I recently purchased a Body-Solid PowerLift FID46 Flat/Incline/Decline Weight Bench. I chose this bench because it is very sturdy, and the bench can easily adjust to an incline or decline position. The picture shows the bench with light grey pads, mine looks the same, but the pads are black instead of light grey.

I’ve included some pictures below that show the bench during assembly and after it’s finished. Click any picture to see a larger version.

The package weighs 125lbs, so you may want some help getting it to your destination, though I was able to move it myself by ‘walking’ the box along the ground to the room I assembled it in. The bench comes with excellent instructions, maybe the best I’ve seen. The book not only includes instructions broken down into steps with illustrations and written directions, but also has sections on nutrition, exercises, and even log sheets for your workouts. The hardware is packaged together for each step, and each piece is labeled as to it’s name, and quantity, so it’s very difficult to screw up.

Though the instructions are very good, the bench has a lot of parts, and you really have to pay close attention to both the pictures and written descriptions they give you to be sure you assemble it correctly. I ran into a couple problems assembling mine. The first, which was minor was that I couldn’t get all four screws into the seat back. I was able to solve that problem by using a file to file the holes in the frame slightly larger, so the bolt had a bit more room to catch onto the bolt in the seat back.

The second problem was a bit more serious. I was unable to slide the leg attachment onto the bench. The post that slides onto the bench was hitting the edge of the seat padding, and could not be pushed all the way down. I found a solution, but it required power tools. I put a metal cutting blade in my jig saw, and cut slots on each side of the holes that the seat attaches to. I then pounded the tabs between the two cuts into the frame, which results in an elongated hole for the bolts that attach to the seat. I then put the bolts through into the seat, and slide the seat to a position where I could get the leg attachment on and off. See the pictures below which show the cuts I made, and the tab bent in.

Note that after using the bench a few times, I noticed that their was a much easier solution to this, and in fact it’s probably not a fault with the bench at all. If you put the bench in an incline position, it opens up enough space to slide the leg attachment on and off without hitting the seat. I’m still glad I made the adjustment so I don’t have to worry about that, but if you don’t have tools and don’t want to spend the time to alter your bench, it’s not actually necessary.

The only other problem I had with the bench was that part of the chrome was peeling off the Olympic adaptor on the leg attachment. Not a big deal, you can’t really even tell (at least not yet).

I’ve been using the bench for a bit now and I really like it. It’s very sturdy and comfortable, and adjusts easily. Though it’s a heavy bench, it has wheels on one end that make it easier to move around. I found that you can even stand it on end to take up less floor space when not in use. This bench is even sturdy enough that I’ve been using it for hyperextensions. I adjust the seat back to about 45 degrees, then kneel against it with my feet at the base of the seat back, and then use my weight belt to strap around my calves and the seat back to hold me on the bench. I position the bench so that I can use my power rack to aid me in raising up or down if I need the help. With it’s wide and long base, the bench doesn’t budge even though I’m cantilevered a few feet off the end of the bench. Might not work for someone much taller than me (I’m about 5′9″), but for me, it’s working great! Overall, dispite the few problems I had, I would strongly recommend this bench to anyone looking for a sturdy, flexible weight bench.