The median best-ever competition bench press for a 120 lb woman is 125 lb — among 13,644 female raw powerlifters aged 20–45 who competed at a bodyweight of 115–125 lb. The 25th percentile is 105 lb and the 90th is 171 lb.
Best-ever competition bench press, female raw powerlifters, age 20–45, bodyweight 115–125 lb. n = 13,644.
| Percentile | Lift | × bodyweight |
|---|---|---|
| 5th | 83 lb (38 kg) | 0.69× |
| 10th | 88 lb (40 kg) | 0.73× |
| 25th | 105 lb (48 kg) | 0.88× |
| 50th (median) | 125 lb (57 kg) | 1.04× |
| 75th | 149 lb (68 kg) | 1.24× |
| 90th | 171 lb (78 kg) | 1.43× |
| 95th | 187 lb (85 kg) | 1.56× |
Source: OpenPowerlifting database, build 2026-07-25-606a59af (public domain). Percentiles computed by Motus. Method.
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Everyone in this table entered a judged powerlifting meet. They are not a sample of gym-goers and they are not a sample of the general population. People who compete in powerlifting have self-selected for being strong, have usually trained specifically for a one-rep max, and lift under competition commands — which is typically harder than the same lift performed in a gym.
If you have never competed, your comparison point is not the 50th percentile here. A more honest reading: this tells you what strong, specifically-trained women at your bodyweight actually do.
We publish no figure for the average woman in the general population, because no comparable dataset of measured one-rep maxes among non-competitors exists. Numbers of that kind circulating online generally come from user-submitted app data, from estimated rather than measured maxes, or from tables with no stated sample. Full method and limitations.
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