🏋️ We found the 12 best weight benches

Welcome to Home Gym Club! The word garage comes from the French word garer, which means “to shelter.” So, it makes sense that we use our garages to shelter our precious collection of fitness equipment.

What’s in today’s newsletter:

• Our experts tested and narrowed down the best weight benches for your home gym.

• Shopping for Father’s Day? We found the best fitness gifts for Dad.

• Coop went on a 3-car garage gym tour.

• Here’s what our testers thought of the Echelon Stride-8s treadmill.

Train Station

Best Weight Benches

In addition to a barbell, squat rack, and weight plates, a weight bench is an essential piece of home gym equipment, and there are thousands of different options to choose from. There are adjustable benches, FID (flat, incline, and decline) benches, flat utility benches, and then a myriad of unique benches for specific movements.

“As a home gym owner and personal trainer, I use weight benches for bench presses, seated dumbbell and barbell work, triceps dips, step-ups, weighted leg raises, and, most importantly, a place to rest between sets,” says weightlifting coach and GGR director of fitness content Kate Meier.

Our team of certified personal trainers, competitive weightlifters, and home gym equipment experts have tested more than 50 adjustable weight benches and fixed weight benches and rated them based on the following factors:

• Stability

• Construction

• Training experience

• Foam and covering

• Adjustability

Gift Guide

Best Fitness Gifts for Dad

Your dad (or dad figure) means a lot to you, but let’s face it — buying gifts for him can be a real challenge. He says he doesn’t want anything, but of course, you want to give him something. Whether he loves trail running, CrossFit, yoga, or powerlifting, we have you covered with the best fitness gifts for Dad. 

The items on this list make stellar surprises for Father’s Day gifts, a birthday, or any other special occasion. Plus, we’ve included our favorite budget options for Dad, so you don’t have to spend a pretty penny to get a wonderful present.

• Best Under $50: YETI Tumblers and Ramblers - Shop Now

• Best Under $100: ROGUE USA Aluminum Collars - Shop Now 

• Best Weight Lifting Belt: 2POOD - Shop Now

• Best Gym Timer: Flex Timer - Shop Now

• Best Portable Home Gym: X3 Bar Shop Now - Shop Now

• Best Barbell: Rogue Ohio Bar - Shop Now

• Best Shorts: Lululemon Pace Breaker Lined Shorts - Shop Now

• Best Massage Gun: Theragun Prime - Shop Now

Home Gym Tour

3-Car Garage Home Gym

Did you think garages were just for parking your cars? Boy, oh boy, do we have a garage gym tour for you. For our latest gym tour, we kept it in the family and visited GGR Lead Product Tester Brandon Lunsford’s three-car garage gym. You know a guy who tests fitness equipment for a living has to have the best set-up.

Follow along with us as Brandon breaks down his:

• Gym flooring

• Cardio equipment

• Power rack

• Functional trainer

• Barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, and plates

• Kidz Korner™️

• Recovery zone

Last but not least, Brandon shares what he’s hoping to add next.

Cardio Zone

Echelon Stride 8s Review

Lindsay Scheele, expert tester and ISSA-certified personal trainer, put the Echelon Stride-8s to the test by walking, running, and participating in on-demand classes. Lindsay isn’t just a fitness industry professional; she’s also the lead reviewer for our Garage Gym Reviews Everything YouTube channel, where you can find her honest reviews on everything from the best treadmills to the best pre-workout.

For our Echelon Stride-8s review, Lindsay assessed and scored a variety of categories, including footprint, portability, ergonomics, customizations, and tech capabilities. She analyzed over 10 categories and scored each one from 1 to 5 stars using our in-depth fitness equipment testing methodology.

Check out her full assessment!

Quick Hits

Are You Ready to Monkey Around?

• We tried out the MonkeyFeet Pro, an innovative tool created by Animalhouse Fitness that makes it possible for anyone to perform weighted donkey kicks, leg curls, high knees, and leg extensions without a large machine.

• A certified personal trainer outlines the benefits of treadmill desks.

• Speaking of treadmills, if you’re looking to take your cardio to the next level (literally), try one of these CPT-approved treadmill hill workouts.