere around 125-140 lb, and an average female press is around 65-75 lb.

Is a 135 lb overhead press good?

Yes, for almost everyone. 135 lb is one 45 lb plate per side, the first press milestone that looks like something on the bar, and it beats both published averages for men by a comfortable margin. How good it is depends on bodyweight:

• At 150 lb, 135 is 0.90x bodyweight, between intermediate (116) and advanced (154).
• At 180 lb, 135 is 0.75x bodyweight, just under the intermediate standard of 140.
• At 200 lb, 135 is 0.68x bodyweight, between novice (117) and intermediate (155).
• At 220 lb, 135 is 0.61x bodyweight, between novice (130) and intermediate (170).
• For women, 135 is above the elite standard at 140 lb (129) and between advanced (114) and elite (147) at 180 lb.

Training age matters as much as bodyweight. Outlift surveyed 580 men from its newsletter and found that after three years of lifting about a quarter could press 135, and after five years over a third. Among readers with more than ten years of training, only 2% had ever pressed 225. That is a self-reported survey of one audience, not a population study, but it matches what most gym floors look like: a plate overhead is uncommon, and two plates is rare.

If you train in kilograms, 135 lb is about 61 kg. The equivalent milestone on a 20 kg bar is 60 kg, one 20 kg plate per side, which is 132 lb.

What should your overhead press be compared to your bench?

Around 60-65% of your bench press. Strength Level's listed averages give a ratio of 0.63 for men (137 lb press to 217 lb bench) and 0.65 for women (72 lb to 111 lb), and the intermediate standards at most bodyweights land in a similar band.

The ratio is a diagnostic, not a target. If your press is under about 55% of your bench, the press is usually undertrained or technically limited rather than you being weak overall. Start with why your overhead press is weak. If it is above 70%, your bench is probably the lift that needs attention, and how to break a bench press plateau is the better next read.

What kind of press was it?

The overhead press changes more with technique than any other barbell lift. Before you compare your number to a chart, check which press you actually did.

1. Leg drive: a push press uses a dip and drive to start the bar and can move far more weight than a strict press. Log it as its own exercise.
2. Layback: a little lean back to clear the face is normal. A big arch that turns the lift into a standing incline press is a different movement.
3. Start and finish: the bar should start on the shoulders and finish locked out over the mid-foot. A rep stopped short of lockout does not count.
4. Seated, machine, and dumbbell variations each move different weights. Compare strict standing barbell to strict standing barbell.
5. Bar weight: Strength Level's numbers include the bar, normally 45 lb or 20 kg. If your gym has a lighter bar, weigh it or write it down.

For the movement itself, see the overhead press exercise page. If you use dumbbells or an incline press as your main pressing work, the overhead press vs incline dumbbell press comparison explains why those numbers should not share a standard.

What does a 135 press for reps mean?

Pressing a plate for reps is a bigger signal than a single. Averaging the Epley and Brzycki formulas, 135 x 3 estimates a one-rep max of about 146 lb, 135 x 5 about 155 lb, and 135 x 8 about 169 lb. You can run your own set through the one-rep max calculator.

The same math tells you when 135 is close. About 115 x 6 estimates 136 lb, 120 x 5 estimates 138 lb, and 125 x 4 estimates 139 lb. Press sets of 8 or more get less accurate because technique breaks down before the shoulders do, so use the estimates to set the next target, not to claim a max you have never lifted.

How do you get to 135 on overhead press?

The press rewards patience more than any other lift. The prime movers are small, so the jumps that work on squat and deadlift stall the press within weeks. The loop is the same, with smaller numbers.

1. Pick one strict press variation and one rep standard, and keep both for the whole block.
2. Press 2 times per week if your shoulders tolerate it: one heavier day with sets of 3-5 and one volume day with sets of 6-8.
3. Add reps before load. When every set reaches the top of the range, add 2.5-5 lb, not 10. Borrow or buy fractional plates if your gym has none.
4. Use rep targets as checkpoints: 115 x 6, 120 x 5, and 125 x 4 all estimate a max around 135-140.
5. Stop most sets with 1-2 reps left so your bar path and layback stay the same as the weight goes up.
6. Support the press with upper-back rows, triceps work, and lateral raises so the smaller muscles are not the only thing growing.
7. If the press stalls for 3-4 weeks, check sleep, food, and total pressing volume before you change the program.

For the week-to-week decisions, use when to increase weight when lifting and the progressive overload calculator, which turns your last set into a next-session target. If several lifts are flat at once, start with why you are not getting stronger.

What should your next overhead press goal be?

Pick the goal from where you are, not from the chart's top row. If your press is under 0.5x bodyweight (0.35x for women), make the goal clean strict reps with a stable bar path for a full training block. If you are near novice, chase the intermediate ratio: 0.80x bodyweight for men, 0.50x for women. If you are around intermediate, use smaller targets: one more rep, 2.5 lb, or the same weight with less layback.

After 135, the natural milestones are 155, 185, and a bodyweight press. A strict bodyweight press is the advanced line for a 180 lb man and elite territory for most women. To see how the rest of your lifts compare, read how much you should be able to bench, squat standards by bodyweight, and deadlift standards.

So how much should you be able to overhead press? Around 0.80x bodyweight for men and 0.50x for women is intermediate, 135 is a real milestone for almost anyone, and the number only counts when the rep was strict and your log shows what to hit next.

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