What’s A Folding Workout Bench – Stowable, Sturdy, and Compact

If you are putting together a home exercise room or a compact home gym, you definitely need to research what’s a folding workout bench.  This space saving piece of exercise equipment is probably the answer you are looking for.

These home gym folding benches are made to support plenty of weight, they are fully adjustable, and streamline enough to fit in your closet.  This article provides useful information on what to look for in the best foldable weight benches.

What’s a Folding Workout Bench?

By now you’ve probably gathered that a foldable weight bench made for lifting weights at home and can fold down enough to stow in a closet or corner.  Unless you have unlimited space in your home or apartment, this is probably the best weight bench for you.

This type of fold-up weight bench does not come with a barbell rack like the ones that you see at a commercial gym but still comes with many benefits.  A foldable weight lifting bench is mainly used for working out with dumbbells. 

Fortunately, dumbbell workouts are more effective for muscle and strength building than barbells or weight machines.

⊕  The Total gym machine is another example of an all-in-one home gym. It’s a versatile and adjustable folding gym bench system that doesn’t require purchasing a weight set.

Folding Benches Make a Compact Home Gym

Most stowable weight benches can fold down compact enough to fit even in a small closet. This means that you can have an effective exercise room with just a few pieces of home exercise equipment.

Between a quality set of exercise dumbells and an adjustable bench, you can do almost any exercise in the book.

A great idea to add to this is an adjustable dumbbell set.  This will enable you to easily fit an entire gym in a corner or a closet.  

Adjustable dumbbells are an all-in-one invention where one set of dumbells are design to take the place of multiple sets to save both space and money.

Let me mention one more of my space saving tips for a home gym which is resistance bands.  Besides a foldable bench and dumbbell sets, I also recommend adding an exercise resistance band set, and also a pull up bar for the doorway.  

This will enable you to get a full workout routine at home while at the same time being compact and inexpensive.

What to Look For in a Folding Weight Bench

When looking for the best foldable weight lifting bench, I recommend staying in the $150-$350 range.  This price still gives you a quality piece of exercise equipment that will last and won’t break the bank.

Bench Weight Limit

The total bench weight limit includes the user’s weight as well as the amount of weight being used. 

If you don’t want any problems, I highly recommend one that greatly exceeds your estimated amount of weight.  This estimated weight limit on these benches is an important factor that gives you a good idea of just how stable the bench is.

I don’t recommend getting a collapsable weight bench that has less than a 600lb weight capacity.  This will ensure better quality and a more stable exercise machine that will be safer and longer lasting.

Weight Bench Adjustments

Any foldable weight bench in the range of quality that you will be looking for will have at least 6 backrest adjustments, and of course, be easily collapsable for storage. 

A minimum of 6 adjustments is will give you plenty of options, but you may see up to 8 adjustments for the backrest.  Check to see if one of them is for decline if you think this is something that you may use.

Whether or not it has an adjustable seat is mostly personal preference, this helps some people remain more stable in the seat.   There are benches come with up to 4 seat adjustments, but are very minimal movements.  Seat adjustments tend to be more beneficial when lifting heavy.

Sturdy Construction

Even though this type of bench is made for a home gym, you will find that many of them use a heavy-duty, hollow commercial grade steel.  This is what enables them to have such a high weight limit in a durable and lightweight bench.

I also recommend one with a scratch proof, powder coated steel to help keep your home gym equipment looking good.  The padded seat and backrest pads will be either covered with leather or a durable synthetic. 

Either type of material can eventually tear with normal use, so it’s hard to say which will stay looking good longer for each individual.  But like other bench options, you will usually get what you pay for.

Weight Bench Leg Extensions

You will see this on most home gym foldable benches.  Even though this padded attachment makes your weight bench look like a leg extension machine, this add-on is not for leg extensions. 

It can be used to keep your legs stable when doing some bench exercises while sitting, but I recommend keeping your legs spread out to the sides instead.

The main reason for the padded leg extension is for holding your legs down while performing sit-ups.  If this accessory is not useful in your workouts, it may just be in the way.  On most foldable benches, this extension can simply be removed.

Weight Bench Warranty

This is an important feature on a foldable weight bench,  and warranties are fairly consistent across the board with these workout benches.  Expect most of this type of weight bench to come with a one year warranty on the frame and a 30 day warranty on the seat covering and padding.

I haven’t come across any significant warranty issues in my reviews where you would need an extended warranty.  If you do notice something out of the ordinary, be sure to catch it early and contact the distributor immediately. 

The longest warranty that I found was with the Nautilus Stowable Bench which comes with a 1 year warranty on parts and 15 year on the frame.

The 3 Best Foldable Workout Benches of 2020

Image	Name	Price	Buy
	Bowflex 5.1S Stowable Bench	$$$	CURRENT PRICE
	Zimtown Folding Weight Bench	$$	CURRENT PRICE
	FLYBIRD Adjustable Weight Bench	$	CURRENT PRICE

⇒ If you have any questions about which is the best folding weight bench, please leave them in the box at the bottom.

Folding Benches are Fully Adjustable

Most folding weights bench has more adjustments for exercise positions than a stationary adjustable bench.  6 different bench adjustments or more seem to be standard if this is a quality workout bench.

The bench back support may go all the way up to the shoulder press position, down to the various incline bench positions, and increment all the way down to a decline bench position.

Some of these adjustable weight benches will move into at least 3 different seat positions.  The seat works best in the starting position during flat bench presses.  However, it can be effective to angle upwards for exercises when the backrest is inclined. 

Having the seat at a slight incline can keep your butt from sliding down during exercises such as incline dumbbell presses.

Adjustable Workout Bench Exercises

As I had mentioned, the majority of effective workouts that can be done on an adjustable weight bench are dumbbell exercises.  There are way too many dumbbell exercise options to go over right now, so let me just mention a few of the most important movements to be done with adjustable weight bench workouts.

The most popular bench adjustments that most of us are familiar with are dumbbell bench presses and incline presses.  Setting the backrest lower than the level position will give you decline bench presses and setting it up to a 90 degree, “L” angle gives dumbbell shoulder presses or the “military press”.

Besides these “bench press” exercises, a stable weight bench is helpful when working other body parts as well.  For one of the best back exercises, simply put your knee and one hand on the bench for a dumbbell lat row.

For a good rear deltoid exercise, incline the bench, sit and lay facing the backrest.  Then move the dumbbells laterally out to the sides for an “incline dumbbell lateral raise“.

To give you an even better idea of the benefits of an adjustable bench, there are numerous abdominal core and step-ups for the legs.  Don’t forget about arm exercises such as dumbbell nose crushers for the triceps and also incline dumbbell curls for the biceps.

Folding Workout Bench…

The Collapsable Conclusion

Adjustable folding weight benches or a stowable workout bench are the best types for a small home gym because they are easily collapsible for storage.  A foldable workout bench is just as durable and almost as sturdy as a standard adjustable bench that you will see at the gym.

Most of these dynamic workbenches can hold over 600lbs of weight and have over 6 different adjustments to hit every angle.  With just a fold-up workout bench along with a home gym dumbbell set, you can turn your exercise room into a fully functional and inexpensive home gym.

⇒ If you have any questions or comments on the best folding workout bench, please leave a message below and I will reply.