# Bench Press



## Aguz

Afternoon chaps, have just started to train and am eager to build my self a home gym. I'm currently looking for a solid bench, I've come across this fella on eBay, British Fitness, link to bench press,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HEAVY-DUTY-OLYMPIC-FID-FLAT-INCLINE-DECLINE-DUMBBELL-WEIGHT-BENCH-by-360MUSCLE-/160808199912?pt=UK_Strength_Training&var=&hash=item2570ea66e8

What do you guys reckon?

Any other suggestions or recommendations ?

Much appreciated.


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## Vinny

Hey mate,

I would say, it'll be worth looking into a power rack too if you're serious about your training. So you can safety do squats, bench press etc if you train at home alone.

And see if you can talk someone into a deal if you buy both together!

I brought a power rack, bench + barbell set from powerhouse and saved 170quid when i spoke to them about a deal.

Regards,

Vince



Aguz said:


> Afternoon chaps, have just started to train and am eager to build my self a home gym. I'm currently looking for a solid bench, I've come across this fella on eBay, British Fitness, link to bench press,
> 
> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HEAVY-DUTY-OLYMPIC-FID-FLAT-INCLINE-DECLINE-DUMBBELL-WEIGHT-BENCH-by-360MUSCLE-/160808199912?pt=UK_Strength_Training&var=&hash=item2570ea66e8
> 
> What do you guys reckon?
> 
> Any other suggestions or recommendations ?
> 
> Much appreciated.


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## Aguz

Thanks Vince, will definitely try to get a deal, however, Is a power rack necessary if you have a training partner?


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## Vinny

Oh no, I just thought as a home gym it would be just yourself.

If youve got a friend, thats perfect.

Personally I would still get one in your position for them days when you might not have your partner there if he cant make it, but maybe thats just me



Aguz said:


> Thanks Vince, will definitely try to get a deal, however, Is a power rack necessary if you have a training partner?


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## Aguz

Will definitely look into the power cage, will be training with my brother so until were not lifting really heavy I don't think I am need of one. What do you reckon of the bench press that Iv given the link to Vince?

Thanks


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## xpower

Aguz said:


> Thanks Vince, will definitely try to get a deal, however, Is a power rack necessary if you have a training partner?


 helps even with a training partner as they can still crush you under the bar when benching


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## saxondale

Aguz said:


> Will definitely look into the power cage, will be training with my brother so until were not lifting really heavy I don't think I am need of one. What do you reckon of the bench press that Iv given the link to Vince?
> 
> Thanks


the pictures and the text don`t match on nearly all his adverts.


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## Mingster

xpower said:


> helps even with a training partner as they can still crush you under the bar when benching


Never had a training partner that could save me with a failed squat tbf.

And you can't always guarantee that your training partner will be there every session. Or that he's paying attention. A rack is always there for you. The best investment you can make imo.


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## Aguz

Thanks chaps, looks like i will have to invest into a rack. Any recommendations?


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## ppiddy

Aguz said:


> Thanks chaps, looks like i will have to invest into a rack. Any recommendations?


I've just ordered the CF475 from Powerhouse which is much more than I need for my current strength levels but the 375 looks good too but just has a lower weight capacity. I saw some decent ones on eBay but was put off by distance and my laziness so bought new but there are some good deals on there.


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## kadafi39

Did they give you a date for delivery on the cf475? ordered and paid for mine over 5 weeks ago, they said it would be ready a couple of weeks ago, and when i ring noone knows whats going on or when it will be ready


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## ppiddy

They have said it will be delivered on Tuesday with the pulley bar to follow on the 5th June. Received a separate order from them today and from Fitness Superstore so really hope Si have no delays next week. Treadmill coming on Friday so ready to go!

Bit worried that you have been waiting so long. Woman on the phone confirmed def will be delivered and no stock issues.


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## kadafi39

Any luck with the delivery of the rack? Still haven't received mine, 3 weeks overdue now, getting abit ****ed off!


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## ppiddy

Due tomorrow. Phoned Friday to check as I thought it was today. Not had a shipment email yet so waiting on this as have a feeling I won't get either if you are still waiting.


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## kadafi39

You might actually get yours though as it seems you ordered directly from them, I ordered from one of their franchise branches as they offered me a better price. Just got off the phone with the headoffice and complained that I had been waiting for weeks and had paid almost 2 months ago and I was told the rack is due back in stock on the 30th and I would receive mine on the 31st... Doubt il be holding my breath though! Let me know if you get yours tomorrow please!


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## ppiddy

Will do mate. I ordered direct over the phone but still not had a despatch email which I got the first time I had something sent from them last week.


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## ppiddy

Everything has just arrived now, so all good at my end. I hope you get yours sorted out soon.


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## kadafi39

The little fckin bastards! i ordered and paid for mine almost 2 months ago and have nothing, yet you received all of yours! If i dont get mine this week i am gonna cancel my credit card payment... Glad you got yours though, enjoy!

Also did you get your lat/low pulley? i remember you saying they told u it wouldnt come until next week, but when i spoke to them yday they told me mine would, this week...


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## ppiddy

The lat pulley is here as well but when I ordered over the phone they told me 5 June for this. It's half up now with boxes everywhere but hope to get all sorted today. Fingers crossed with yours.


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## ppiddy

Half up!


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## kadafi39

Cheers mate... Enjoy your first session!


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## kadafi39

So they told me the bench and rack with the lat/low pulley would be delivered to me on the 31st, was quite excited as I have been waiting for almost 2 months... 8.45am my dad asks me to come downstairs as there's a delivery, but it looks too small to be a rack... go to the door and find the delivery driver with two small boxes, not what I was expecting, ask him if this is everything hes supposed to deliver here and he shows me the documents which confirm two boxes... Basically they sent me the lat/low pulley, without the cage or bench, which is ****in useless on its own. Ring them and ask why I haven't been sent the rest of the stuff and they tell me that the rack and bench will be delivered by another courier, and they would ring the courier and call me back... two hours later I haven't heard anything so I call them back and get told the rack or bench hasn't been sent out, and the girl tells me the rack and bench should have been sent to me 3 weeks ago and all I should have been waiting for is they pulleys, basically they don't have a ****in clue whats going on, ****ty customer service, hope their products are better...


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## Prince Adam

kadafi39 said:


> So they told me the bench and rack with the lat/low pulley would be delivered to me on the 31st, was quite excited as I have been waiting for almost 2 months... 8.45am my dad asks me to come downstairs as there's a delivery, but it looks too small to be a rack... go to the door and find the delivery driver with two small boxes, not what I was expecting, ask him if this is everything hes supposed to deliver here and he shows me the documents which confirm two boxes... Basically they sent me the lat/low pulley, without the cage or bench, which is ****in useless on its own. Ring them and ask why I haven't been sent the rest of the stuff and they tell me that the rack and bench will be delivered by another courier, and they would ring the courier and call me back... two hours later I haven't heard anything so I call them back and get told the rack or bench hasn't been sent out, and the girl tells me the rack and bench should have been sent to me 3 weeks ago and all I should have been waiting for is they pulleys, basically they don't have a ****in clue whats going on, ****ty customer service, hope their products are better...


LOL.

Crazy mate, I was left with weights and a rack but no bench for 3 weeks.


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## ppiddy

Confused as to why we have had different experiences. When I was putting it together, one of the nuts for the bench was missing, phoned them yesterday and received 3 in the post today. I'm only waiting for a separate order which I may adjust as when ordering I asked if the pulley came with bars and she said no, so I ordered their three pack but the pulley does come with two bars.


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## Guest

ppiddy said:


> I've just ordered the CF475 from Powerhouse which is much more than I need for my current strength levels but the 375 looks good too but just has a lower weight capacity. I saw some decent ones on eBay but was put off by distance and my laziness so bought new but there are some good deals on there.


I just bought one of them last week. Saw the 375 and placed the order but changed my mind to the 475 as apparently the 375 isn't too stable


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## Guest

kadafi39 said:


> So they told me the bench and rack with the lat/low pulley would be delivered to me on the 31st, was quite excited as I have been waiting for almost 2 months... 8.45am my dad asks me to come downstairs as there's a delivery, but it looks too small to be a rack... go to the door and find the delivery driver with two small boxes, not what I was expecting, ask him if this is everything hes supposed to deliver here and he shows me the documents which confirm two boxes... Basically they sent me the lat/low pulley, without the cage or bench, which is ****in useless on its own. Ring them and ask why I haven't been sent the rest of the stuff and they tell me that the rack and bench will be delivered by another courier, and they would ring the courier and call me back... two hours later I haven't heard anything so I call them back and get told the rack or bench hasn't been sent out, and the girl tells me the rack and bench should have been sent to me 3 weeks ago and all I should have been waiting for is they pulleys, basically they don't have a ****in clue whats going on, ****ty customer service, hope their products are better...


That's got me worried now. I spoke to them on tuesday and they said the racks had just come back into stock. I'm not going to be leanient with anyone and if it isn't here by next week I'll be cancelling my order or getting some freebies.


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## ppiddy

Jd123 said:


> I just bought one of them last week. Saw the 375 and placed the order but changed my mind to the 475 as apparently the 375 isn't too stable


I considered the 375 but glad I went for the 475 because it allows for more weight to be lifted in the future. I'm doing my first session (stronglifts from just the bar) on Sunday so looking forward to it but it all looks sturdy and good quality.


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## ppiddy

Jd123 said:


> That's got me worried now. I spoke to them on tuesday and they said the racks had just come back into stock. I'm not going to be leanient with anyone and if it isn't here by next week I'll be cancelling my order or getting some freebies.


I managed to get the dip bars thrown in for nothing so worth a try anyway.


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## kadafi39

Think its abit hit and miss with them tbh, depends who you deal with... I stopped trying to chase the franchise store because they were just long and just complained directly to the head office but even then the head office told me on Tuesday that I would get it all today, and all that turned up was the pulleys. When I rang to complain I asked to speak to the customer service manager and explained that id been promised it would all arrive today, even had the girls name who told me that and that id taken a day off work because I was eager to get it all setup as ive been waiting for 7 weeks and them just sending me the pulleys has really ****ed me off. The manager told me she would speak to her superiors and ask about some form of compensation for me and call me back, she didn't call me back for 3 hours so I called the CS department and asked to speak to her again, was told by someone she was busy and had said that the bench and rack would be sent out today and id receive it tomorrow, no mention of any form of compensation for messing me about so much, don't think id ever buy anything from powerhouse again tbh, their prices are decent but their CS and logistics have in my experience been crap, sort of wish id spent the extra couple of hundred and bought the bodycraft bench and rack.


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## Guest

ppiddy said:


> I managed to get the dip bars thrown in for nothing so worth a try anyway.


Yea I got dip bars and some other stuff chucked in. How long in all did it take for your stuff to come?


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## ppiddy

Jd123 said:


> Yea I got dip bars and some other stuff chucked in. How long in all did it take for your stuff to come?


Better negotiator than me!!

Pretty sure I ordered a couple of weeks ago. Lady on the phone gave me delivery of 28th but it was actually 29th as 28th was despatch date. Was a bit dubious of spending so much after hearing of issues elsewhere but can't complain except for the extra bars I currently have on order!


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## ppiddy

It was the 18th, so took 11 days.


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## kadafi39

Prince Adam said:


> LOL.
> 
> Crazy mate, I was left with weights and a rack but no bench for 3 weeks.


I would have preferred a rack on its own tbh, atleast I could have set it up and started on something! a lat and low pulley on its own is sort of like me buying a car but asking for upgraded alloys and them coming round and just dropping some alloys off lol.... fkin useless!


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## Guest

ppiddy said:


> It was the 18th, so took 11 days.


My problem is I am so unpatient.

Racks good though yea?


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## kadafi39

wish my stuff came within 2 weeks! id have had it for over a month already... Think maybe I just ordered at a **** time. Bet they wait for as many orders as they can generate before they go ahead with production as the manufacturing factory in china is likely to offer discounts for larger production runs


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## kadafi39

Jd123 said:


> Yea I got dip bars and some other stuff chucked in. How long in all did it take for your stuff to come?


What deal did you manage to get if you don't mind me asking?


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## ppiddy

Jd123 said:


> My problem is I am so unpatient.
> 
> Racks good though yea?


I'm no expert but they seem very sturdy and as I'm no powerlifter they should last me.


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## Guest

kadafi39 said:


> What deal did you manage to get if you don't mind me asking?


went for the CF 375 package. But rang up the next day saying I wanted the 475 instead, but wanted the same package. So got £60 I think off the package, but then the rack upgrade was an extra £120. But then he threw dip bars in and a tricep rope.

Ordered some other weights too and saved £50 on them.

Overall I've saved around £200 ish


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## Guest

ppiddy said:


> I'm no expert but they seem very sturdy and as I'm no powerlifter they should last me.


Good. Saw a review where some ones cf375 spotter rails had bent after dropping 50kg on them!


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## ppiddy

upMy set


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## ppiddy

My set up


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## kadafi39

That's not bad, doubt youl have to wait much longer for yours either, theyre definitely back in stock now... have they given you a delivery date? if not I would probably ring them... I had to literally chase them to send me my stuff, if I hadn't called them about 5 times this week I know 100% that my rack wouldn't be arriving tomorrow


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## Guest

ppiddy said:


> View attachment 123151
> upMy set


Looks so good. Did you say lat pully came with attachments?


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## Guest

kadafi39 said:


> That's not bad, doubt youl have to wait much longer for yours either, theyre definitely back in stock now... have they given you a delivery date? if not I would probably ring them... I had to literally chase them to send me my stuff, if I hadn't called them about 5 times this week I know 100% that my rack wouldn't be arriving tomorrow


No mate not had one yet! Although changed my order to more stuff on tuesday. Will give them a bell monday!


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## ppiddy

Jd123 said:


> went for the CF 375 package. But rang up the next day saying I wanted the 475 instead, but wanted the same package. So got £60 I think off the package, but then the rack upgrade was an extra £120. But then he threw dip bars in and a tricep rope.
> 
> Ordered some other weights too and saved £50 on them.
> 
> Overall I've saved around £200 ish


Very good saving. I made a mistake and ordered the package on the phone but later that night did two separate £100 orders for extra weights, bars etc online so could have saved more.


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## ppiddy

Jd123 said:


> Looks so good. Did you say lat pully came with attachments?


Yeah, comes with two. One for pulldowns and the smaller width one for rows, tricep ext etc. What I do want though is another couple of bits for the bar to sit on as it just comes with two but they are out of stock.


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## Guest

ppiddy said:


> Yeah, comes with two. One for pulldowns and the smaller width one for rows, tricep ext etc. What I do want though is another couple of bits for the bar to sit on as it just comes with two but they are out of stock.


The J hooks?


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## ppiddy

Jd123 said:


> The J hooks?


The bar hooks, not sure if they are known as J hooks as well.


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## Guest

ppiddy said:


> The bar hooks, not sure if they are known as J hooks as well.


If its the hooks you rack the bar on, I think they are called J hooks.

I'd search Amazon mate


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## ppiddy

Jd123 said:


> If its the hooks you rack the bar on, I think they are called J hooks.
> 
> I'd search Amazon mate


Ok, will do, cheers.


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## kadafi39

Got my rack this morning after over 7 long weeks! The finishing on the metal is abit poor in places, but all the bolts etc were all correct and the stuff seems quite sturdy, I installed the front chin up bar post the wrong way round so the body-max sticker is on the inside, just helps keep the weight towards the centre of the rack and stops the back lifting when doing weighted chin ups.

Instructions for the pulleys was ****, nowhere does it show you should thread the cable through before bolting down the pulley wheels! Just got it all set up, about to use it for the first time, get a quick session in!


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## ppiddy

kadafi39 said:


> Got my rack this morning after over 7 long weeks! The finishing on the metal is abit poor in places, but all the bolts etc were all correct and the stuff seems quite sturdy, I installed the front chin up bar post the wrong way round so the body-max sticker is on the inside, just helps keep the weight towards the centre of the rack and stops the back lifting when doing weighted chin ups.
> 
> Instructions for the pulleys was ****, nowhere does it show you should thread the cable through before bolting down the pulley wheels! Just got it all set up, about to use it for the first time, get a quick session in!


Glad you finally got it. I accidentally installed the pulley bar the wrong way as well as one of the vertical bars so had to do some swapping about!! I also put the wheels on the pulley bar before the cable was fitted as the instructions were unclear. One issue I do have is the nut for the top pulley is left over as the bolt didn't gone out of the bottom when I screwed it in, was yours ok?

Only issue I had with quality is that I over tightened some bolts and was surprised that it seemed to warp the metal a little. Anyway, glad yours is with you now.


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## kadafi39

yeah the instructions aren't very good, even diagrams for the bench were unclear. If you mean the bolt that screws into the bar that you add the weight plates on to, its not supposed to go all the way through, it shouldn't even screw all the way in, the nut should be left in-between and tightened against the metal frame, away from the bolt head


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## ppiddy

Oh right. I screwed it all the way in. I'll have to relook at it, cheers.


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## kadafi39

if you screw it all the way in the part that you add the plates to sort of hovers and doesn't sit on the base, so just take it out, thread the nut back on and screw the bolt in until the plate holder starts to lift a little and then screw the nut down away from the bolt head.


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## ppiddy

Ok cheers will give it a try


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## ppiddy

kadafi39 said:


> if you screw it all the way in the part that you add the plates to sort of hovers and doesn't sit on the base, so just take it out, thread the nut back on and screw the bolt in until the plate holder starts to lift a little and then screw the nut down away from the bolt head.


I'm probably thick but have done this and not sure what it changes as the bar still hovers once I attach the chain to the base. There's not enough length. I've attached a photo, is yours the same? Cheers.


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## ppiddy

I'm wondering if its the chain length. All 3 of mine are the same length, are yours?


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## kadafi39

yes chain length is the same for all 3. that part is correct now, if anything my bolt is screwed in further. you know that little pulley box with the 2 pulleys inside, it should have 5 holes, when i moved the lower pulley on to the last hole mine almost sits on the frame, the instructions show to use the middles holes, but just use the lowest one.


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## ppiddy

Thanks again, will look at later.


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