A bench seem like the simplest piece of equipment available in a home gym. You’ll purchase your plates and your barbell, but where will you lie? You’ll purchase your plates and your barbell, but where will you lay?
Choosing the Best Weight Benches for Home Gyms
The Importance of Stability
Selecting stability over comfortabley is most important when shopping for benches; a poor-quality bench will spoil a workout. You don’t want the frame to wiggle under load, especially not if you’re maxing out on a PR attempt! Reduced confidence will decrease your chances of a successful lift.
Therefore, go with what suit your budget, your space, and how you like to lift. Flat benches is the workhorses of home gyms. Why?
Benefits of a Flat Bench
Because they’re easy to build. But a solid bench must be built tough enough for heavy weights. A quality flat bench should feature firm padding over a thick steel frame.
While soft padding might feel nice, it lack stability under weight. You want something solid; something similar than a floor. This is why the Rep Fitness CB-1600 is a timeless classic.
It strips away everything else; no storage hooks or adjustable angles. It is just a set of legs and a flat platform. With no moving parts, there’s nowhere to go wrong.
It’s compact yet can absorbs heavy weights. If you need something durable and don’t have much space, this is a solid pick.
Why Adjustable Benches Work for Small Spaces
If you intend to train your entire body, then an adjustable bench make sense.
You can sit flat on it for shoulder presses, or you can incline the back for upper chest work. But each level of adjustability complicate things. The backrest has to lock into place firm, otherwise it will slide around.
And many people likes the Bowflex SelectTech Bench 5.1s because they provide storage for their dumbbells. This is excellent if you live in a tiny apartment and want to save space. The downside?
Because the bench serve multiple purposes, the frame isn’t as solid as a dedicated powerlifting bench. For moderate weights, no problem. But you’ll notice a bit of flex under heavy lifts.
So it’s a good jack-of-all-trades bench, but not necessarily a master at anything specific.
Power Benches for Heavy Lifting
For the person who values strength over convenience, there’s the power bench. It is built to last through abuse.
It has minimal padding, thick steel tubing, and wide base. Here’s an example of one: The Titan T-3 Flat Power Bench. It is wide enough for hold a barbell rack.
Stable for big-time lifting. The thin padding holds your hips stable on presses. If you’re too cushy, your hips will sink and break your posture.
It is heavy and bulky. It is not for casual lifting. It takes up more space.
It is for regular heavy-weight lifting by a person who wants to get stronger.
How to Choose the Right Bench
How Do You Pick A Bench? In the end, the way you pick a bench comes down to how you actualy train.
Flat bench? Get a flat bench. You won’t need any adjustability so don’t spend money on it.
Limited space? Seek out benches that take up as little room as possible and offer built-in storage. Training big-time strength?
Splurge on a solid, wide power bench. A good bench doesn’t distract from the exercise; rather, it help them while keeping its nose clean. You should of looked for one before you start.
It lets you stay focused on what matters: making gains, getting stronger, and progressing.
