Weight Benches

How To Choose The Best Weight Bench

For free weights addicts, there is nothing better than being able to do your weight bench exercises in the privacy of your own home, never having to take turns and stepping straight into your own shower afterwards. Here are some pointers to make sure you buy the right sort of weight bench for your purposes.

Essential weight bench features

Some features are non negotiable. Your weight bench must

* Allow your feet to be flat on the floor while sitting on it in standard condition.
* Have adequate padding, or you’ll injure yourself
* Has a range of hooks to hang your weights on. Often you’ll want to train to the point of failure, and if you don’t have a low hook to hang your bar on, the bench won’t be safe.
* Can accommodate your widest hand position when racking and unracking your weights
* Solid construction. Check out the welds, and the look of the metal to try to determine quality.

Desirable weight bench features

If you want to get a bit more variety and flexibility from your weight bench, look for features like

* Being able to lay flat, or at an incline
* Easy to add hamstring/quads equipment. You don’t want to forget your poor old lower body!
* Easy to pack up when not in use. If you don’t have a dedicated area, you may be able to get just as much function out of a weight bench that can fold up or be packed away.