Okay Dip Bar

I bought this dip bar to go with my power block bench. The idea was to keep my home gym very simple and to make the smallest footprint possible. Two stage3 power blocks the power block stand the power block bench and the dip bar. This equipment has definitely given me a small footprint.



The power block dip bar attachment is just okay. It's not as stable as I would like. The dip bar attachment itself is VERY sturdy but it's got a lot of side to side play (not the dip bar but the bench.) You can still effectively do dips but when you start struggling the bench starts shaking. I prefer a SOLID platform when doing dips. Another problem is that my grips turn and try to work themselves off. I had to take them off and spray them with 3m upholstery glue so they would stick and stay stuck.



If this bar wasn't so convenient I'd give it a 2 for its stability. More detail ...

Ok for price if you're not too tall.

For the price this low-end home gym is generally able to do the things I wanted a cheap home gym to do. However there are a few issues you need to consider before buying it. The biggest issue is ergonometric - this unit is not designed to be used by anyone over perhaps 5'10" or 5'11". I'm 6'1" and this creates problems for me. I have to find work-arounds to use a unit designed for people smaller than me. The problem is that form is very important when doing the exercises (when you don't pay attention to form you either reduce the effectiveness of the exercise or risk injury) and finding work-arounds sometimes compromises your form during the exercise.

There are also a few quality issues but these were not entirely unexpected considering the price of the unit. It would have been nice if the bench padding were a little better but its adequate. The two most annoying quality issues involve the plate bars (the bars that hold the weights). This first issue was with the plate bar on the lat tower (cable) unit. It wasn't level. This means the weights keep trying to fall off one side as you put them on. The second issue is also with the plate bars. The unit is designed to accommodate standard plates (small holes in the middle) or Olympic plates (big holes in the middle). A "sleeve" is included with the unit that slips over the standard size plate bar that enables one to use Olympic plates (big holes). However the outer diameter of the sleeve is slightly smaller than standard Olympic size so an Olympic size spring collar (to hold the weights on the bar) is too big and doesn't work. I went down to Home Depot and bought wood clamps to hold the plates in place. Kind of a pain but functional (just another work-around). If you buy this unit you probably want to go with standard plates (small hole) rather than Olympic plates (big hole).

So I put this at 4 stars because for this price you really can't expect too much and it generally delivers what I expected a cheap home gym unit to do - with the one caveat: persons over 5'10" should try to find a home gym designed for taller people. Since only 5% of the US population is over 6 feet tall manufacturers tend to design for smaller people. If you're tall good luck on that search.

Follow-up note. At this time of the writing above this unit was sold by several vendors on Amazon so its worth comparing the pricing. When I say above that this unit is OK "for the price" means the price I paid for it not the price necessarily listed here now. At the current price (on 7/7/07) I would only list it as 2 stars but could not see how to change the star rating.More detail ...

For the price I'm very impressed

I've been working out with weights for 15 years but have been out of the game for the last several due to personal reasons. A few months ago I was told by my Dr. that I need to lose about 25 lbs. so I decided to get back in the game after a 2 year hiatus. However because of my very limited time and having 2 young children at home I did not want to go back to the gym at this time. I'm away from my kids enough during my work day so I decided to set myself up at home. The problem was as it is with most people I have very limited space and certainly don't have a large extra room I can dedicate as a home gym.



I bought this bench because the price was appealing and because I needed something that would fold up and take up less space since it's being stored in our bedroom. I was actually surprised at how sturdy it is for a folding bench. The bench is solid and folds up and stores very easily in a small corner of our bedroom. The mid width is perfect for my 6' bar. It will handle 6' and 7' bars but you won't be able to use it with a bar less than 6' long (the distance between the uprights is too wide for shorter bars). It's very stable and wide enough that you don't pinch your hands when re-racking the bar. It's not as heavy duty stable or wide as an olympic size bench but it's less than half the price of a good olympic width bench and takes up much less space as well. And there are no folding olympic width benches available that I know of (not to mention I don't have the room for a bench that wide). The uprights have a good range of adjustment heights and can be turned around to do squats. The adjustment pins seem a little thin to me but this isn't a gym quality olympic bench and it is not rated to hold a dumptruck like those benches.



On the down side (and the only minor reasons that I did not rate it a 5) the back rest pad is spaced a little far away from the seat pad making for an uncomfortable gap under your lower back when doing flat presses. It's not detrimental to the exercise as your lower back doesn't touch the pad when doing flat presses anyway you just need to make sure that you slide down far enough toward the leg developer so that your butt is fully supported by the lower pad. The backrest pad really could have been moved a little closer to the lower pad to close up this gap some and decrease the overhang of the pad at the top end (see comment about squatting). With inclined presses it's not an issue only when laying flat on your back. Also the top of the backrest pad extends a little to far past the uprights and is partially in the way when aproaching the uprights from the top end for doing squats. Ideally you should pivot the backrest up and out of the way to use the bench for squatting a minor inconvenience.



One other downside is that the owner's manual does not tell you what the weight capacities of the bench are. This information is not posted on any web sites I visited when shopping for a bench either so I had to contact the manufacturer to get this information. Incidentally the maximum weight for the uprights is 300 lb. and the maximum weight for the leg developer is 100 lb. I think the weight capacity for the leg developer is a little low but when using the heavier weights one could always do one leg at a time effectively doubling the weight capacity per leg. I think this is a minor compromise considering the low cost of the bench.



Assembly was very easy and took only about 45 minutes. They even give you the tools you will need to assemble the bench. The assembly instructions were pretty good with only 1 or 2 minor discrepancies that anyone with any type of common sense could figure out. Bolt holes all lined up the finish is very good and there are not a lot of parts to get lost.



Overall I would rate this bench as an excellent buy. For people looking for a good quality stable bench for the home that does not cost a lot takes up little space when stored and can handle a full 300 lb. load this bench fits the bill very well. Of course if you are a serious bodybuilder who needs to squat 500 lb. you will need to look at full sized olympic benches and cages but you should already know that. This bench was not designed to do the work and hold the weight of a full cage but it doesn't take up the whole room either. This bench was designed for the average person looking to get/stay in shape at home and it meets that goal very well. The average person working out at home typically won't need to load more than 300 lb. on the uprights.



I would not hesitate to buy this bench again.More detail ...