Ironmaster super bench vs gymdirect bench

[NightFallTech]

I'm looking to get a bench for both dumbbell work and use in a rack once i get one, I have a decline situp bench available to me i'm happy with so i'm really just looking for use as a general flat and incline bench.

(I'm planning to go for another decline alternative and will be getting rack based dip handles rather than the iron master accessories, so would like to compare just the benches sans accessories)

Considered without accessories, which would make the better flat/incline bench?, or would they be very similar?

Commercial Flat to Incline Bench w Wheels

OR

Ironmaster Super Bench

My usage is predominantly flat, with some use inclined and upright (shoulder press). I'm 6'1", 110kg's and i bench up to around 110 at the moment.

 

[Skropo]

I own an Ironmaster, and it is a sturdy bench. I haven't used the other bench, but it looks like most of the adjustable benches you'll find in a gym. I find that with those, I’m never entirely comfortable in either the flat position (as such benches either dip or elevate slightly in the middle, rather than being completely flat) or when in the incline position (the seat often makes me feel like I’m going to slide off). The Ironmaster trades these flaws, although the cost is a more fiddly mechanism. The Ironmaster seat portion actually slides into three available slots underneath the bench itself, and you can buy an attachment to do decline/abs work. Honestly, I find the attachment-based setup of the Ironmaster to be a bit of a nuisance. I bought a few of the attachments, which start to take up a fair bit of precious home gym space after a while. Some of them are awesome though, like the dip and pull up attachments. I notice on the website they've got an attachment organiser now lol...even the company seems to have realised the downside of the attachment the Ironmaster has to attachments! I'd still go the Ironmaster over the Commercial though, just go easy on the extras.

 

[kaz]

Just watch the gap in the pads of the incline/decline benches, can be the difference of a good or bad bench.

 

[Light Weight]

Another happy Ironmaster bench owner/ user. Hands down the best bench I've ever used! It's sturdy, versatile and easy enough to move around a home gym with no issues.

 

[NightFallTech]

Just watch the gap in the pads of the incline/decline benches, can be the difference of a good or bad bench.

This is one reason i'm tending to the iron master, although the seat for incline/upright looks somewhat small? has anyone noticed this to be an issue?

 

[moons]

We have the gymdirect one (with the gap) at PTC Syd I believe... I don't rate it.

I own the Ironmaster, am a fan. Solid, gives you inc/dec options without the gap.

Edit: Seat on the ironmaster has never been an issue for me. I rarely use it as an actual seat though (eg for seated db press), more for incline bench where it is simply there to stop me sliding off.

 

[NightFallTech]

Yeah, i think i'm sold on the ironmaster bench at this point

Current plans

Ironmaster bench + cable tower, dip handles and leg developer attachment
Ironmaster adjustable DB's (+ 120lb ext)

Some plates for the leg developer and cable tower (IronEdge)

Rubber flooring
Kettlebells
Medicine ball
Cable attachments

With a muscle motion commercial power rack, more rubber flooring, barbell and more plates to come later once i've sorted my workout space

 

[Brick]

Yeah, i think i'm sold on the ironmaster bench at this point

Current plans

Ironmaster bench + cable tower, dip handles and leg developer attachment
Ironmaster adjustable DB's (+ 120lb ext)

Some plates for the leg developer and cable tower (IronEdge)

Rubber flooring
Kettlebells
Medicine ball
Cable attachments

With a muscle motion commercial power rack, more rubber flooring, barbell and more plates to come later once i've sorted my workout space

Whats all that worth, the bench is $400 alone yeah?

I got rack, bar, 220kg plates, bench & rubber floor tiles, dip attachment + interstate freight for $1200. Quality is great but why DB's? How you gonna squat and your deads will be limited to the weight on the db's.

Doesn't seem like an ideal setup, not very versatile.

Edit: Just read your other posts buying the commercial rack for a 3*3m room is insane. It's a beast and totally unnecessary, go take a look at one they are huge.

 

[NightFallTech]

Whats all that worth, the bench is $400 alone yeah?

I got rack, bar, 220kg plates, bench & rubber floor tiles, dip attachment + interstate freight for $1200. Quality is great but why DB's? How you gonna squat and your deads will be limited to the weight on the db's.

Doesn't seem like an ideal setup, not very versatile.

Edit: Just read your other posts buying the commercial rack for a 3*3m room is insane. It's a beast and totally unnecessary, go take a look at one they are huge.

I use dumbbells quite a lot and definitely want to continue using them, I'll squat, bench and deadlift at the gym until i get a rack at home.
Edit : I'm not a serious powerlifter, so the big compound exercises are only part of my routine, I'm not looking to compete anywhere etc.

(dumbbells for curls, one armed row, shoulder press, flys, bench (as a variation to barbell), pullovers, tricep kickbacks.... etc)

I've probably got to wait 2 months until i can free the space for the rack ... Reasons for the commercial rack.

1. I like solid feeling stuff, from my furniture to my gym equipment
2. really like those J hooks
3. The room is an interim (rental), will be in a garage eventually
4. those jhooks
5. Plate storage,

most of the extra space it takes as at the back with the extended plate storage area, overall dimensions it's only wider with the plate storage and longer by maybe 20cm than the standard rack....

 

[Brick]

I think it's major overkill for a home gym, but plenty of guys will tell you the commercial rack is good and buy it. Why not just keep going to the gym till you can save up for a rack and plates and dumbell set. You will be paying membership anyway.

Go take a look at the commercial rack 200mm doesn't sound like much till your standing next to it. Those racks are beast huge.

 

[NightFallTech]

I think it's major overkill for a home gym, but plenty of guys will tell you the commercial rack is good and buy it. Why not just keep going to the gym till you can save up for a rack and plates and dumbell set. You will be paying membership anyway.

Go take a look at the commercial rack 200mm doesn't sound like much till your standing next to it. Those racks are beast huge.

Savings not the problem, I could deck out a pretty good gym for cash today if i had the space (benefits of doing this in ones 30's) .. I'm maintaining my gym membership anyway, my hours just mean i struggle to make it more than a couple times a week,

so the dumbells, bench etc and an exercise bike are to get a workout on the other days, and then i'll workout completely at home once i get the space sorted for a rack.

I should get a chance to visit sydney before i commit to a rack so i'll try and check it out in person.

 

[Gettingbigger]

Another happy IM superbench owner here! Awesome bit of kit for home use.

 

[NightFallTech]

Another happy IM superbench owner here! Awesome bit of kit for home use.

Got my quote from Samsfitness, just going to figure out my floor protection and then i'll press "GO" on the first part of a semi decent home gym

 

[Rambodian]

Got my quote from Samsfitness, just going to figure out my floor protection and then i'll press "GO" on the first part of a semi decent home gym

How much mate?

Also, if you end up buying a quality bar the MM commercial J-hooks will eat the knurl, they have no polyethylene (or whatever that plastic is called) protection. I would buy a matrix if money is no option.

 

[NightFallTech]

How much mate?

Also, if you end up buying a quality bar the MM commercial J-hooks will eat the knurl, they have no polyethylene (or whatever that plastic is called) protection. I would buy a matrix if money is no option.

For Stage 1.

Iron master bench, cable tower
Iron master dumbbells + 120lb extension
a few cable attachments
Crunch, leg ext and dip attachments for bench (plus roller covers)
20KG kettlebell

I'm up for around $2,300

Plus whatever i come up with to protect the floors. (budget about $300)
Plus a few ironedge plates (rubber coated) for the leg ext and cable tower (around $300)
Plus i'll be picking up an exercise bike. (around $600), medicine ball etc

Say $3.5K all done

For Stage 2

I'm going to go for a bar in the $200-$300 odd range, good enough for now
plus more ironedge plates (about $300-$400)
plus more flooring / some kind of deadlift platform ($unknown)
plus rack (MM Commercial / MM Standard / PowerTec / Bodysolid) (to about $1300)

Budget is about $2-3K

Looking at about 6.5K, maybe $7K tops for my full home gym.
So moneys not 'no object', but i'm looking to spend a reasonable amount of it.

Stage 1 should be ordering this week.

Stage 2, might happen in a couple months if i decide i can use the 3m x 3m room, otherwise it might be 6-12 months away once i've got access to a decent sized garage.

 

[Brick]

Fuck me you have too much money.

I could setup an awesome commercial quality gym for your stage 1 $2300.

Ebay, gumtree and liquidators auctions are your friends.

 

[NightFallTech]

Fuck me you have too much money.

I could setup an awesome commercial quality gym for your stage 1 $2300.

Ebay, gumtree and liquidators auctions are your friends.

Ebay doesn't have a lot at present (I've looked), gumtree I've never been a huge fan of, I'm considering some second hand options for a better quality exercise bike though.

I'd love to spend less, but my minimum requirements are.

1. inclinable bench and a decline situp (can be one or two sep benches)
2. Exercise bike (must feel smooth, not a spin bike)
3. dumbbells ranging from 20-40kg at present, will need to extend upwards
4. olympic bar, 200kg of weight plates (prefer rubber coated)
5. Power rack, prefer full rack to half in general
should have nice J hooks, spotter bars
solid construction
I don't powerlift, but i weigh 110 and would like to be able to drop 200kgs more on the spotters and hooks without knocking it over
good pull up bars
constructed so i can get an incline bench in far enough at the back (many have no spacing to rear crossmember)
6. weight plate storage
7. Protective flooring to use all this on wooden floors
8. high and low cables (plate/selectorised), plus misc attachments
9. Additional floor protection for dropped dumbbells/deadlifts
10. couple kettlebells, medicine ball etc
11. Dip bars


and i need to put together an interim with dumbbells until i have space for the rack

And once i can drop the gym membership, that will start offsetting the cost here!

Edit : Dumbbells are the killer cost in stage 1, the iron masters really are the cheapest option to go up to 40KG+ other than spinlocks.

 

[Rambodian]

Fwaaaark me!

All I can say is I WANT PICS

Gonna have a decent set-up when all is done mate

 

[NightFallTech]

Fuck me you have too much money.

I could setup an awesome commercial quality gym for your stage 1 $2300.

Ebay, gumtree and liquidators auctions are your friends.

If i decided i didn't want dumbbells or the cable tower and I had a concrete floor available rather than wooden, I think i could sort myself out for about that for a good rack, bench, bar, plates, plate storage, plain rubber mats which would be a pretty complete gym, but i dont want to wait until i have space for a rack and i like dumbbell workouts being available.

dumbbells really break the bank at $3+/kilo for rubber hex (plus storage requirements) (set of 20,25,30,35,40 alone comes to $900 + freight and those are big gaps and only to 40KG)

Breakdown of costs across the whole endeavour is about

$1K dumbbells
$0.5K cable tower + attachments
$0.5K bench
$0.5 - 1K flooring/platforms
$0.5K Bike
$1K plates and bar
$1K - $1.5K rack
$0.5K other stuff (kettlebells, medicine balls, mirrors etc)
$0.5K Freight etc

Hard to save substantially without losing something, iron master is a fairly decent bench for $400, might go for a cheaper rack and save some on flooring in the long run and get myself down to $6K all done, but I'd struggle to better that from what i can find available at present.

I'd love some ideas though, my original budget was $4K all done including an exercise bike, if i could do dumbbell exercises, barbell exercises with a decent rack, cable exercises and my bike within that with some flooring protection, i'd be very happy!

 

[NightFallTech]

Ok... I'm had a small amount of sense talked into me and my consideration is now the below....


Ironmaster bench + cable tower + leg attachments ($1050 ish)

(one remaining concern here, I'm a big guy with wide shoulders... is the 25cm wide bench going to be too narrow for presses, or 'ok' and i'll get a 30cm later?)

Ironmaster dumbbell set ($980)

Barbell probably from ABC ($550)
Weight plates (rubber coated) from kettlebells.com.au ($600)

Power Rack - I'm thinking the powerTec, but the MMPR is in the back of my mind. ($750)

10x 1sqm 15mm gym flooring (going in concrete garage now) ($330)

Battery powered LED lighting for my garage ($100 from bunnings)

Exercise bike probably
Cardio Fitness Equipment :: Exercise Bikes :: Grand D12 "Pioneer" Upright Exercise Bike - Free Delivery* - Just Fitness - Treadmills / Fitness Equipment Delivered Free to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Perth, Darwin and Hobart or the model down
$600-$800, need to go try it out though.

couple hundred in freight costs
couple hundred for kettlebell, medicine ball, bands, tricep bar etc

total around $5,500 delivered

Fitting into a space thats basically

3.5m wide, 2.5m deep, 2.2m high at beams (head space in between)
(bike will go inside the house instead)

Concrete floors and walls
Big garage door opening next to me (no exercising in private, but plenty of air flow)

No built in power (will use mobile lighting at night and portable ipad speakers)