Incline Bench Press Standards

Incline bench press standards by bodyweight (lb, one rep max)

What the levels mean

• Beginner: Can perform the lift with correct form; a few weeks of training.
• Novice: Several months of consistent training.
• Intermediate: One to two years of structured training.
• Advanced: Multiple years of dedicated training; competitive at local meets.
• Elite: Top few percent of drug-tested competitive lifters.

FitForge standards are bodyweight multiples at a reference bodyweight (80 kg for men, 60 kg for women), scaled by bodyweight to the power of two-thirds. That scaling reflects a well-established finding in strength research: strength rises with muscle cross-sectional area, which grows slower than bodyweight. It is why a 60 kg lifter benching 1.5× bodyweight and a 110 kg lifter benching 1.25× can be equally strong for their size. The multiples are rounded benchmarks in line with common coaching standards, not percentiles from a database.

How these numbers are set: there is no widely published standard for this lift, so FitForge derives it from the bench press standards using a common coaching ratio: about 80% of a flat bench press. If your ratio is very different, that lift (or the main one) is the one to bring up.

A 30–45° incline shifts work toward the upper chest and front delts. Steeper angles read lower, so compare like with like. Compare every lift on the strength standards calculator.

All lift standards: bench press, squat, deadlift, overhead press, front squat, incline bench press, barbell row, dumbbell bench press.