Is 60 kg bench press good if I just started lifting?

For most beginners, 60 kg is solid early progress. The exact band depends heavily on bodyweight and sex — at 75 kg male it's just below the novice line; at 65 kg female it's in the intermediate band. As a beginner you'll keep adding weight session-over-session for the first ~6 months on a linear-progression program, so the band you're in matters less than the trajectory.

What should I aim for as a beginner?

On a 3 days/week full-body linear-progression program, an adult-male beginner can typically clear novice (1.0× bodyweight bench) in 6-12 months. Adult-female beginners often clear novice (0.65× bodyweight) faster. Don't chase a specific number — chase consistent technique and consistent linear progression. The band falls out as a side effect.

Strength check

Below novice.

Your bench press one-rep max is 60 kg — below the trained-population for a male lifter.
Stronger than about 12% of male lifters at your bodyweight (StrengthMath percentile estimate, not a measured-population stat).
Next novice bench press standard: 75 kg.

Expected if you're new or coming back. Pick a beginner program (3 days/week, full body, linear add 2.5 kg per session) — strength moves fastest in the first 6 months.

Time to next level

Typically 1–4 months to novice on the bench press. Any consistent program — 3 sessions/week full-body, learn the lifts at submaximal loads.

Sources: Rippetoe (Practical Programming) · Schoenfeld 2010 · NSCA Essentials. Per-lift speed multipliers are StrengthMath methodology — see show-math.

Your numbers

Updates as you type. Under 18 enters teen-mode framing per AAP guidance — soft labels only, no max testing recommended.

Cross-lift balance

Enter all four lifts. The engine reports your bench-denominated ratios against the typical training-population bands and identifies the limiter — the lift holding the others back.

Squat

Weight

20300

Reps

120

Bench press

Weight

20300

Reps

120

Deadlift

Weight

20300

Reps

120

Overhead press

Weight

20300

Reps

120

Bodyweight, sex, age, and unit are taken from the form above.

Balance report

Your overhead press is the limiter. Closing the gap puts your training balance back in the typical band — see "Time to next band" on the per-lift detail above.

Per-lift bands

Squat149.3 kg · intermediate
Bench press114.8 kg · intermediate
Deadlift183.7 kg · intermediate
Overhead press68.9 kg · intermediate

Bench-denominated pairwise ratios

Squat : Bench press1.30× (typical 1.2–1.5×)
Squat:bench press ratio in the typical range — balance is fine on this pair.
Deadlift : Bench press1.60× (typical 1.4–1.6×)
Deadlift:bench press ratio in the typical range — balance is fine on this pair.
Overhead press : Bench press0.60× (typical 0.65–0.75×)
Overhead press is under-developed relative to bench press — next block of programming time goes to overhead press.

Closing the gap

Bringing your overhead press up to advanced typically takes 25–50 months. Periodization required — 4-5 sessions/week, weekly or monthly progression (5/3/1, DUP, conjugate). Linear adds stop working past this band.

Typical ratios are StrengthMath methodology — practitioner consensus across NSCA Essentials + Practical Programming. Use as balance heuristics, not diagnostic cutoffs.

Don't burn out chasing the bar

Strength gains compound from consistent submaximal work, not max-attempt chasing. Build the program around 3–4 sessions/week, prioritize sleep + protein (1.6–2.2 g/kg bodyweight), and deload every 4–6 weeks. Listen to fatigue: soreness past 72 hours, regressing working sets, or persistent mood dips mean you need recovery — not more volume.

The numbers above tell you where you are. They don't tell you to test a new max this week. Most lifters under-recover and over-train — the cheapest gain is sleeping an extra hour.

ExRx vs OpenPowerlifting — two populations, two answers

The bands above use ExRx training-population norms — synthesized from training-lifter data, the population most lifters actually belong to. OpenPowerlifting uses competition-population norms compiled from registered powerlifters at sanctioned meets.

Same lift, different verdict. A 100 kg bench at 80 kg bodyweight reads intermediate on ExRx (typical of someone running a structured program for 1–3 years) and untrainedon OPL (a record-keeping competitor's floor is higher than a typical gym lifter's).

You're not "untrained" — you're just not a competitor. StrengthMath uses ExRx because the question lifters actually ask is "where do I sit relative to other people who train," not "where would I rank in a meet."

More: Read the full methodology page — sourcing tier framework, formula derivation, per-band threshold reasoning, and the StrengthMath-vs-elsewhere framing in detail.

Show the math + sources

Per-formula 1RM (kg or lb, matches your input unit)

Epley: 60
Brzycki: 60
Lombardi: 60
O'Conner: 60
Average (headline): 60
Reliability: HIGH (±0%, 60–60). Per LeSuer 1997 directional findings: ≤5 reps high-reliability, 6–10 medium, 11–15 noisy, 16+ very noisy.

ExRx-aligned bands (male, 75 kg bodyweight)

untrained0.7× = 53 kg
novice1× = 75 kg
intermediate1.5× = 113 kg
advanced2× = 150 kg
elite2.5× = 188 kg

Your ratio: 0.80× (1RM ÷ bodyweight). The engine assigns the highest band you clear.

Methodology notes

Bodyweight-multiplier table is ExRx-aligned StrengthMath methodology — the directional shape is consistent across the ExRx published table, but the exact per-multiplier values are this engine's framing of the ratios.
OpenPowerlifting is referenced for context only; it is not blended into the adult bands here.
Bodyweight + lifted weight must be in the same unit. Mixed-unit input is rejected by the calculator UI before reaching this engine.
Percentile in the subhead is StrengthMath methodology: a Gaussian fit anchored at intermediate=50th percentile with novice/advanced thresholds at the 20th/80th percentiles (z ≈ ±0.84). Asymmetric SD per side honors the actual band spacing. Capped at 1–99. Not a sourced statistical claim — it's a defensible mapping of ExRx training-population thresholds to a continuous percentile scale.
Time-to-next-band ranges are sourced (Rippetoe Practical Programming, NSCA Essentials) for the base band-to-band durations. The per-lift speed multiplier (squat 0.85×, deadlift 1.0×, bench 1.2×, OHP 1.4×) is StrengthMath methodology — practitioner-consensus reflecting trainable-mass differences across lifts.

Bands are training benchmarks, not health/worth/talent judgments. Variability across bodyweight, training age, technique, supervision, and equipment is normal and expected.

Sources

Epley B (1985). Boyd Epley Workout. Body Enterprises.
Brzycki M (1993). Strength testing — predicting a one-rep max from reps-to-fatigue. JOPERD 64(1):88–90.
Lombardi VP (1989). Beginning Weight Training. W.C. Brown.
O'Connor B, Simmons J, O'Shea P (1989). Weight Training Today. West Publishing.
LeSuer DA, McCormick JH, et al. (1997). The accuracy of prediction equations for estimating 1-RM performance in the bench press, squat, and deadlift. JSCR 11(4):211–213.
ExRx.net — Strength Standards (training-population synthesis).
Rippetoe M, Baker A (2014). Practical Programming for Strength Training (3rd ed.). Aasgaard.
Schoenfeld BJ (2010). The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training. JSCR 24(10):2857–2872.
Haff GG, Triplett NT (eds.) (2016). NSCA Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (4th ed.). Human Kinetics.