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HomeApparel & FootwearWomenBowflex SelectTech Adjustable Bench Series 3.1 |
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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review:
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 So simple but so efffective! Aug 30, 2010
After struggling with an old Weider Olympic style bench, I decided to start looking for something I could use to supplement it since it has a lat tower and some other nice features but was absolutely miserable and dangerous to do free weights with. I wanted something fairly affordable but was willing to pay more for quality and function if I had to. I was extremely pleased to find this bench at this price point.
This is a very simple bench but extremely effective. You can switch the incline/decline positions on it with one hand in a couple seconds in between exercises without even having to set down your weights. This was something that was unheard of on my old Weider bench that used a pin. This allows me to keep my heart rate up during circuits as I am not stopping to mess with the incline of the bench. As far as looks, this thing is sleek. It's extremely stable and sturdy. The rollers on the end are nice as there have been times when I needed to roll it out of the way (not due to size just altering my exercise room layout).
The bench is long so that means my 6ft 1" husband can use this comfortably as well, and the length poses no problems for me being shorter. I find the incline position to be perfect for my free weight exercises and the 90 degree is nice for doing presses if you are looking for back support. The leg holder comes off easily with a pin. The bench is wide but not so wide that it effects my incline fly exercises or others where my arms go out to the side (being a woman I wondered beforehand if this would be a problem, but it is not).
The only complaint I could possibly come up with for this bench is the padding and exterior covering of the bench, and this is a stretch because it poses no problems right now. Compared to my old Weider bench, the cover on this is not as durable/tough and the padding is very soft on this (meaning it squishes down very easily). If they were going to improve this, that would be the only area I could suggest.
I love this bench. Every time I use it, I tell my husband how much I enjoy having it. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a good bench to do free weights with.
 Strong Bench, Just off on Design Though Aug 16, 2010
I was a little skeptical about the Bowflex SelectTech Ajustable Bench when doing research. While I liked the cost and seemed to have everything I wanted, I've also seen some how some of Bowflex's other products tend to be made with poorer materials and don't withstand the test of time. Nonetheless, after reading through many reviews and deciding I didn't want to spend more than this, I went with it.
The bench is surprisingly sturdy. They state that it can handle a person up to 300 pounds and I believe it. I never felt like the bench was being compromised and was completely comfortable on it. The padding is sufficient and it is quite wide which allows more of your body to be supported on it. The incline and decline work just fine and the removeable leg piece is a nice addition.
However, there are a few small issues. The first I found is the gap in between the seat portion and the back portion. It's simply too big. I'm 6 feet tall and it can be a bit uncomfortable, although not something that prevents you from doing it. The design is also quite wide at the bottom which does give you more support, but tends to put you at an awkward position that you might not be used to if you've used more generic benches.
Finally, and this may just be me, but I didn't like the installation. It was easily mapped out, but for whatever reason the holes on the board didn't match up real well with the bars. It really took some effort to hold it in place and screw it in. Maybe I just got a board that had holes at a bad angle as I haven't seen many others mention this. I'd also mention that there are two round plastic pieces that attach to the ends of the incline bar. These pieces fall off a lot and you'll have to resort to supergluing them on. I know this seems minor and it is in the grand scheme of things, but I just found some of it sloppy on their part.
Overall though, it's a solid bench at an affordable price. You'll have a tough time finding an incline bench that can match the price and durability. However, if you do have more in your budget for a bench, you may want to look at putting an extra $100 and going with one of the more higher end pieces of equipment that's available.
A must for anyone who works out at home! May 18, 2010
Received product quickly and in great condition, very sturdy and comfortable great quality bench. You can do just about any work out on it from bench press, incline press, decline press, sit ups, military press... to much to name.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Almost the perfect at home bench May 10, 2010
For someone with a limited amount of space that's trying to avoid monthly gym membership fees a good weight bench is key and overall the SelectTech 3.1 is a great bench. It's very sturdy and when assembled properly I've never encountered a time when it felt unsturdy. The detachable leg bar is a great addition as well. Also, at the price you'd be hard pressed to find a better bench for the money. All that being said, the SelectTech 3.1 bench has just a few small things that keep it from being perfect.
The first of my issues with the 3.1 may or may not be a personal preference, but I feel that the incline position needs a little work. For incline dumbbell presses the incline position feels as though it's a little bit too high to get the exercise just right. it feels as though the bench is at about 40-45 degrees in the incline position which seems to put a bit too much focus on the shoulders rather than the chest for incline press, also it would be nice if the seat would move up at an angle to enable the lifter to have the seat and back portion of the bench at a 90 degree angle as it is at the gym. The leg bar does a decent job at holding the lifter in place, but there are times when I feel like I'm sliding out off the bench when doing incline lifts and an adjustable seat would fix this perfectly, perhaps this is one of the reasons Bowflex offers the Bowflex SelectTech Adjustable Bench Series 5.1 which I might have considered buying had I have known the incline issue that I'd have.
My second issue was actually fixable with a little ingenuity. The bar that holds the seatback in place has two plastic caps on it presumably so that the seat doesn't clang loudly when the position is changed. The caps are actually a little too big for the metal cylinder that they are on. Initially these plastic caps fell off regularly which became frustrating when I had to stop my workout to put them back on. I gave it some thought and eventually I put some velcro tape (the fuzzy part) around the metal cylinders to make the plastic caps fit tighter and ever since then I haven't had a problem.
Overall, definitely a great at home bench, but if you're picky on your incline like I am you may want to take a look at the 5.1.
Great for home workouts Apr 05, 2010
If you have some weights and need a bench this is a good choice. It's easy to put together and still looks new after over a year of very regular use. It's pretty light and has a positive, neutral, and negative incline. No cons that I can think of.
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