Bowflex SelectTech Adjustable Bench Series 3.1
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List Price: Our Price: $159.00 You Save: $40.00 (20%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $142.93 (click here) Category: Sports See more product details |
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Description of Bowflex SelectTech Adjustable Bench Series 3.1
Transform your workout space. It adds workout variety. It ensures proper posture so that you can maximize your results. It also enables you to do more exercises to get the body you want. The Bowflex Adjustable Bench 3.1 Series is a must-have addition to any workout area. It will turn your space into the ultimate home gym.Get more out of your workout using Bowflex SelectTech free weights with the 3.1 Series adjustable bench. It adjusts to four different positions for workout versatility--over 30 different exercises. It enables you to do more exercises to get the body you want and ensures proper posture so that you can maximize your results. It's the perfect way to transform your space into a personal fitness center.
This bench is also great for correcting posture and stabilizing your positioning for a safe, muscle-building free-weight workout. It's built-strong to last with heavy-duty commercial quality steel and durable upholstery. It comes standard with a removable leg hold-down brace for added decline position support. It wheels away for easy storage and measures 26 by 20 by 56 inches (W x H x L). Assembly is required.
Specifications:
- Dimensions: 56" L x 26" W x 20" H (142.25 L x 66 W x 51 H cm)
- Adjusts to four different positions
- Corrects posture and stabilizes positioning for a safe, muscle-building free weight workout
- Can be used with more than 30 exercises
- Comes standard with a removable leg hold-down brace for added decline position support
About Utility Benches
Despite the competition from trendy new fitness inventions, free-weight lifting continues to be a popular option for home strength training. Free weights offer a special benefit in strength training because they promote quicker strength gains. Free weights also work a larger number of muscles than resistance machines, which tend to focus on isolated muscles.
Specially-designed adjustable pads, grips, and bars help limit and guide movements to minimize the possibility of muscle or joint damage. Plus, from a single utility bench, a vast number of exercises can be performed. Whether it is focusing on the abdomen, arms, chest, or any other muscle group, a utility bench can help you maximize your strength training goals while minimizing your risk of personal injury.
Manufacturer's Warranty
15-year warranty on frame, one-year warranty on upholstery
Sports reviews of Bowflex SelectTech Adjustable Bench Series 3.1
Customer Review: Very Pleased with my Christmas gift!
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
I am very pleased with this bench that I received as a gift. It is very sturdy and comfortable.Customer Review: well-built
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
winter is approaching. i am a fitness freak. i have a small place, but it's essentialCustomer Review: Very nice... but not perfect
Sport shop rating: 4 Stars
ASSEMBLY
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Assembly time took just over 45 minutes and illustrations were clear. Assembly was easy and straight-forward. Only issue with assembly was that one of the leg cushions were a little too snug and I had to keep on twisting and turning it to get it to slide into the pole, but eventually I got it to go in with a lot of twisting. Bolt holes all lined up nicely and inserted quickly. Assembly tip: when assembling the frame to the board it is easiest if you turn the boards upside down and then place the frame on top of it instead of placing the board on top of the frame, just easier to align holes that way.
QUALITY
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Supporting staples on the underside of the boards seemed to be clustered closer in some regions while other regions a bit farther apart than what I would have preferred. I would have like to see more staples used to support the vinyl to the board. Not really a big deal though as it probably looks good enough for now, maybe I'll dig out my staple gun and add a few more for extra measure.
While other reviewers noted tears in the vinyl or other folds in the corner, my boards and vinyl were in pristine condition, no rips, tears or folds.
The vinyl is nice material because it wipes clean easy but again I worry about long term durability. My previous bench was by Weider and it had some type of really durable molded firm rubber/foam material for the boards so never had to worry about vinyl coming loose or ripping, wish Bowflex made this bench with that same material (maybe version 2.0 :)).
The ease of changing from incline/decline/flat positions is very quick and smooth, a real pleasure to use. The engineering quality there is top notch, bravo. My old bench had a metal rod I had to pull out and insert into the frame and ohhh what a pain because it would never line up right and I would have to pull the bench board on a slight angle to get it to line up and then the rod would make a metal-to-metal screach sound (think of running finger nails across chalk-board) when I pulled the tightly position support rod out to change to incline... none of that with the Bowflex design, there is no pins or rods to pull out, simply lift board and swing support arm. Very very nice and quick.
FEATURES
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The four positions (90 degree, 45 degree, 0 degree, and -10 degree) are plenty enough for my workouts and probably for the majority of other lifters. I wouldn't spend the extra money for the 5.1 bench, just no need for the extra positions as the 3.1 model is more than sufficient.
This bench has a 90 degree position and that is extremely helpful in doing seated overhead presses because it provides strong and high support for the back, something my older bench didn't have. I like this feature alot.
The decline angle seems sufficient but I would have preferred a bit more of a steeper decline for doing my sit-ups. That brings me to the next feature the leg holder/support.
The leg holder/support comes with this bench and can be easily detached by removing the support pin. I am disappointed with the engineering / positioning of the leg support. It seems to have been an after-thought feature that was thrown together at the last minute by Bowflex. It is just not comfortable as other reviewers on here have already mentioned. This is really unfortunate because it would have been a really nice feature if it was executed better (maybe improved in version 2.0?). The problem is that the leg support makes it really uncomfortable on your legs when you perform sit-ups on this model. I have tried various positioning of the leg support (tried putting pad closer to ankles, closer to calfs) and all of them have been uncomfortable. Even though it is uncomfortable to use I think it is still bearable to use the leg support for sit-ups (it also becomes annoying/irritating after using it for a while). Now I am an ectomorph and real skinny at the moment so I can imagine that a heavier individual would probably be even more uncomfortable in using the leg support for sit-ups.
The wheels is an okay feature I guess but really how often do you need to roll around your bench. Even if you do have to move it, you can just as well lift it up (it is about 55-65 pounds). One nice feature to have for those living in very limited space would have been a fold-up version where the frame and legs fold for real compact storage and sliding under the bed or tossing in the closet (maybe version 2.0).
The overall aesthetics of the bench is nice, sexy. I like the touch of red near the top of the board.
OVERALL
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This is a very nice bench but with a few of the above suggestions this could turn from very nice to perfect. This is a good value for the money, get this bench you won't be disappointed. And last but not least don't waste your money on the 5.1 model.
Customer Review: Almost the perfect at home bench
Sport shop rating: 4 Stars
For someone with a limited amount of space that's trying to avoid monthly gym membership fees a good weight bench is key and overall the SelectTech 3.1 is a great bench. It's very sturdy and when assembled properly I've never encountered a time when it felt unsturdy. The detachable leg bar is a great addition as well. Also, at the price you'd be hard pressed to find a better bench for the money. All that being said, the SelectTech 3.1 bench has just a few small things that keep it from being perfect.
The first of my issues with the 3.1 may or may not be a personal preference, but I feel that the incline position needs a little work. For incline dumbbell presses the incline position feels as though it's a little bit too high to get the exercise just right. it feels as though the bench is at about 40-45 degrees in the incline position which seems to put a bit too much focus on the shoulders rather than the chest for incline press, also it would be nice if the seat would move up at an angle to enable the lifter to have the seat and back portion of the bench at a 90 degree angle as it is at the gym. The leg bar does a decent job at holding the lifter in place, but there are times when I feel like I'm sliding out off the bench when doing incline lifts and an adjustable seat would fix this perfectly, perhaps this is one of the reasons Bowflex offers the Bowflex SelectTech Adjustable Bench Series 5.1 which I might have considered buying had I have known the incline issue that I'd have.
My second issue was actually fixable with a little ingenuity. The bar that holds the seatback in place has two plastic caps on it presumably so that the seat doesn't clang loudly when the position is changed. The caps are actually a little too big for the metal cylinder that they are on. Initially these plastic caps fell off regularly which became frustrating when I had to stop my workout to put them back on. I gave it some thought and eventually I put some velcro tape (the fuzzy part) around the metal cylinders to make the plastic caps fit tighter and ever since then I haven't had a problem.
Overall, definitely a great at home bench, but if you're picky on your incline like I am you may want to take a look at the 5.1.
Customer Review: Strong Bench, Just off on Design Though
Sport shop rating: 4 Stars
I was a little skeptical about the Bowflex SelectTech Ajustable Bench when doing research. While I liked the cost and seemed to have everything I wanted, I've also seen some how some of Bowflex's other products tend to be made with poorer materials and don't withstand the test of time. Nonetheless, after reading through many reviews and deciding I didn't want to spend more than this, I went with it.
The bench is surprisingly sturdy. They state that it can handle a person up to 300 pounds and I believe it. I never felt like the bench was being compromised and was completely comfortable on it. The padding is sufficient and it is quite wide which allows more of your body to be supported on it. The incline and decline work just fine and the removeable leg piece is a nice addition.
However, there are a few small issues. The first I found is the gap in between the seat portion and the back portion. It's simply too big. I'm 6 feet tall and it can be a bit uncomfortable, although not something that prevents you from doing it. The design is also quite wide at the bottom which does give you more support, but tends to put you at an awkward position that you might not be used to if you've used more generic benches.
Finally, and this may just be me, but I didn't like the installation. It was easily mapped out, but for whatever reason the holes on the board didn't match up real well with the bars. It really took some effort to hold it in place and screw it in. Maybe I just got a board that had holes at a bad angle as I haven't seen many others mention this. I'd also mention that there are two round plastic pieces that attach to the ends of the incline bar. These pieces fall off a lot and you'll have to resort to supergluing them on. I know this seems minor and it is in the grand scheme of things, but I just found some of it sloppy on their part.
Overall though, it's a solid bench at an affordable price. You'll have a tough time finding an incline bench that can match the price and durability. However, if you do have more in your budget for a bench, you may want to look at putting an extra $100 and going with one of the more higher end pieces of equipment that's available.