What Is a Good Overhead Press? Honest Numbers by Bodyweight

A good overhead press is roughly 0.75x your bodyweight for an intermediate man and a full 1x bodyweight for an advanced lifter — pressed strict, no leg drive. For women, intermediate lands near 0.55x and advanced near 0.75x. Pressing your own bodyweight straight overhead puts you in rare company.

The overhead press is the honest lift. There's nowhere to hide — no arch to shorten the range, no bounce off your chest, no hips to fold under the bar. You put weight over your head with your feet planted, or you don't. That's why the numbers here are smaller than your bench, and why hitting them means more.

What counts as a "good" overhead press?

Here's the framework most strength coaches use for a strict standing barbell press, measured as a multiple of your bodyweight. These are for the strict press — feet still, no dip and drive.

• Untrained / beginner (men): around 0.40x bodyweight
• Intermediate (men): around 0.75x bodyweight
• Advanced (men): around 1.0x bodyweight
• Beginner (women): around 0.30x bodyweight
• Intermediate (women): around 0.55x bodyweight
• Advanced (women): around 0.75x bodyweight

What does that look like in real numbers?

Multipliers are abstract until you put a bar in them. Strict standing press, one rep:

• 150 lb man: ~60 lb beginner, ~113 lb intermediate, ~150 lb advanced
• 180 lb man: ~72 lb beginner, ~135 lb intermediate, ~180 lb advanced
• 220 lb man: ~88 lb beginner, ~165 lb intermediate, ~220 lb advanced
• 130 lb woman: ~40 lb beginner, ~72 lb intermediate, ~98 lb advanced
• 160 lb woman: ~48 lb beginner, ~88 lb intermediate, ~120 lb advanced

Notice what's missing: the giant numbers you see on bench and deadlift. That's not weakness. That's the lift being honest.

Why is the overhead press so much weaker than your bench?

Three reasons, and none of them are about effort. First, the press uses smaller prime movers — front delts and triceps instead of the big pec-and-front-delt shelf you get lying down. Second, there's no bench to press against and no leg drive off the floor, so your core and lower back have to stabilize the whole load standing. Third, the range of motion is long and unbroken from shoulders to lockout.

Put together, that's why a beginner who presses their own bodyweight overhead has done something that takes most lifters three to four years. The OHP is the slowest of the main barbell lifts to move, and the most brutally honest about where you actually stand.

How do you actually add weight to your press?

The press stalls faster than any other lift, so you build it with patience, not ego:

1. Press strict before you push press. Earn the strict number first. Leg drive is a tool, not a crutch to inflate your log.
2. Add tiny. Micro-loading — 1 to 2.5 lb jumps — keeps the press climbing when 5 lb jumps stall you cold.
3. Build the triceps and upper back. Close-grip work, dips, and heavy rows give the press its ceiling.
4. Brace like it's a deadlift. Glutes tight, ribs down, whole body rigid. A soft midsection leaks power straight out the bottom.
5. Be patient. Adding 20 lb to your press in a year is real progress. This lift does not negotiate.

Is the overhead press worth training if the numbers stay small?

Yes — arguably more than any other pressing movement. It builds shoulders that look carved instead of inflated, it exposes and fixes weak links a bench will happily hide, and it carries over to everything you put over your head in life. Small numbers, big return. One caveat: pressing overhead is demanding on the shoulders, and sharp pain is not toughness. If a rep pinches or grinds, stop and get the movement checked by a pro. Grinding through it is how you buy a year off, not a bigger press.

FAQ

Is a 135 lb overhead press good?

For most men, yes — a strict 135 lb press is a solid intermediate mark, roughly 0.75x bodyweight for a 180 lb lifter. Pressing it strict, with no leg drive, is the version that counts.

Can the average man press his bodyweight overhead?

Not without training. A strict bodyweight overhead press is an advanced standard that typically takes three to four years of consistent work to reach.

Is push press or strict press the real number?

Strict press is the honest measure of overhead strength because it removes leg drive. A push press will always be higher, but it tests power transfer, not pure pressing strength.

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The press rewards the people who show up and grind small wins for years. If that's you, dress like it. The Varsity tee and the Barbell heavyweight tee are both cut from 240 GSM cotton — heavy, oversized, and built to outlast the program that earned them.

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