The Official Adjustable/Flat Bench Thread

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Rich and C123C Thanks fellas! I can never see myself, nor anyone outgrowing this bench...It's just on a whole other level of indestructible! While I never tried the 14" pad, I just couldn't see it making all that much difference for me when 12" is super comfortable and supportive enough to me and it's night and day difference compared to the 10 1/4" pad which I almost feel forces one to pick a side (Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit lol) but 12" evens things out support wise. Now for dumbbells that's where I think the Legend 3-Way will shine the most these days and that's just the station where it will go.

[urbanlifter]

The award for most obnoxiously overbuilt flat bench goes to........DVO!

(in a good way)

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Urban, Semi-trucks be damned! LOL.

[jormone]

Nice bench! Frame is so thick it makes the pad look thin. Need a fat pad on there. (not really)

[urbanlifter]

Urban, Semi-trucks be damned! LOL.

Well it looks awesome man, congrats! Anything that makes the 3103's frame look that small is seriously impressive, dwarfing a Legend is hard thing to do considering...

[gym62richard]

Well it looks awesome man, congrats! Anything that makes the 3103's frame look that small is seriously impressive, dwarfing a Legend is hard thing to do considering...

Yes, awesome is the right word, lol, I'm still trying to get my head around the sheer immensity of that 4"x4" frame, I just love overbuilt equipment.

[Cleveland33]

What's it weigh?

[Deep-Voiced-One]

According to freight 125 lbs, that was with the pallet attached to it, so I'm assuming around 100 lbs, or more.

[weisgarb]

Very impressive, but I still think you should have teamed up with this guy to build your ultimate bench.

[Cleveland33]

75lbs? I would have guessed that was over 100

I'll have to weigh the Bodymasters when I get home, just for a comparison

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Cleveland, I fixed the typo above in the previous comment (Stephen mentioned approximately 75 lbs before to me, but I think he meant 75 lbs heavier in 4X4 7 gauge for the flat bench compared to 3X3 11 gauge). As for my thinking it was lighter, it must've been placebo effect after that conversation lol, but yes it is indeed over 100 lbs and easily weighs more than the Legend 3103 (I went back out and confirmed it).

[1651Naismith]

Late to the party...nicely done! Will have to put that on my list for “one day”.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

After messing around with the bench even more, I absolutely love it! Strength Inc's benches are as much a work of art as they are indestructible and the padding is extremely comfortable. Although I've stated the specs previously, I'll post some pics of the measurements just to assure their accuracy for the records and for the gear hounds.

[weisgarb]

Did you make any special requests for the construction of the pad aside from the width, or did you just have Steve provide his typical pad (did you request a certain thickness, type of foam, etc.)? How firm is the padding relative to other pads you've used in the past? And I like the two-tone design of the pad. I think solid royal blue might be a bit much for my tastes, but the black sides adds a nice contrast and makes it pop.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Weisgarb, I was a bit curious of the extra firm option that was originally up on his site and on his pricing quotes page sent out to me and asked him about it and what it would cost and here's what Steve said...

"I only have one type of foam. It is firm
but not hard. It is Omalon, a special foam from Carpenter Co. Getting
hard to find as it will not take a compression set and is a 5lb density.
Soft initial but firm upon compression but not hard.
I do not use the Carpet foam (chunks of foam glued together) that the
majority of manufactures use."

So with that info (since it seems he goes with the standard density foam only these days), I went with that padding.

It's about 2 3/4" thick and compared to my Legend's 3" durafirm padding it is definitely softer, very comfortable pressing from it too with decent rebound and grips as well as any standard vinyl would (Hahaha I could probably sleep on it between sets).

I feel the Legend has the perfect firmness to semi-soft ratio and rebound to it in comparison, the only other bench that I remember recently trying (Since I've only really lifted in my home gym) was when I was in a local gym with a friend of mine as a guest and there was a dedicated bench press (I think it was an old Body Masters) which was extremely firm padding with no give to it at all.

I was close to trying a Rogue and Elitefts bench, but never got the chance so I can't fairly compare those...but what I can say is that to the people who appreciate a firmer pad, they might shy away from the softer padding on the Strength Inc. and perhaps the Legend pads, to me though I like the perfect balance between the densities and the Legend hits that greatly for me, while the Strength Inc. is really growing on me as well (I like the ease and support it gives my lats and shoulders along with its 12" width pad).

On a side note to anyone interested in Steve's bench builds (if not interested in his style of pads), you can always have him build the frame and match the bracket pattern to a separate pad you might want to put on there.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

A bit off topic, but the seated mid leverage row is next on my radar and I'm thinking of getting the 4X4 steel for that build possibly after seeing how impressive it is in person with the bench.

I'm either gonna go with Steve at Strength Inc. again (since I was completely satisfied with his work on the piece), or I might go with Zack over at State Of The Arc Welding.

It's awesome to see that we got a quality fabricator neighboring in the East coast as well that does big build projects too (SOA Welding in NY) which drops the freight price down a bit and the guy does optional stenciling on your build free of charge to personalize it!

I gotta think about it cause it's a bit more expensive going through Strength Inc. from my location (although totally worth it in my opinion) and he is including some minor add-ons I potentially requested for free of charge to make up for the higher freight charge.

As for SOA Welding, the pricing is a bit less than Strength Inc. (due to the location), but might be a bit more expense for a few minor add-ons (but probably not by much and still lower in total).

Whichever fabricator I end up choosing, be prepared for quite a unique color combination and perhaps steel style build that I have in mind!

[McBrody]

Impressive bench DVO. You should of gotten it with a green pad and a green frame, you could've called it The Incredible HULK!

For future reference, do you know if Steve would custom build an adjustable bench 15" high. I'm thinking if at some point in the future I get more space in my gym.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

McBrody, A green Hulk one would've been epic! (Especially in 4X4 7 gauge). I was thinking of a black frame with red pad aside from my chosen color combo, but I wanted to somewhat match my power rack area and pay a bit of homage to my old Pontiac Grand Prix's body color.

I'm sure Steve would do a low profile adjustable bench like that, in fact he actually has an adjustable bench build on his site that looks pretty low to the ground. Definitely send him an e-mail, or give him a buzz and mention it to him and don't forget to go 4X4 7 gauge if you go that route!

Just a side note, if Steve doesn't have a particular vinyl color in stock there is a small fee to stock it (he always has black vinyl on the house since most commonly order that color and if he has any left over special ordered various colors of vinyl in stock there's no extra charge, so it's worth asking what colors he has in stock).

I actually picked a different shade of blue out of the previously special ordered in stock vinyl he had that he sent samples of because originally I wanted the royal blue, but it wasn't in stock, so instead of paying extra I figured I'd go with a different shade of blue that I still would like out of the choices available, but when the upholster put the other blue on the pad it had some imperfections and Steve took it upon himself to order enough of the royal blue I had wanted for free and sent the pad back out to get it upholstered with the royal blue (I think the re-stocking price with freight would've been $25 more) so it was nice of him when he made things right and also covered the charge.

[nnclark11]

Great looking benches on here. As many of you I have been through a bunch of FID benches. These are my favorite benches that I currently have.
Hammer FWADJ- I have two of these. My favorite because of lumbar support, ability to go decline all the way to incline and the foot rest.
Hammer seated tricep-Best seated tricep/shoulder bench I have ever used; lumbar support and foot rest.
Bodymasters fully adjustable decline to incline bench with lumbar support. A beast of a bench.
Atlantis B-176 standing adjustable bench. Every gym should have a standing bench
Watson adjustable Pakulski bench-great bench that allows shoulders to freely move. Would be perfect if had a foot plate.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

nnclark11, that's an nice collection of benches and the narrowed tapered one is a unique idea...I bet it's great for rear delt raises and flys as well as chest flys.

[Asjogren]

Discuss all about your adjustable and flat benches here...

Wider bench and seat pads, or narrower? Pop pin, or ladder style design? Adjustable FI, FID, or just plain flat bench? Competition specs, or doesnt matter to you? 2x3, 3x3, or beyond? 11ga, or 7ga? Cheap, or expensive?

Post pics of your adjustable or flat benches and compare them with others, discuss features, specs, reviews, pros, cons, what you would keep and/or change on the brand bench you went with and everything else, you can also add a future bench that you potentially might want as well and make suggestions...but under no circumstance: NO DEDICATED BENCH PRESSES, LEVERAGE BENCHES, OR COMPETITION BENCH PRESSES ALLOWED IN THIS THREAD!

INDEPENDENT ADJUSTABLE AND/OR FLAT BENCHES ONLY!!!

So lets get started...

Here are my two benches. Both off Craigslist.

Older Lifefitness which is now only sold as a Hammer Strength version. Long back pad( can be used as a flat bench) , 17.5 “ pad height,about 10” wide pads( wish they were a little wider). Weight about 125 lbs

Hammer Strength bench that came with my half rack. Locks into the rack and slides on linear bearings. It’s a beast at 135 lbs . Just over 18” high. I think pads are 11” wide

[sm1ke]

Here are my two benches. Both off Craigslist.

Older Lifefitness which is now only sold as a Hammer Strength version. Long back pad( can be used as a flat bench) , 17.5 “ pad height,about 10” wide pads( wish they were a little wider). Weight about 125 lbs

Hammer Strength bench that came with my half rack. Locks into the rack and slides on linear bearings. It’s a beast at 135 lbs . Just over 18” high. I think pads are 11” wide

What a beauty..

[Asjogren]

What a beauty..

Thanks.. great bench.. came out of Pilates studio in brand new condition. Built in 2003. The welds and the thickness of the steel are incredible. I paid $325 and I don’t think I would ever sell it. It is very stable

[Nebamartinez]

DVO

Congrats on your bench! Looks sweeeet 😎

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Neba, thanks bro and thanks for showing me his work...I sense the seated leverage row around the corner soon!

[Nebamartinez]

The seated row is sweet. Lately, I’ve been using the seated row or seated cable rows on days I’m resting my low back but still trying to hit lats... On deadlift day I’m doing pronated bent-over barbell rows—which I believe assists the deadlift more.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Neba, good to hear that, I actually use my 45 degree hyper at the end of my routine, or on off days sometimes to pump some blood to and decompress my lower back and usually do those after various pull ups, or pulldowns and facepull accessory movements...I think this piece will be perfect to shuffle into my routine and attack the lats and perhaps the traps with too!

The freight went up significantly from Idaho to Connecticut just recently, so I'm gonna try a fabricator from New York for the piece...He also builds this awesome belt squat machine with a lat pulldown and seated row feature and the seat can be removed when in use for belt squats, I've kinda been eyeing that too, but can only pick one machine and I'll see how the pricing quote looks (The freight seems to be cheaper, likely due to the location of being in the East coast like me).

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Massive thread revival bump!!! I was looking back at this thread and figured I'd see if anyone had any new adjustable and/or flat bench pics to post and discuss in here.

[ampire]

I see you bumped this, might be the place to ask. I have a loose tnut in my bench's lumbar pad. The bench has 4 bolts to hold the lumbar pad and that same series of bolts also holds the hinge mechanism. 3 of the 4 are screwed in and the 4th isn't. I have a replacement 4th bolt but it does not thread into anything, it feels like the tnut on the inside migrated or the plywood splintered around it. I can feel the edge of the tnut if I push hard into the cushion. The vinyl is still perfect but I'd imagine I'd have to take it apart and redo the plywood and the tnut. I think I could keep the vinyl and the padding inside.

For those that have done their own pads, are there better alternatives to Tnuts that I could use to avoid this happening in the future?

tnutlumbarpad.jpg

[Deep-Voiced-One]

I have a bit of a strange aesthetic and durability question about a bench, I noticed on both my custom bench from Strength Equipment Inc. and my Legend 3-Way bench that the upholstery jobs on both cover up the staples on the bottom of the bench pads and seat pads with the vinyl wrapping around them snug.

I was studying a Rogue bench and noticed the staples on the back pad are exposed, has anyone had/noticed any issues with this style of upholstery job in an outside garage with different elements (example rusting/corroding, or loosening of exposed staples from the vinyl). Here's an example pic of what I'm referring to...

http://imgur.com/a/whLIEwm

I doubt there's any issue with this style and maybe I'm over thinking it, but figured I'd ask.