Overhead Strength
Overhead Press Strength Standards
The overhead press, also called the barbell shoulder press, is the honest overhead lift, with no leg drive to hide behind. Enter your bodyweight for your beginner to elite figures, see which level your best press falls in, and get the dumbbell equivalent for each row.
Find Your Overhead Press Level
Enter your bodyweight, pick your sex, and put in your best lift. Everything below updates as you type.
What the Overhead Press Really Measures
Everything between the bar and the floor, tested at once.
A strict overhead press starts at the collarbones and finishes with the bar locked out over the middle of your feet. The front and side delts and the triceps do the pressing, the upper chest helps off the chest, and the whole trunk works to stop you bending backwards under the load. It is the lift that exposes a weak midsection fastest, because there is nothing else holding the bar up.
It is also the smallest of the four main barbell lifts by some distance, and it moves the slowest. A lifter can add a hundred pounds to a deadlift in a year and twenty to a press, which is normal and not a sign that anything is wrong. Press numbers reward patience more than any other lift on this site.
The Shoulder Press and the Overhead Press Are One Lift
The same standard as the overhead press, because it is the same lift.
The overhead press and the barbell shoulder press are two names for one movement, so this page carries exactly the same standards as the overhead press column on our strength standards page. We could have run a separate set of shoulder press numbers to make the two look distinct, and they would have been made up. It is one lift, so it gets one set of figures.
For a seated dumbbell shoulder press, expect the pair together to come to roughly 90 percent of your barbell figure, which puts each dumbbell near 45 percent of it. So a man whose barbell press is at the intermediate mark should be looking at dumbbells a little under half that weight in each hand. A seated press with the back supported usually reads a touch higher than a standing one, because the trunk is no longer the limiting factor.
| Level | Share of the overhead press standard |
|---|---|
| Beginner | 100 percent |
| Novice | 100 percent |
| Intermediate | 100 percent |
| Advanced | 100 percent |
| Elite | 100 percent |
These standards are estimates derived from typical ratios to the main lifts, rounded to the nearest 5 lb. The bench, squat, deadlift and overhead press figures they are built on are the bodyweight-ratio approximations published on our strength standards page, which are aligned with widely used references in the strength and conditioning field including ExRx.net. Nothing here is measured lab data, and no table anywhere else has been copied. Treat every figure as a target to aim at, not a verdict on you.
Overhead Press Standards for Men
Estimated strict 1-rep max on the bar, by bodyweight.
| Bodyweight | Beginner | Novice | Intermediate | Advanced | Elite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110 lb | 40 lb | 60 lb | 90 lb | 120 lb | 155 lb |
| 130 lb | 45 lb | 70 lb | 105 lb | 145 lb | 180 lb |
| 150 lb | 55 lb | 85 lb | 120 lb | 165 lb | 210 lb |
| 170 lb | 60 lb | 95 lb | 135 lb | 185 lb | 240 lb |
| 190 lb (your bodyweight) | 65 lb | 105 lb | 150 lb | 210 lb | 265 lb |
| 210 lb | 75 lb | 115 lb | 170 lb | 230 lb | 295 lb |
| 230 lb | 80 lb | 125 lb | 185 lb | 255 lb | 320 lb |
| 250 lb | 90 lb | 140 lb | 200 lb | 275 lb | 350 lb |
Overhead Press Standards for Women
Estimated strict 1-rep max on the bar, by bodyweight.
| Bodyweight | Beginner | Novice | Intermediate | Advanced | Elite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110 lb | 20 lb | 35 lb | 50 lb | 70 lb | 100 lb |
| 130 lb | 25 lb | 40 lb | 60 lb | 85 lb | 115 lb |
| 150 lb | 30 lb | 45 lb | 70 lb | 100 lb | 135 lb |
| 170 lb | 35 lb | 50 lb | 75 lb | 110 lb | 155 lb |
| 190 lb | 40 lb | 55 lb | 85 lb | 125 lb | 170 lb |
| 210 lb | 40 lb | 65 lb | 95 lb | 135 lb | 190 lb |
| 230 lb | 45 lb | 70 lb | 105 lb | 150 lb | 205 lb |
| 250 lb | 50 lb | 75 lb | 115 lb | 165 lb | 225 lb |
A Worked Example
From a set of five to a dumbbell selection.
A 190 lb man has an intermediate overhead press of 150 lb and an advanced mark of 210 lb. If he presses 115 lb for five strict reps, the estimate is about 130 lb, which sits between novice at 105 lb and intermediate at 150 lb.
Turning that into dumbbells: 45 percent of 150 lb is about 65 lb per hand at the intermediate mark, so he should not be surprised that the 55s feel heavy for sets of eight. A press that stalls often needs the trunk fixed rather than the shoulders, so a block of strict pressing with lighter loads and no back lean is usually more productive than grinding the same weight harder.
What These Standards Cannot Tell You
The difference between a press and a push press is not a detail.
These figures are for a strict press with no dip and no knee bend. A push press uses a short dip and leg drive and typically moves 15 to 30 percent more, so comparing a push press against this table will put you a level higher than you are. Decide which lift you are testing before you look at a row.
Overhead pressing also depends heavily on shoulder and thoracic mobility. A lifter who cannot get the bar behind the head at lockout will press less than one who can, whatever their raw strength, and forcing the position rather than improving it is a reliable way to end up with sore shoulders. If the bar path feels blocked, treat it as a mobility problem rather than a strength problem.
More Tools
Test the press, then the rest of the upper body.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about these standards.
How much should I be able to overhead press?
At 190 lb bodyweight the intermediate overhead press is about 150 lb and the advanced mark is about 210 lb. At 140 lb an intermediate woman is near 65 lb. Enter your own bodyweight above for your five figures.
What is the average shoulder press weight?
Most men who train regularly sit between the novice and intermediate rows, which at 190 lb is an estimated single of 105 to 150 lb, so working sets of five near 85 to 125 lb. Because the press moves slowly, plenty of experienced lifters stay in that band for years.
Is the shoulder press the same as the overhead press?
Yes. Standing barbell shoulder press, overhead press, strict press and military press all describe the same movement, which is why this page carries the same standards as our overhead press figures.
What should I dumbbell shoulder press instead?
Roughly 45 percent of your barbell figure in each hand, so the pair together comes to about 90 percent of the barbell load. That means a 150 lb barbell press points at dumbbells around 65 lb each.
Should I press seated or standing?
Standing is the stricter test because your trunk has to hold the load, and it is the version these standards assume. Seated pressing with a back support usually allows a slightly heavier weight and is a reasonable choice when your lower back is the thing limiting you.
How are these overhead press standards calculated?
They are the overhead press standards from our strength standards page, which are bodyweight ratios by level and sex, rounded to the nearest 5 lb. They are estimates aligned with widely published references rather than measured test data.