Trying to navigate the wonderful world of home gym weight benches? You’ve probably encountered the two types of benches on the market: Olympic and standard. Many questions arise as to the difference between these, but one of the most common is, “How much weight can a standard bench hold?”.
After reviewing the top 25 bestselling standard benches on Amazon, the average weight capacity is 583 pounds, with a range between 220-1,000 pounds. Surprisingly, after reviewing the top 25 bestselling Olympic weight benches on Amazon, the average weight capacity was 587 pounds, with a range of 300-1,500 pounds . Clearly, there is not a correlation between how much weight a bench can hold and it’s designation as standard or Olympic, although the benches with the highest weight capacity are Olympic.
Given this information, we can now assess the quality of a standard bench more thoroughly. In order to accomplish this, we will look at why the perception of a standard bench as being lower quality actually exists.
What is a Standard Bench? And Olympic?
A standard bench is simply a weight bench not ranked as being “competition grade” (whatever that means). These are weight benches which you will find being sold as home gym equipment. You may also find them in commercial gyms.
On the other hand, Olympic benches are ranked as being “competition grade” and are proposed to be higher quality than your average standard bench. However, is this actually true in practice?
If a significant portion of “higher quality” is to be based on the weight capacity of a bench, then the truth is there is not a big difference in quality between a standard bench and an olympic bench.
A lot has been made about the designation of standard vs Olympic style benches. But, our analysis shows that they have the same average weight capacity at around 585 pounds.
So, why is this distinction made?
Standard Does Not Mean Standard
Outside of weight benches, but still within the gym equipment world, the words “standard” and “Olympic” have quite specific meanings. Standard refers to weight plates, barbells, and dumbbells which have a one inch diameter. These types of equipment are usually thinner, and are geared more towards beginners and lighter weight lifting.
Olympic weight plates, barbells, and dumbbells have a two inch diameter. These types of equipment are higher grade, can handle more weight, and are generally geared towards more advanced and serious lifters.
The error which people make is to assume standard weight bench refers to the standard just referenced above. It does not.
Conflating these two terms is an understandable error, but it leads to the perpetuation of false information regarding the classification of Olympic and standard weight benches. There is no significant difference between them!
Although these terms may have meant something at some time in the past, it clearly does not mean much now (I’m unable to find anything about the origin of these terms as they relate to weight benches).
Finding the Right Weight Capacity for Your Bench
A better way to figure out the weight capacity of various benches is to distinguish between flat benches and adjustable benches. I’ve written extensively about FID (flat-incline-decline) adjustable benches here.
Flat benches tend to have much higher weight capacities. Of all of the benches I found above, it was only flat benches which had weight capacities of 1,000 pounds or higher. Flat benches also tend to be more secure, and less wobbly.
Looking for the right weight bench can be a challenge. Luckily, I’ve written an article detailing some of the best weight benches on the market here.
For an adjustable weight bench, I recommend the ADVENOR Adjustable Weight Bench:
I did a review video of this on my YouTube channel Humane Muscle Reviews:
For a flat bench, I recommend the MaxKare Flat Weight Bench:
Both of these are budget options which also provide a high level of quality and solid weight capacity.
Wrapping It Up
The key take home point here is that a standard weight bench has an average weight capacity of about 583 pounds. Given that an Olympic weight bench has an average weight capacity of 587 pounds, there is no reason to distinguish between a standard weight bench and an Olympic weight bench in regards to how much weight they can hold.
My recommendation is to figure out whether you want a flat bench or an adjustable bench and then look at the weight capacities.
Now, let’s pass on the word that we can stop spreading the myth of the “competition grade” Olympic weight bench!
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