Building home gym, need bench for powerlifting

[Aly157]

Hello friends, Vancouver Canada here.

I now have a rack, the fitness reality 810 which I snagged from Walmart.ca for 550.

I now need a good bench for powerlifting. It would be preferable to do incline, but I guess I could use blocks?

Fitness Reality 2000 XL is on amazon for 290 CAD.

This bench seems well made and versatile, but some people say the foot bar gets in the way of the feet during bench press. What do you think?

The benches in my local fitness stores are total trash for 350$.

Also, I have these J hooks that come stock with my 2x2 inch rack that are not well made and am looking to replace them or cover them in uhmw tape.

Any advice appreciated. Cheers

[Skidmarx]

Vancouver is a big city. I'd look on the used market for a commercial bench. The prices on used equipment is coming back to reasonable.

[RestoringTally]

I now need a good bench for powerlifting. It would be preferable to do incline, but I guess I could use blocks?

Fitness Reality 2000 XL is on amazon for 290 CAD.

This bench seems well made and versatile, but some people say the foot bar gets in the way of the feet during bench press. What do you think?

The benches in my local fitness stores are total trash for 350$.

Also, I have these J hooks that come stock with my 2x2 inch rack that are not well made and am looking to replace them or cover them in uhmw tape.

Don't use blocks to raise a flat bench. Too unstable and likely to result in bad outcomes.

That Fitness Reality 2000 XL is a lightweight, consumer quality bench. I would buy that if all you plan on doing is DB work. I wouldn't bench on it. A good rule of thumb is that if the bench does not need wheels to move it around, it is too lightweight for long-term use.

Check your local used market. I bought all my equipment used and paid much less than the lower quality big store offerings. I would opt for a good adjustable bench that is commercial grade. Even with the high Covid prices, I would opt for a used commercial bench over a new consumer quality bench.

As for the J-hooks, if your rack came with the round pin-hooks, you can buy plastic tubing that fits over the pin portion to protect your bar. You can slit the tubing lengthwise to fit over the pin portion. My rack has that type of bar pins and the tubing works well.

If you have a good quality bar and are lifting way more than 200 lbs, you can buy new J-Hooks.

[BenMcLeodNZ]

Vancouver is a big city. I'd look on the used market for a commercial bench. The prices on used equipment is coming back to reasonable.

This is the way, it saves crying when it already comes pre-scuffed too.