Flat bench or fid???

[Elvis]

Hello all,

This is my first post so go easy on me.
After playing around with a cheap bench and weights for a year or so the bug has bitten to get a bit more serious about lifting iron. I'm about to set up a home gym. Im looking at the mm commercial rack, an abc Olympic bar, a few hundred kilos of iron and a bench. My main focus is on getting strong doing the big 3 lifts. My question is: Will a commercial flat bench be ideal or a fid? I've read alot of posts stating the fid's aren't as strong or comfortable? If I'm training for strength should I be doing incline or decline benching? Im only wanting to buy commercial quality gear to last me a long time.

Thanks Danny

 

[Darkoz]

Everyone will say flat bench
Thankya thankya very much

 

[Bazza20]

Will they? I would have said flat bench a while ago but now after adding inclines I would try and find a good adjustable one.

 

[Darkoz]

There you bazza you proved me wrong
I'd go for the adjustable bench also or if money and space is not a problem you could get both

 

[Bazza20]

There you bazza you proved me wrong
I'd go for the adjustable bench also or if money and space is not a problem you could get both

Both would be great if money was no problem, competition style flat bench and really nice adjustable. I love inclines these days, helps flat and overhead strength.

Also like I have said before a wide 30cm is a must. My flat bench is 25 and I hate it. Did some flat bench on a piece of shit, wobbly adjustable bench but it was wider and to my suprise I could actually get tight and set up properly, shoulders weren't hanging off the sides and it was a lot better to bench on. I think many of my bench issues may be due to a poorly designed bench.

 

[jj80]

You won't find a good FID that's 30cm, this is why a lot of people go for flat 30cm ones. There are threads on this, I posted a list in one a while ago of the back dimensions of all of them. I believe the powerlifting federation limits on bench width is 32cm, 30cm is more common.

You want low bench height for leg drive (something I havent got in my bench technique yet, but you should shoot for it)

I bought a 250kg rated incline bench for $200 second hand and replaced the 25cm back rest with a 34cm I made myself. It's not as paddy but I much prefer it anyway. You notice it at like 80kg+, very noticable at 100kg+. I have not had this modification engineering approved or anything, but I use squat stands with big safeties so I feel ok on it. I highly doubt it will break anyway just looking at the way I've done it. I would use it over any of the more expensive incline benches up to 250kg (ironmaster etc., they are all too thin)

If I had to get one without the option of modifying I would go with a cheap incline bench rated maybe to 250kg for incline movements, and then a good flat 30cm+ bench for heavy flat benches. It's unlikely you will incline bench over 250kg total (weight + bodyweight) for reps unless you're a machine / very big.

I might add I had shoulder pain benching until I modified my bench to 34cm (and had some training), though 30cm might have done the trick too.

 

[NightFallTech]

My iron edge incline bench arrived today from Kettlebells - Iron Edge Fitness Equipment - Train Smarter , need to try it out tonight...

28cm width, so one of the wider incline options available, the showroom model was incredibly solid.

Weight Bench - Adjustable Incline - Iron Edge Fitness Equipment - Train Smarter

I've got pretty wide shoulders, so i'll advise on my experiences with this after a few sessions, although i'll be using it for DB movements at home at present.

 

[Elvis]

Thanks for the replies,
Im hopefully heading down to gym direct in the next few days so ill try a few out, i presume they would have them all in stock. Im leaning towards a commercial flat bench, I can add an incline/decline later on.

Thanks again, Danny