PowerBlock Sport Bench

I am certainly a Powerblock fan after I received my Classic 45lb powerblock dumbbells. So without hesitation I ordered the Powerblock Sportbench expecting the same high quality, attractive design, and durability the company has put into their dumbbells. Here is a list of Pros and Cons for people considering purchasing this adjustable bench and dip attachment. (I''m a very detailed person, as you can see)

Pros

1) The weight bench sustains up to 550lbs of weight. I had to call Powerblock to confirm this since it does not say otherwise.

2) Seat cushions are very comfortable and the leather seems like it will not easily crack or tear during the life of the bench.

3) Plenty of incline to flat choices.

4) Bottom seat adjusts down to support your body when doing upright and inclines.

5) Metal base is VERY strong, yet easily picked up to move without needing the extra handle and wheel kit ($60).

6) Adding the dip attachment is a nice feature, but there is a negative side to this in the con list. ($70)

7) Backrest is very wide and should support a wide range of body types.

8) Only assembly required is to attach the rear bottom support bar which will take you less than 5 minutes with a socket wrench.

Cons

1) The bottom portion of the seat has a slight wobble because the tilt feature is nothing more than a pin that slides back to lower the seat down.

2) The backrest does give a little left to right movement because of how the bar does not lock into place. Dont worry, because of the construction it would never pop out of place during workouts.

3) No decline option. I would never use it, but it was a little surprised for the price you did not have the option.

4) Dip attachment has more wobble than i would like. The dip attachment holds up to 250lb (Impressive), but it does have almost irritating wobble when using it. Although, it does force you to use more muscle to stabalize yourself. I would complain more, but I got the attachment for $15 on eBay!

5) Overall stability. This is the main reason why i did not give a perfect 5 stars. The bottom back bar is wide enough, but i just wish the front would have been the same width. I''m confident this will not affect your workout saftey, I just normally use the benches at the gym that are bolted to the floor and feel solid as a rock. Also, I''m using it on carpet and it would probably be better on harder floors.

Conclusion

This is an excellent quality bench for the price and the top notch brand name like Powerblock. I wanted to give this 5 stars (I love Powerblock), but i would have liked a little more stability with a wider front base. It is also notable that you can not have the bottom seat flat with the backrest in a complete 90 degree upright position. When you are upright the bottom seat still has to be at the tilted position. This is still very comfortable and probably safer, that is why this was not included into the cons list.

Final word: I do not regret this purchase, and I would probably order it again if given the change. Every bench in this price range will have a few little quirks, but I still wouldnt hesistate to recommend this bench to any of my friends!

UPDATE 4/15/09: I have moved the bench from carpet to hard laminate floor with a mat and the stabilty is a ton better! However, i have noticed when you have the bench in the flat position it is actualy slightly declined.

I am reviewing my PowerBlock sport adjustable bench. First let me say that the picture of the bench that amazon shows must be an older model. The frame on my bench is silver with the name PowerBlock stiched on the upper part of the bench pad also in silver. Let me also say that I am 39 years old and exercise and many gym memberships have been a part of my life since i was old enough to drive myself to the gym. I am pretty knowledgeable on exercise equiptment and the quality of it. Knowing that I could not affford to buy a new commercial grade adjustable weight bench I spent a lot of time researching the "for the home user" benches. I did a lot of reading online and also took the time to drive around to all of my local sporting goods stores and exercise equiptment stores, so i could get a hands on look at the benches i was interested in. Living near Chicago, I had plenty of stores to choose from. Some might think this was excessive, but knowing that there are some poor quality benches out there I couldn''t buy something without seeing it first.

I''ve had my Powerblock bench for about 2 months and couldn''t be any happier with it. I also bought the optional dip attachment that fits into the frame behind the seat back.

1. This is a sturdy solid bench, It is not flimsy and is very stable.

2. It does not decline, I did not want a bench that declined so this was not an issue. It has 3 incline positions, not including your 90 degree upright position. When in the flat position, the bench is flat and solid.

3. The padding is firm and supportive but not hard.

4. I really like the design of this bench. A lot of adjustable benches have a large annoying gap between the seat bottom and the seat back when the bench is in the flat position. This allows the two pieces to come together in the incline position. The Powerblock has solved this problem by instead of the seat bottom pivoting up to create your incline seat position. The Powerblock seat pivots down to create the incline seat position. This great feature of this design is that when the bench is in the flat position there is no gap between the seat back and seat bottom.

5. The bench has a set of wheels at the rear of the frame and a handle on the other end. Allowing you to easily roll the bench out of the way when not in use.

6. The dip attachment i find is a nice attachment and have no stability issues with it. I know some reviews were critical of the stability, and yes when you attach the dip station and put the bench in the incline position to use the dip station. It feels a little unstable until you put your weight on it and start doing dips.

7. For $200.00 I could not find a better adjustable bench period!

8. I didn''t buy mine through Amazon, I actually got it at a exercise equiptment store so i cannot comment on amazon and shipping but am posting my review here because i know a lot people will read amazon reviews when considering to buy an item.

Buy PowerBlock Sport Bench Now

The main reason I purchased this was because I purchased the Powerblock Sport adjustable dumbbells (5 90 lbs). The dumbbells are great, but the bench is only average. However, Amazon blew the local retailer prices away on this bench (plus free shipping to door).

I wish there was a better decline angle. I''m not sure if it is meant to decline, but you are able to decline the bench slightly at the very last position. However, there are no leg support attachments for this bench to properly hold you in place.

If I had a choice, I would not purchase this bench again. There are a lot of better choices in the $200 price range. However, Amazon does not ship the other benches to Hawaii so I would have to buy locally.

Read Best Reviews of PowerBlock Sport Bench Here

i looked at a lot of benches but the powerblock seemed to be the best for the price,it arrived in perfect conditio ,on time and assymbled in a few minutes.i am very pleased with this bench.

Want PowerBlock Sport Bench Discount?

For the most part this is a good bench.

PRO: Easy to adjust, low to the ground, and Comfortable.

Con: backrest is a little wobbly.