Best Weight Benches For Your Home Gym - 2023 edition

recommended benches header

There are few, if any items in your gym that you’ll use more than your bench. For that reason, it’s important to have a good one.

Like most other things you can buy for your gym, there are a ton of options that come in at every imaginable price point. I know because I’ve tried most of them. There are a lot of good benches and a lot of crap too.

Luckily, buying a great bench for your home gym is fairly simple. There are two styles to pick from (flat and adjustable). Within those, there are standout options for those on a budget as well as those who are able to spend a little more.

If you are looking for great deals on home gym gear, make sure to check out my deals page here!

Quick Links

Skip the reading and jump right to the perfect bench for you!

What Not to Buy

Because your bench is one of the few items you physically come in contact with while training, I don’t recommend going super cheap. When you see extra low priced models listed online, what you can’t see is the lack of padding, quality of material, grippiness of the pad, or how sturdy/stable the bench is.

A lot of benches look good in pictures online, yet when they arrive you’ll instantly regret your decision. I’ve returned far more benches than I’ve kept for exactly this reason.

I also don’t think most people need to buy crazy expensive benches. Everything that Rogue makes is a great example of this. For sure, they are amazing benches. But you can get weight benches that are as good or better from other manufacturers for significantly less money.

That said, if the budget allows you to spend $1000 or more on a weight bench, Rogue is a quality product. For the rest of us who would rather not spend that much, there are a lot of great options!

Weight Bench Resources

Best Flat Bench

FB 5000 — FB-5000 with and without the optional fat pad

There are two reasons to get a flat bench. You are on a budget, or you do a lot of very heavy bench pressing.

Flat benches can be easy on the wallet since they are the simplest and easiest to make. You still want to make sure you get good padding and quality construction, but those two things don’t need to break the bank.

The clear winner here is the Rep Fitness FB-5000. It’s a better bench than other options that are four times its price. If you are looking to buy a flat bench, the FB-5000 is your best choice!

Coming in at only $149 ($199 when purchased with the optional wide pad), the FB-5000 offers features 11 gauge steel and a 1000 lbs weight capacity. It will hold up under the heaviest loads.

The pad is thick, supportive, a good width (12″), and wrapped in a textured, grippy fabric. If you want or need a 14″ wide pad (similar to a Thompson Fat Pad – although the Thompson will not fit on this bench), Rep sells a great one for $50.

The FB-5000 also carries over all the great features of the 4000. Wheels, nicer handle, and stores upright. It’s also a 3 post design, exactly what you want in a great bench.

The FB-5000 is available in 3 colors and like all Rep products is best purchased from Rep Fitness directly.

Check out current pricing and color options for the Rep Fitness FB-5000 here

Best FID Adjustable Bench

incline weight bench — My AB-3000

Rep Fitness is the clear winner in this category as well. I strongly believe that they have the best lineup of weight benches for your home gym of anyone in the game.

An FID bench is one that offers flat, incline, and decline settings. Of all of the benches out there that offer this feature, the Rep Fitness AB-3000 is the best one on the market, especially when you factor in the cost!

I’ve owned and used the Rep AB-3000 for well over a year and have been really happy with it. I recommend it to anyone who asks me what FID adjustable bench to buy.

The AB-3000 offers:

3 post design
Large back pad
Ladder style adjustment
Adjustable seat and back
Incline and decline adjustments
Handle and wheels
Leg bars for ab work
Wide, comfortable seat

I recommend buying the AB-3000 on the Rep Fitness site directly. They have colors and options you won’t find on Amazon. I also find customer service to be better when purchasing on the their site directly!

Check out current pricing and color options for the Rep Fitness AB-3000 v 2 here

Best Flat/Incline Adjustable Bench

AB 5200 — AB-5200 shown with optional spotter platform

If you are going to be lifting heavy and don’t need a decline, you will probably want to step up to the Rep Fitness AB-5200. As I write this, a brand new AB-5200 is sitting in my garage as an upgrade to the AB-3000 I listed above.

It comes in at a higher price tag so is not for everyone, but if you are serious about your training, it’s worth every penny to step up to the 5200.

AB-5200 step-up features:

Ladder style adjustment on the seat
Heavier construction
No leg bars
Better back pad
Grippier cover on the pads
Stands upright for storage

As I mentioned, the AB-5200 does NOT have a decline setting, so if this is something you want, stick with the AB-3000.

For 99% of all home gym owners, there is absolutely no reason to spend any more money on a bench over and above the AB-5200. You just can’t find a better bench without spending an obscene amount of money more.

Check out current pricing, color, and accessory options for the Rep Fitness AB-5200 v 2 here

Best Fold Flat Bench

Photo Feb 01 9 33 43 AM

My very first bench was the Body Solid GFID-225. I bought it for a variety of reasons, but a big one was that it folds flat. I lived in an apartment at the time and it was perfect for my needs.

I had tried out quite a few fold flat benches and they all felt cheap, poorly built, and kind of unstable. The Body Solid option was none of those things. You can read my full review of this bench here.

That bench lasted me for years and I couldn’t have been happier. If you need a great adjustable bench that also folds flat, the GFID-225 is the perfect bench for you.

See a full desctiption, pricing, and reviews of the GFID-225 here on Amazon