Stamina Ab / Hyper Bench

Delivery: the item arrived promptly and was well packaged; there was no damage.

Assembly: uncomplicated and took under 30 minutes; instructions were straightforward; the bench can be easily folded and stored away.

Country of origin: China.

Construction: the steel frame is fairly light, but sturdy; no rickety parts; every single joint is thoroughly welded; the bench does not rock or tip during exercise; paint job is A+; padding is a little on a flimsy side and I do not expect it to last as long as my previous bench; the manufacturer specifies 250 lbs as a user weight limit.

Dimensions: the seat is only 28.5 inches long, so decide for yourself whether this is adequate for you; I would estimate that anyone over 6 ft tall will have difficulty using this product for sit-ups.

The vertical component of the bench (tilted 40 degrees and used for back hyperextension exercises) has adjustable height and will accommodate just about any sized human (but do not forget the 250 lbs weight limit); it does excellent job isolating the lower back muscles.

Overall appearance: it looks like a quality product overall, from stitching to glossy finish; the design is certainly compact and clever for what this bench does.

Price: $100 for a bench like this, including delivery, is a good value.

Rating: 4 stars; there are nicer products out there, but they are all bulkier and more expensive.

If you suffer from lower back pain, this is the machine you''ve been waiting for. Before thee Ab/Hyper Bench came along, you had to use a roman chair in order to work your lower back. But roman chairs aren''t made for home use because they''re too bulky considering that they really aren''t good for much else but that one exercise (unless you''re a pro bodybuilder). Personally, I find it difficult to climb into position on a roman chair, even at the gym.

The Ab/Hyper Bench, however, is easy to use and has several purposes. Back raises, crunches, curls, leg lifts, and you could even use it as your bench press. This unit is not built like one of those crappy informercial workout widgets. This is heavy gauge steel that was built to last. The padding is pretty durable too, and the moving parts feel solid and move smoothly.

The only draw back I can see is that people (particularly men) with short legs may have trouble leaning over against the flat pad. I have a 28" inseam and when I lean over the hip/knee pad... well, let''s just say that it''s a little close for comfort. And that''s at the lowest setting. Aside from that one detail, I''ve got no complaints. Invest in one of these to strengthen your lumbar region. Between sets, walk around to the other side to do some incline sit-ups or dumbbell presses. Cheers.

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As I said in my title for this review, this device is short on quality but long on compromise. You will find better ab benches. And you will find better hyper benches. If you''ve got the space, I would definitely NOT recommend this product. However, if you''re looking for a cost effective, space saving compromise, this should work for many though, even here, not all. I wanted something that did as many things as possible and took up as little space as possible. I figured that, for $ bucks, even if it broke, it would probably take a few months before it did (ie more than enough time to justify buying it when compared to a nearby gym which cost me about $80 a month...). Things have worked out ok nothing special, but ok. However, if you are short, or have short legs, I would NOT buy this product, as the situp engineering seems designed for very tall people (if you look through the other reviews, others go into more detail on this...). Bottom line: it''s a $ bucks. It works like they say it does though, maybe not for everyone. One final thing: for some unknown reason, they engineered it for 2 pins at the big "V" joint (I don''t know what else to call it). I strongly recommend putting a bolt right alongside the other bolt in lieu of the pull-out/pop-in pin. There will never be a time when you will need to use the pin, but there will be many times where the pin will slowly work its way out. This is what happened with my device. As I had no idea that the pin was working loose, I kept working out on it until the pin slipped out and the device began splitting apart. The metal bent and I had to take it apart and hammer the metal back into shape again. Then I put in a bolt. Since then, there have been no problems.

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I was very pleased with this purchase. It was for my guy, for Christmas. He''d been looking for an inverted bench, but put off the purchase until after the holidays. His 5-year-old daughter helped me with assembly. It did take a couple of tries on getting the foot plates and the actual bench in the right orientation, but all in all it was very simple to assemble. It is heavier (read: sturdier) than I expected it to be, so I was quite pleased about that! If any complaints at all, I do not like the lack of padding on the bar behind the knees if you are on the incline bench. The ankle bar padding is great, but additional padding on the knee bar would be more comfortable with extended repetitions. It would be simple to add more padding or a towel, if it is too hard on the back of your knees.

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I ordered this bench a few weeks ago received it about a week ago, set up was a snap and its surprisingly sturdy, all steel boxed frame made of 2 inch square tubing wielded joints and 5/16 bolted connections really solid. for a 250 lbs guy it supports me plus 120 pound of weight. (i use it to do my free weight exercises as well.) the varying bench positions work out well for changing the intensity of your work out which is just what i was looking for.

OK, now for the bad

overall the bench is 6 to 8 inches too short. yep too short. it may work for a person that''s between 5''4" and 5''8" but if your like me 6ft your head and butt will be hanging off the edge. but all is not lost.

depending on how mechanical you are its a quick fix that should coast you around $20 in materials and an hour in time. go to you local hardware store pick up a 1/2 or 3/4 inch sheet of ply wood or MDF which ever easier to find it should measure 3feet x 9 or 10 inches. (my hardware store actually had 4ft by 10in pieces already pre-cut) price $5 and a staple gun if you don''t already have one $10

head to you local fabric store (luckily mine is only 3 blocks from my home) pick up a half to 1 yard of black vinyl $3 and yard of 1 inch foam padding $4.

cut wood to 3feet long width should already be 10 inches tack on your foam with a few staples or if you have it spray adhesive and wrap with vinyl (take time on the corners for a good finish)

use the same mounting point as the original just unscrew line up the top edge and center. using 1in to 1 1/4 screws secure and there you have it

sounds hard but really easy the whole project including going to buy the material took me about 2.5 3 hours