Total Physique Online

Ironmind Five Star Flat Bench Review - No assembly Required

If you want to build a home gym you will no doubt be scratching your head wondering where to start. My advice to anyone who wants to build a home gym is to think in terms of priorities. In my view, the first piece of equipment anyone should buy for a home gym is a solid, strong flat utility bench. In the past week, one was gifted to me. Low and behold it came from one of my favorite strength companies : Ironmind Enterprises.

Ironmind conceived of this bench some 12 years ago, and over the years it has undergone few changes - until now. Their new design of the flat bench is unique. There has never been a better time to try it. I believe it is one of the best benches on the market and for many reasons. It is called the Five Star Flat Bench. This post is a full review, with photos and impressions, but first some background.

As most of you know I have been in and out of the hospital fighting a combination of weight loss, Cystic Fibrosis and Pneumonia. This post marks the beginning of a long climb out of a pit of de-conditioning unlike anything I have ever experienced, courtesy of the lengthy hospital stays.

Exercise is so important when you begin to recover from illness, and sometimes the level of de-conditioning a person can experience is so severe that traveling to a gym is just not going to work. Trust me when I tell you that when I was released from the hospital I was barely able to stand. A week later I am still having a hard time moving around much without getting out of breath or running out of strength. And since training at a gym is not an option, I was forced to look into putting together a home gym again.

Two friends of mine have been coordinating a fund drive to help me gain access to some strength tools, and they asked me what I needed. Two companies immediately came to mind. One is Ironmaster, from whom I obtained my Quick Lock Dumbbells and Ironmind Enterprises, from whom I obtained all my racks and dip handles over the years.

Ironmind Enterprises has been in the business of building some of the strongest and best strength tools in the world. It’s one of the most respected strength companies in the business. Their propensity for innovation is what makes Ironmind stand out, not to mention the toughness of the tools they make, many of which are found in Olympic Training Halls all over the world as well as gyms and universities. However, the innovative designs of their tools make them ideally suited for the home gym environment. I have had a home gym since 1994, and I started out with Ironmind tools. I found their Vulcan Racks (for benching, squatting and dips) and their Pillars of Power safety racks to be tougher, stronger and easier to use than than anything I could find at most of the gyms I have trained at. I cannot think of any higher praise than that!

So, after hearing my glowing praise for Ironmind Enterprises, my two friends began the process of picking and choosing from the Ironmind Enterprises web site. They asked me what I needed most and I told them: a bench!

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As I mentioned, when you begin to build a home gym, you need to think in terms of priorities, and especially if you have a tight budget. The first item on anyones list should be a flat utility bench that can handle as much poundage as you can throw at it.

The reason a good quality flat bench is so vital to your strength program rests in the fact that 95% of all your exercises (bench press, dumbbell rows, dumbbell presses, dumbbell curls and more) will be done on it.

Needless to say, since you will be using the flat bench for the majority of your training, it just makes good sense to have the best bench you can find. That means buying a bench with super strong weld points, stiff tubing, with a deck that is wide enough to allow for step-ups, bench rows and the like. You want a bench that does not rock back and forth and allows for a firm foundation upon which to stand or lay down. You want a bench that is so strong you do not have to worry about it standing up to the pressure and loads brought to bare on it when perform your exercises. Well, the Five Star Flat Bench from Ironmind meets all of these criteria in spades, and it has a few unique design features thrown in which make the bench superior to any other flat bench you can find.

Photos of the bench are scattere to the left and right. You can click on the thumbnail images to see a larger view of the image. Several photos are posted here to allow for a better understanding of what makes this bench to superior to anything you will find in stores.

In this photo, you can se the bench from a good angle. The padding is in place. The padding is very, very firm and offers better support for the body than any other bench padding I have experienced. It is non-slip and offers terrific traction. It will not slip and slide or otherwise shift out of place under duress. And it can be easily removed and set aside for exercises requiring a more solid surface, such as step-ups, stiff legged deadlifts and the like.

What I like about this design concept is that you do not always want to have a padded surface. Sometimes only a stiff metal surface will do and padding-off is not an option with any other bench I know. In the case of the Five Star Bench, it is. Just peel it off and set it to the side. When you are ready to use padding again, simple lay it back into place. There is no sticky residue to mess with, no velcro strips. Just lay it on the bench and the composite material does the rest. Within seconds you are ready to go back to doing your favorite traditional exercises.

In terms of strength, you will always want a bench that is capable of taking more abuse that you can throw at an object in ten lifetimes. The reasons for this has to do primarily with safety. That said, it is also nice to know that a small investment of $300.00 gets you a bench that will be handed down to your kids and their kids and their kids kids.

Benches need to be stable and solid. Benches that have lots of bolts and nuts tend to loosen over time and get wobbly. Solid, one piece benches with strong welds are the only way to go. And this bench fits the bill.

In the last two photos I have stood the bench on its end to give you some perspective. The bench is long as flat utility benches go. There is plenty of room here, even for really tall people. It is 48″ long, with a 12″ wide deck. The height of the bench is a perfect 17″ tall with a base that measures not quite 16 inches (15.5 by my calculations - a 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and a ruler on my SOG Power Plier - heheh). This is ample room for the largest of athletes, and smaller athletes will love it.

And you want to talk about strong? How about a bench that can support 4000 pounds! In the last shot, you can see an up-close view of the underside of the bench. Notice the beam of metal along the underside of it? This adds untold rigidity to the landing deck. When you pick this bench up, the sheer a weight alone lets you know that this is not your average flat bench. It weighs around 60 pounds.

In conclusion, this is one tough bench and you can bet it will will last. The design is stout and sturdy and it is pleasing to the eye. This is the perfect flat bench that doubles as a lifting platform when you need it. It gets 5 stars from me.