Should You Add A Bench To A Functional Trainer? Best Options

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Any gym in the world will have a few weightlifting benches and they’re always being used. Your functional trainer didn’t come with one, are you missing out? Let’s find out.

A functional trainer can be used for a full body workout without a bench. Adding a bench to a functional trainer adds extra exercise options but more importantly; a way to isolate muscles. Standing exercises integrate the movement into the whole body while isolation strengthens the targeted muscle.

Below you can see which exercise options you open up by having a bench and what the best benches are to add to your functional trainers are.

Add a Bench To a Functional Trainer?

A functional trainer is a machine with two pulleys that are height adjustable. By itself, it’s already a very flexible piece of gym equipment that can provide a full body workout and target almost every muscle in the human body.

While there are tons of exercises you can do without a bench, here are some other exercises a bench can add to that already long list;

• Cable chest press
• Incline cable press
• Lat pulldown
• Cable fly
• Cable pullover
• Seated overhead press
• Low Row

And those are just some of the exercises that having a bench can unlock in combination with a functional trainer. But even without the functional trainer, or some other gym equipment, a bench helps really opens up a lot more exercise options.

Suggested: Can you do a lat pulldown with a functional trainer?

That said, with a functional trainer, you can find standing or kneeling alternatives to the exercises named above. A functional trainer is built to be able to train almost any muscle while standing on your feet. And you can train your chest, back, shoulders and more without using a bench.

However, there is a difference in how you train when using a bench compared to standing or kneeling.

The benefit of doing exercises standing up is that you’re on your feet. You have to use your whole body to stabilize yourself so you don’t fall over. This involves more muscle at the same time and integrates the movement into your whole body. The downside of this is that you’re often limited to how much weight you can move because at some point, your body weight just isn’t enough to keep you from getting moved around by the weight.

Now when you do the same movement but on a bench, you’ll be stabilized by the bench. Especially with exercises where you’re on your back. This isolates the muscles you actually want to train. You don’t have to use your legs and much less of your core and can therefore focus much more on a few muscles. You isolate those muscles and therefore are able to get more out of your trainer for those muscles specifically.

Also, when using a bench you’ll probably be able to use more weight and therefore cause more muscle/strength growth. This comes at the expense of the integration into your whole body that training on your feet brings.

Suggested: How much does a functional trainer cost?

So for that reason it’s great to do both. With a bench you’re able to isolate some muscles you want to target specifically. Maybe those muscles are weak compared to others and you want to bring them up to par with the rest of your body or maybe you want to focus on that part of your physique. And then integrate your new strength into your whole body with some standing exercises.

So a bench and a functional trainer complement each other quite well.

Not sure how to decide which functional trainer is right for you? Click here to find everything you need to make the right decision.

Bench Press In a Functional Trainer

Adding a bench will also allow you to do a bench press in your functional trainer. Simply put the bench in the flat position between the pulleys. However, it will actually be more like a dumbbell press since the handles aren’t connected.

There are barbell type attachments that connect to both pulleys at the same time. However, those aren’t great for bench pressing in a functional trainer. You have no way of getting that barbell above your chest when laying down on the bench. It might be doable with a light weight but with a reasonable amount of resistance, forget it.

Best Benches For a Functional Trainer

What kind of bench is best with a functional trainer? Most benches will work but if you want to get the most exercise options and really tailor your workout to your goals there are a few things you want to look out for in a bench;

• Adjustable: The backrest should be adjustable. This allows you to use the bench for more different exercises and target muscles in different ways.
• Heavy: You want the bench to be stable and weight is one of those things that helps a lot. The heavier the bench is, the less likely it is to slide around. A bench that’s sliding around isn’t very useful.  Of course it should still be light enough so you can move it around.
• Detachable leg lock: Some benches have foam pads that are detachable. This can help you keep yourself down on exercises where you’re pulling down and the weight is trying to lift you up. It should be detachable so you can easily take it off when necessary.
• Solid build: Any bench should be well built, have a decent load limit and just feel good when you sit/lay down on it. A bench with a backrest or seat that’s wobbling just distracts from your training.

Suggested: What you need to know before buying a weightlifting bench?

The best bench I’ve found that combines all the characteristics above is the Fitness Reality X-Class, check it out.

Best functional trainers with bench

Some functional trainers have a bench as an option. Usually these are just separate benches like described above while there are some that have the option to physically attach the bench to the frame of the functional trainer.

Package

Yes, you have to pay a little extra but it’s easy since you just have to buy one package and everything you want is included. You can also be sure it all works together although buying a separate bench also works perfectly fine. It only costs extra money if you would buy a cheap bench otherwise. Because the difference in price is often around $300 for a package with bench. A good bench bought separately will cost about the same.

Also, when bought together, the design of the bench and functional trainer usually match. This just looks better and gives a cleaner, more professional look to your gym.

Attached

There is one great functional trainer that attaches the bench to the frame, the Inspire Fitness FT2. The biggest benefit of a bench that physically attached to the frame of a functional trainer has no way to move anywhere. You can lift as heavy as you want and it won’t slide or move around.

The bench is disconnected by pulling out a pin so it’s really easy to do. The FT2 is a really cool piece of equipment and one that comes really close to being a complete package that does everything in the home gym.

There aren’t only two pulleys on the sides but there is much more;

Base version;

• Low pulleys in the middle of the machine.
• Dedicated Lat pull-down pulley and bar
• Built in smith barbell (with 460 lbs. max resistance)

Fully loaded version (+$500);

• Detachable bench. Bench is adjustable backrest and seat.
• Preacher curl attachment
• Leg extension attachment.

The leg extension attachment can actually be used for;

• Leg extensions
• Glute ham raises
• Crunches
• As leg lockdown for pull downs

While it’s not cheap and takes up quite a bit of space, it is a very complete package and even has built in cup holders!