Introduction

Generally speaking, weight benches are divided into adjustable workout benches, inclined workout benches and flat workout benches.  Each type has its own particular area of expertise where it is better than the other two.  We also recommend a few of the best weight benches available for each type (inclined / adjustable / flat).

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Adjustable Workout Benches

An adjustable workout bench is essentially the “Jack of all Trades” bench.  As the name implies, it is a bench that does not have a static composition, but rather it is a bench that can be customized in order to suit whatever needs you have at the time.  As an illustration of this, adjustable workout benches can go from flat benches to inclined benches in many cases because of this intent.

The advantage here is an obvious one.  With adjustability, you can actually just change the bench to suit whatever your need is at the time and that in turn gives you a high level of convenience.  However, for the same price, this convenience comes with a loss of some functionality since unless you are willing to pay more, you’ll end up with something that is partially a flat bench and partially an inclined bench.

An interesting example of the adjustable bench is the Competitor Weight Bench .  This bench can go between an inclined and a flat orientation and it can even be adjusted to better accommodate your height, weight or the exercise that you are specifically interested in doing.’

The EF Products AB Bench EF-7608 product shows that adjustable benches can specialize under certain circumstances.  This bench is intended specifically for abdominal exercises and comes with a lifetime warranty so that you have no excuse not to use it.  You can do other exercises on it, but working your core ab muscles is really what this product is all about.

One of the most notable brand names for adjustable benches is Bowflex and their SelectTech Adjustable Bench Series 3.1 product will give you everything that the first product can with a little less durability and a significantly cheaper cost.

Inclined Workout Benches

Inclined workout benches are there to help you add variability in your workout.  On an inclined bench, there is an extended portion that is where your back rests and then there is a seat for your posterior.  This has the effect of changing the orientation and position of your body from the traditional position of lying down flat on your back.  The end result is that you can exercise different muscle groups in ways that are different from what a flat workout bench could provide.

Inclined workout benches are typically used for exercises that are intermediate in nature.  The incline means a less relaxed position relative to a flat bench and it also means that your back muscles are freer to help support exercises in your upper arms, your lateral muscles and your abdominal core.  Of course, if you were to purchase an adjustable bench, you could change between an inclined workout bench and a flat one as the need arose.

The Best Fitness BFFID10 Bench is a relatively cheap inclined workout bench that you can use to exercise all of the muscle groups in your body.  Compare this to the first item discussed in the next section and you’ll really see the flexibility of exercise case in point.

An alternative is the Body Solid Incline Bench .  This is a much simpler product that is made more expensive because of the fact that it actually adjusts back and forth between being flat and inclined depending on your needs.  That being said, the creators consider it an inclined bench first and an adjustable one second.

Rounding out the top three in the area of inclined benches is the PowerBlock Sport Bench , an exercise utility that allows you to perform all of the same exercises that you could do with the Best Fitness product.  However, this one gives you more durability for a larger price and that is something that might appeal to some people.

Flat Workout Bench

The flat workout bench was the first bench to be mass produced for the marketplace.  It is a bench that is basically an inclined bench that is parallel to the ground and contains no resting area for your posterior.  The end result is that you need to lie down on your back in order to exercise with this particular bench in most cases, although you can still sit on it to do curls if you want to.

A lot of the classical exercises for chest and abdominal muscles (i.e. chest crossovers, sit-ups, abdominal curls, etc.) are exercises that are performed from a lying down position.  Therefore, flat benches can be used by beginners and intermediates alike in order to get the most out of their exercise routines.  The force of gravity coming directly down on top of you also adds something extra to the weight resistance since it is constant throughout the exercise motion.  If you were standing up and doing bicep curls, you are going fully against gravity in one direction and fully with it in the other.  Doing crossovers on your back however distributes it evenly across the entire motion and therefore is a bit more technically sound.

A really great example of a flat workout bench is the Apex JD2.2 Flat Bench .  This bench, which currently retails for around $60, also illustrates another advantage of the flat bench and that is affordability.  The sturdy frame of this bench showcases a product that will last you a very long time, but also won’t put a huge dent in your pocketbook.

This is something that is also true for the Amber Sporting Goods Flat Bench , although this product is a little pricier than its counterpart from Apex.  The design is streamlined and the overall bench not only looks a lot better, but is easier to store.  This is where the extra cost hike comes from because the two benches are identical in terms of their fitness functionality.

Flat workout benches also have their high-end models as the Body-Solid SFB349G Olympic Flat Bench shows.  This bench is a flat bench, but it has a number of added features that you can use for more advanced workouts.  It is sturdier and will last you a lot longer, but it also costs an order of magnitude more than either of the previous two models.

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