The Fitness Gear Standard Weight Bench is a popular weight bench for people on a budget and/or just starting out on their fitness journey. While you can’t count on getting the level of quality or performance that you would get with Rogue’s gym equipment, it’s a good place to start and a decent option if you need a home gym.
And really, that’s all that matters.
Your body is your best tool which makes physical fitness a key part of your LoadOut. While it can be hard to get started on exercising, you’ll have a harder time starting if you never get started. Waiting until you have enough money for fancy gear is a great way to make sure you never begin working out.
With that said, let’s have a look at the Fitness Gear Standard Weight Bench to see if it’s the right budget weight bench for you!
Is Fitness Gear a Reliable Brand?
It’s admittedly a little difficult to find where the Fitness Gear brand is headquartered and how long they’ve been around because of their rather generic brand name. If you look them up, you’re going to find two different Fitness Gears who both sell equipment but obviously have different brand logos, indicating that they’re not one single Fitness Gear.
So, let’s turn to the forums. Other exercise enthusiasts online have mentioned that Fitness Gear makes good and affordable equipment that won’t blow you away, but won’t blast a hole through your wallet either.
You can easily get a gear rack, bench, and weights for around $1,000 which isn’t that bad when compared to other brands’ prices. You may run into problems with some pieces of gear not being matched to standard sizes, as with their Olympic plates, but generally, you’ll be fine with the Fitness Gear Standard Weight Bench.
What to Look for In A Weight Bench
When buying a weight bench, you’re mainly looking for two things: Comfort and build quality. This piece of equipment is going to bear your weight and the weight of the weights you’re lifting. Because of this, you need to be sure that its frame can hold that much, well, weight. You want as much of your bench to be made of stainless steel or some other metal as possible to ensure its durability.
Of course, you also have to make sure that the bolts are good quality and the bench is assembled correctly.
With regards to comfort, your bench needs to be padded so your bones don’t dig into the metal frame. It also needs to fit your body perfectly, leaving few gaps and supporting your spine to the fullest.
You’ll also need to decide on whether you need a flat weight bench or an adjustable weight bench. Contrary to popular belief, the flat weight bench is also a piece of versatile exercise equipment and offers a bit more durability than the adjustable simply because it has fewer moving parts. Of course, though, the adjustable offers more comfort because you can move it to suit your posture better.
Is the Fitness Gear Standard Weight Bench Any Good?
Honestly, it’s not the best weight bench out there, but at its price point, you’re definitely getting your money’s worth.
The Fitness Gear Standard Weight Bench is a sturdily built weight bench that has everything you need to get started on weight training. It’s made of heavy-duty steel and has a solid frame so you can trust it to stay functional for years to come.
The backrest is padded with high-density foam so your back is never resting directly on the frame and your upper and lower back both get support as you lift. It doesn’t quite have the same spring to it compared to the backrests of higher-end weight benches which might be a sign that it’s more vulnerable to wear and tear.
That said, it’s nothing that a reupholstering couldn’t fix later on.
The Fitness Gear Standard Weight Bench comes with other features, namely the adjustable bar catches that let you switch between 5 different levels depending on what workout you’re doing.
While it’s made for residential use and is meant for casual users, the bench isn’t designed for small spaces. It is 62 inches in length, 32 inches in width, and 50.5 inches in height which is just a long way of saying you’re going to need a dedicated space for this in your home.
Final Thoughts on the Is the Fitness Gear Standard Weight Bench
With all that said, our final verdict is that the Fitness Gear Standard Weight Bench is a good weight bench if you’re just starting out and want to see if you can stick to a routine first before you commit to a gym membership or a full-fledged home gym. It’s also great for anyone who’s on a budget because, on a functional level, there really isn’t much of a difference between this one and the more expensive options you can find online.
If you’re interested the Fitness Gear Standard Weight Bench, you can get yours here.
