I am beginning to outfit my own garage gym and I’d like some advice on what bench to buy. I mostly just rotate between Powerbuilding 2 and Hypertrophy 2 templates as I am a non-competitive lifter looking to get both strong and gain lean mass. My question is, is incline benching necessary for pec development or is flat benching and overhead pressing enough. I really hate the way cheap incline benches feel and would prefer to buy a sturdy flat bench rather than drop the money on an expensive adjustable bench.
I know both templates have alternatives to incline, but am I missing anything by only flat benching?
It’s not absolutely necessary, no.
I was thinking about the same thing. I’m eyeing the Rep Fitness AB-5100 .https://www.repfitness.com/strength-…es/rep-ab-5100 But I’d rather buy their flat bench
FWIW, I ended up getting the 5000 (https://www.repfitness.com/strength-…es/rep-ab-5000), wife wanted a decline option, I wanted something durable, and we decided on this. Happy with the purchase and don’t plan on buying another bench ever. The last one I used for 20 years prior to this and it was an inclineable body solid, but it wobbled a bit and was a bit too high. This one (and I’d assume the 5100) is built like a tank.
They are quite a bit more pricey, but I was in the frame of mind that I’d rather spend the extra 2-3 hundred and not have to buy another bench again.
I went the route of getting the flat (utility) bench first, not wanting to buy a cheap incline bench…also, anything good at the time was $1000.
This worked fine for three years before the incline worked its way to the top of my wish list. It kept getting bumped for something that to me offered more value. I would sometimes prop the utility bench at 15 degrees and use dumbbells. Nothing beyond that would be safe. I got the Rep 5200 ladder incline last fall as soon as it was released and it as been great. I still flat bench on my utility bench because that’s what I’m used to. The utility bench is also handy because it’s light enough to do stuff like put up on boxes for seal rows.
Even if you have extra money for the incline, I’d put adjustable dumbbells and SSB ahead of the incline bench in terms of bang for buck. Especially considering the templates you’re using. Enjoy the garage gym. It’s liberating.