Barbell Bench Press vs Close Grip Push Ups Strength Standards
Compare your bench press and close grip push ups against strength standards for your sex, age range, and bodyweight. Use one recent result per exercise to compare strength levels, next targets, and priority.
First exercise: Total barbell weight and a whole number from 1 to 12 reps. Second exercise: Strict continuous Close Grip Push Ups reps. Use the units shown. For the first exercise, lower the bar under control to the chest, pause without bouncing, and press to full elbow lockout with no spotter assistance. For the second exercise, count one continuous set of strict close-grip reps. Repetitions are never converted into weight. Each exercise keeps its own measurement type. Age range changes only an exercise whose standards use age.
Barbell Bench Press vs Close Grip Push Ups Strength Standards
The men’s and women’s tables show the exact Novice-through-Elite targets for both exercises. Weight-based targets use bodyweight and display actual pounds and kilograms. Repetition and time standards keep their exercise-specific units and use age only when the individual exercise standards require it.
Age and bodyweight are never combined as row dimensions. Internal bodyweight-ratio scores are never displayed. When the exercises use unlike measurements, the table presents an explicit reference crosswalk instead of inventing a conversion.
Men’s Bench Press vs Close Grip Push Ups Standards
Reference crosswalk: Unlike measurements are not subtracted or converted. Each column states its own reference and preserves the exercise’s real unit.
| Strength level | Bench Press at 120 lb bodyweight | Close Grip Push Ups, Under 30 |
|---|---|---|
| Novice | 151 lb68.5 kg | 10 reps |
| Intermediate | 188 lb85.3 kg | 24 reps |
| Advanced | 225 lb102.1 kg | 46 reps |
| Elite | 261 lb118.4 kg | 72 reps |
Women’s Bench Press vs Close Grip Push Ups Standards
Reference crosswalk: Unlike measurements are not subtracted or converted. Each column states its own reference and preserves the exercise’s real unit.
| Strength level | Bench Press at 100 lb bodyweight | Close Grip Push Ups, Under 30 |
|---|---|---|
| Novice | 69 lb31.3 kg | 8 reps |
| Intermediate | 88 lb39.9 kg | 18 reps |
| Advanced | 114 lb51.7 kg | 36 reps |
| Elite | 145 lb65.8 kg | 58 reps |
How Your Barbell Bench Press vs Close Grip Push Ups Result Is Calculated
The two exercises can use different measurements. The calculator rates each result against the standards for that exercise first, then compares the resulting strength levels and progress toward the next level. It never invents a reps-to-weight conversion.
1. Estimate the weight-based result
For Bench Press, one rep uses the weight entered. For 2–12 reps, the calculator runs both estimates and keeps the lower result.
- Epley: weight × (1 + reps ÷ 30)
- Brzycki: weight × 36 ÷ (37 − reps)
For a useful Barbell Bench Press vs Close Grip Push Ups comparison, use clean, recent sets performed with consistent technique and range of motion. Lower-rep sets usually require less extrapolation.
2. Rate the Bench Press result
The bench press standards use the approved sex-specific reference targets from the individual raw competition-style bench press tool. The target adjusts to bodyweight using reference target × (user bodyweight ÷ reference bodyweight) to the two-thirds power.
3. Rate the Close Grip Push Ups result
The exercise-specific tool supplies sex-, bodyweight-band-, and age-specific repetition thresholds plus a stretch target. The calculator uses strict continuous bodyweight repetitions and does not convert the repetitions into an estimated weight.
4. Compare strength level and progress
The lower strength level is the priority. When both exercises reach the same level, a priority appears only when one is at least 10 points farther from its next target. Otherwise, the result is Balanced. Age range changes only the exercise whose standards include age; it remains an analytics field for the other exercise.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Rate the bench press | Adjust bench press targets to exact bodyweight with the two-thirds rule. Measurement: estimated one-rep max. |
| Rate the close grip push ups set | Compare strict repetitions with the applicable exercise-specific thresholds without an estimated-max conversion. Measurement: Strict continuous Close Grip Push Ups reps. |
| Compare levels | Use each exercise’s own level and next target; do not compare or divide results that use different measurements. |
How Men’s Barbell Bench Press and Close Grip Push Ups Standards Differ
What the men’s standards show:
Elite weight targets from 120 to 300 lb bodyweight.
Elite direct-performance targets from the youngest to oldest listed age range at 120 lb bodyweight.
Raw repetitions, seconds, and weights are not divided or converted. The calculator compares each exercise’s strength tier and progress within that tier.
The line chart below preserves each exercise’s real standards measurement in its own panel. Repetitions, seconds, and weights are never converted into one another.
Line chart loading. The standards tables above contain the exact values.
How Women’s Barbell Bench Press and Close Grip Push Ups Standards Differ
What the women’s standards show:
Elite weight targets from 100 to 240 lb bodyweight.
Elite direct-performance targets from the youngest to oldest listed age range at 100 lb bodyweight.
Raw repetitions, seconds, and weights are not divided or converted. The calculator compares each exercise’s strength tier and progress within that tier.
The line chart below preserves each exercise’s real standards measurement in its own panel. Repetitions, seconds, and weights are never converted into one another.
Line chart loading. The standards tables above contain the exact values.
Barbell Bench Press and Close Grip Push Ups Exercises Used by This Calculator
Compare like-for-like attempts by keeping the bench press and close grip push ups setup consistent with their individual rules. Use strict, repeatable Barbell Bench Press and Close Grip Push Ups tests that follow each exercise’s setup, range of motion, equipment, and load rules. Do not mix variations, assistance, partial range, momentum, or different load conventions.
Use a paused competition-style barbell bench press
Lower the bar under control to the chest, pause without bouncing, and press to full elbow lockout with no spotter assistance. Enter the total barbell weight. Do not enter a touch-and-go, assisted, partial, Smith-machine, dumbbell, incline, decline, equipped, or bench-shirt result.
Use the Close Grip Push Ups setup and load convention
Count one continuous set of strict close-grip reps. Each rep uses hands narrower than shoulder width, elbows tracking close, the chest reaching the same bottom range, and full elbow lockout at the top. Do not count standard-width, diamond, wide, decline, incline, weighted, knee-assisted, band-assisted, shallow, bounced, or changed-hand-position reps. Do not combine multiple sets into one score. Use the same rep standard for retests.
Enter one recent Barbell Bench Press result and one recent Close Grip Push Ups result
First exercise: Total barbell weight and a whole number from 1 to 12 reps. Second exercise: Strict continuous Close Grip Push Ups reps. Use the units shown.
Related Tools
- Close Grip Push Ups Strength Standards — View the individual Close Grip Push Ups standards and next strength-level target.
- Barbell Close-Grip Bench Press — Use this related standards tool to examine a closely related exercise without mixing its result into this comparison.
- Weighted Push-Ups (Standard) — Use this related standards tool to examine a closely related exercise without mixing its result into this comparison.
- Bodyweight Dip Strength Standards — Use this related standards tool to examine a closely related exercise without mixing its result into this comparison.
- Decline Push Ups Strength Standards — Use this related standards tool to examine a closely related exercise without mixing its result into this comparison.
- Incline Push Ups Strength Standards — Use this related standards tool to examine a closely related exercise without mixing its result into this comparison.