CHOOSING THE RIGHT GYM BENCH
Choosing any gym equipment always comes down to space, functionality and budget. If you have got loads of money and space you have all the options. If you are missing one or both of these your options are limited. You will have to compromise.
Whether it be a home or gym you need to have some sort of plan when choosing gym equipment. Training is forever so it is a long term decision. If you choose for today, you may regret it later. You may buy a cheaper bench instead of holding off and saving for a few months. Later on you may regret this decision when you decide to sell it and buy the better one later.
You lose time and money this way. Or sometimes the cheap bench may break or just be crap to use.
BUDGET
If you are tight on money you will have to sacrifice functionality or quality. My advice is always to save if you can. Your aim should be to get a bench that is decent in terms of functionality and quality. Get a bench that you will train on for a bare minimum of 10 years. I have a 2008 model bench myself. Waiting a bit longer can pay off by saving money in the long run.
There are people out there, like myself, who can train happily on basic equipment forever. If this is you – a bench, squat & deadlift person – you can get away with just a basic flat bench.
When I trained in my office gym, probably 7 or 8 years, I very rarely used incline. A flat bench would have done the trick there.
However if you want to perform exercises like leg extensions or leg curls, you will need to buy a bench that accepts attachments. A decent quality bench with this functionality will be significantly more expensive than a flat bench.
SPACE
If you are tight on space, this is where you are going to need to do some planning. Most capital cities around the world are experiencing insane housing prices. Gyms, whether it be a home, studio or commercial, are getting smaller. This is looking like a long-term trend. You might think one day you will get your dream home with a massive shed for a gym. As someone living in Sydney I have given up on this dream. So be realistic.
To grow the functionality of your gym in a tight space – by this I am referring to the number of exercises that you can perform – you will need to get equipment that can perform multiple exercises.
If you only have room for a power rack or multi gym, getting a dedicated preacher curl machine is out of the question. To perform these exercises in your gym you will need a bench that has a preacher attachment.
For those don’t have room for a power rack or multi gym, you will need to factor in other ways to do exercises. For example if you want to do chin ups. You have the option of a wall mounted chin up bar. Or the Ironmaster Super Benches have chin up options.
FUNCTIONALITY
A big commercial gym just needs a bench to be a bench. They have machines for all the other exercises. Their benches will cop loads of use and abuse. They need to be built tough with basic, easy to use adjustments. The ATX Warrior and Bulls Benches are perfect for these roles.
As the space gets tighter you have room for less machines. A studio may only have room for one bench and one leg extension/leg curl machine. Instead of getting the stand alone machine, you may get a bench with a leg attachment. There is no reason why you can’t leave the leg attachment set up. If you do some group training or need another bench, you can just take the leg attachment out.
As the gym gets smaller you have two options. Simplify your training by performing less exercises. Or look for equipment that squeezes the most out of it’s footprint. In terms of benches, if you are really tight on space, there is no bench that comes close to Ironmaster.
The ATX benches are great in a larger studio or home gym setting. They are bigger and really solid, but you can still wheel them around. But when it gets real tight, the Iromaster benches are that bit smaller and lighter. They are so easy to move around.
But where they really shine are the attachments. It is not just a bench. It is a platform for a wide variety of exercises. It solves so many problems. The only issue for most, is that as you start stacking up attachments it does get expensive.
However this is offset by being able to buy them as you can afford them. The best way to look at these upgrades is to think of them like a gym membership. Just throw a bit of money aside each month and when you have enough make your next addition to your gym.
GOLDEN RULE
The one rule that is a constant. Do not buy cheap crap under any circumstance if you can avoid it. Maybe if you have 6 months to live get a cheap bench.
But if you plan on any sort of longevity with training, try and get a quality bench. Whether it be the thin backboard on the upholstery cracking. Or it just being a wobbly piece of junk under heavy loads.
Trust me I have heard it so many times. I wish I just got the better bench in the first place.
This also solves another problem. If you are bamboozled by choice, if you stick to a quality weight benches you can’t go wrong. Thinking before buying is essential. However some people take this to extremes and spend too much time trying to make the right choice. If you get a quality bench, it might not be perfect, but you have ticked the most important boxes.