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Do you need a weightlifting bench in your home gym? Commercial gyms always have them but are they necessary in a home gym? Here’s what you want to know.
Most home gyms need a weightlifting bench so it’s possible to perform all the exercises necessary for a full body workout. While it’s possible to work around not having a bench, it does make getting a complete workout difficult. Benches are cheap and many are foldable for compact storage.
Which exercises do you need a bench for and could you get away with no bench? Find out below.
Do You Need a Bench In Your Home Gym?
There are a few very good reasons why you want a bench in your home gym. By far the most important reason is that a bench provides the option to do way more exercises than you would without a bench. a bench also provides a good place to rest which is a nice bonus.
When you’re in the middle of a hard workout, you’ll want to sit down and catch your breath sometimes. That’s not the most important purpose for a weightlifting bench though.
The main purpose of a weightlifting bench is to be able to perform exercises that you couldn’t do without a bench. There are a few exercises that any workout program cannot go without and you need a bench for;
- Flat bench press
- Incline bench press
- Flat dumbbell press
- Incline dumbbell press
- Seated shoulder press
- Dumbbell fly
- One arm dumbbell row
- Dumbbell pullover
- Skull crushers
- Preacher curl
- Many more
Those are just a few of the more popular exercises. There are many more exercises that require a bench to perform. As you can see there are quite a few exercises many people do in a gym daily. That’s why it’s good to have one in your home gym as well.
Not sure if you should go for an adjustable or fixed bench? Click here to find out.
Of course a bench alone isn’t enough to perform all those lifts. You also need other pieces of equipment like a power rack, barbell and weights. Your gym is like a machine. You need most of the parts to make it work. Take away one part and the functionality decreases drastically.
Convinced you need a bench in your home gym? Click here to find out which one I recommend.
Can You Have a Home Gym Without a Bench?
Could you have a fully functional home gym without a bench? Yes, it’s possible but it depends which style of exercise you want to do and what other equipment you have.
Many of the exercises listed above, have alternatives that can be done standing up or laying on the floor. However, it won’t be exactly the same and often has a different range of motion. That means not having a bench reduces the efficiency of your workouts.
It’s still possible to get good results without one, just better if you have one.
Of course if you do types of exercises where you never need a bench like Olympic weightlifting, it’s not a problem to not have a bench.
Also, if you’ve got something like a functional trainer, it’s possible to work out all your muscles without an extra bench although even in that case a bench still provides some extra exercise variety.
However, if you use dumbbells and/or barbells in your home gym, you likely will be best off with a bench. There isn’t much reason not to get one anyways. They don’t take up that much space and if you pick the right one, it’s foldable and can be stored against the wall.
Weightlifting benches are also not that expensive. You can get a decent one for $100-$150. Compared to the prices of most other pieces of gym equipment, that’s really not that much.
