Recommended workout bench to buy?

elniro

elniro

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Can anyone recommend a good quality cheap workout bench to buy?

I am planning to mainly use it for bench press and incline exercises
 
Had the york bench and currently have a pro-power one. Both are pretty much the same. You might find them unstable compared to a gym so you need to keep you feet planted and when flat I found the back part is slightly declined on both. Nothing major, just a bit weird. The weight limit is around 120kg mark so if you are a lardy git and plan on lifting heavy weights then be careful.

Also check if you are planning on getting one with integral spotter as several people have said to me that it can interfere if you are doing flys.
 
have a look round for ones made by marcy,one i have is strong
 
oneman said:
Also check if you are planning on getting one with integral spotter as several people have said to me that it can interfere if you are doing flys.
Click to expand...

Any idea what an integral spotter looks like? lol
in descriptions at places like argos and such, doesnt mention it at all.
 
elniro said:
Any idea what an integral spotter looks like? lol
in descriptions at places like argos and such, doesnt mention it at all.
Click to expand...

Probably rails, pegs or catchers of some sort at the sides to stop the bar going on your neck.
 
elniro said:
Any idea what an integral spotter looks like? lol
in descriptions at places like argos and such, doesnt mention it at all.
Click to expand...

Like the one in the pic. Spotter posts basically hold the bars while you lay underneath. You can then lift the bar off the posts and do your bench presses.

If the upright posts are at shoulder or potentially head level then if you are doing flys with dumbbells then they could potentially get in the way. I can see the one in the pic, the posts come off the upright so you may be OK.

On some benches, the bottom support also flips to upright postition if you want to do preacher curls.

I also noticed max weight is 110kg which would include any weights you are using so you might find limiting.

Best thing is go and try a few.
 
thanks guys, i've decided to go with:

V-Fit STB/09-4 Folding Weight Training Bench

Amazon sell it also but it says 4-6 weeks delivery and that is too long just to save less then £20.

Anyway i've read some reviews on it and they seem generally good, and it comes with squat stand, lat bar and preacher curl pad so can do lot of stuff with it.
 
I know I'm probably too late on this but seriously - a 110Kg weight limit - are you kidding - assuming your a bit on the light side and only weigh 60Kg that only gives you a max press of 50Kg before you run out of safe capacity - thats not even a BW press before you need a new bench!!

And if thats the loading on the most solid part of the bench how stable do you think the lat tower is going to be?
 
I thought about that, and now I think I might not have thought enough lol.

I am on the light side, but was not planning on putting on huge amounts of weight, and once I reach a weight im happy with I would just maintain it, and figured that this bench would last me a while and if I wanted to do more I would get a new one or just sign up to a gym.

If I can put on about 3 stone of mostly muscle while using it then it will be worthwhile imo.
 
a 50Kg benchpress isnt a lot (assuming your in the 60Kg weight bracket), you certainly will NEVER put on 3 stone of muscle if your bench doesnt go above 50Kg.

If your looking at a barbell bench I'd look at something a little more robust with a higher weight rating - such as the york b540 (tho try it first as some people have issues with the uprights re hand placement when lifting) @ aprox £140-150 it will take all the same sort of attachments as the other thing (tho doesnt come with them) and is rated to 250Kg - it's not perfect but it's a lot more solid than what you have been looking at.

Rather than a rather flimsy looking lat tower I'd suggest a door mounted chinning bar, much more solid (practically unbreakable), works more muscle, and just as good for the lats. You can also use them for hanging leg raises etc for the abs.

3 stone of muscle is going to take a fair bit of time, effort and weight lifted to achieve, with the best will in the world your probably talking a couple of years lifting heavy weights to put on that much muscle.

What you buy and how much you spend depends largely on your aims, if you want to put on large amounts of muscle fast then your probably just as well investing £200 in a power rack and £50-60 in a flat bench, and switching to a beginner strength based program first, there's little point in doing isolation exercises until you have the basic strength to move enough weight to make a difference.
 
edit - if moneys an issue and you have to have something now then look on gumtree/craigslist/ebay/local papers to find something cheap (try and get model numbers and look up specs before viewing/buying/bidding - 110Kg rating will probably hold you for a couple of months but not much more so why waste £100+ on something you will have to replace rapidly) until you can upgrade to something decent - what you buy should be determined by what you need to be safe, your aims and the space you have available rather than just money.
 
Not sure what the maximum weight is on that. It says user weight is 110kg but I am not sure it that includes weights or not. On mine I am pretty certain its includes weights. But it should be OK for a while.

As wonko says, 3 stone which is 20kg is a hell of a lot of lean muscle muscle. Don't know what size you are potentially looking at years of serious training.

Also if you are on newsgroups look for a book called "Maran Illustrated Weight Training". It around 330 pages and has lots of information about training safely, how to do your exercises, diet, training plans, etc.

I could send you a copy somehow, its 38MB in size.
 
I think i made mistake in the 3 stone estimation lol. I used to do martial arts and body training, and light free weights on and off for while, but i dont get anywhere apart from getting toned because of my indiscipline and not sticking to anything, i've decided to get more serious about putting on some weight hence why I bought a bench.

I've got a door frame chin up thing, but find it very difficult to do more than a few proper form reps, so the lat tower should help me with those muscles and then I can use the chin up bar properly.
 
Still could not see part day1 workout.

Fewer reps at high weight = more muscle. More reps at lower weight = lean muscle.

I would look at working up to 10-8-8 reps before moving up in weight so reduce weight till you can get 9 or 10 reps in.

Also do not sacrifice more weight if your technique goes out the window.
 
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