Valor Fitness Olympic Weight Bench Press Station with Adjustable Safety Catch and Spotter Stand for Home Gym Workout

Update: I thought I would update this review, noting that, since I purchased this Bench that originally came with some defective parts; as well as, defective/used looking replacement parts sent to me, I haven't heard back from these people at Valor Athletics to make things right with me. When I initially posted this review, I wasn't able to post the pictures for some reason, but today, I stumbled across these pictures, so here they are. These are pictures of the replacement parts that were sent to me to replace the defective ones that was in the first shipment. The first picture is one of the many holes that the seat had. The second is a picture of the front foot that's welded on crooked (both the original and the replacement were both crooked). The third picture is a replacement for one of the feet they sent me--some of the other feet also looked like this. Man, I felt totally disrespected with the junk they sent me to replace the defective stuff they initially sent me. I'd post more pictures, but for some reason, if I post more than 3 pictures, my review doesn't appear.Sadly, ever since then, I've been stuck with this expensive crappy used looking bench.I can't recommend a manufacturer who treated me this way.All the best.(Original Review)This bench came damaged. It looks awful and used because of the damage it came with. One of the arms has a smashed cap. The other arm has a lot of scratches on the paint. The main frame has a crooked foot. The bench pad had poor stitch work (extra holes were made because someone/something stitched it wrong)--definitely not something acceptable in anyway...for example, if you purchased a car seat, would you mind bad stitching? What about pants with bad stitching, would you exchange it?There was a note in the box stating if there were any issues, to contact them at the email/phone number. I did that, they sent me new parts as I aforementioned. However, the "new" pad looks very used and has more damage than the pad I currently have. The foot on the "new" main frame is still just as crooked as the first one I got. They didn't bother sending me anything for the scratches on the arm. They sent me some new rubber feet; one of the feet looks like it was chewed up by a dog--literally, it's bad. Lastly, the only undamaged thing they sent me was the plastic cap that came in a ziplock bag.This bench is ugly and doesn't look worth $350. To me, this looks like a used bench with bad manufacturing. The manufacturer & the seller are done with me and don't want to bother to make things right because it's past 30 days since I purchased it--even though, 13 days after I received the bench, I contacted the email address that I was instructed to contact via the cover of the installation manual--which is how I got the replacement parts to begin with.That was my experience with this product. I'm not happy at all.Best wishes,Hello?

It's not easy picking out equipment online. Yes, you get pictures, here on Amazon there's usually a ton of useful reviews, but you never truly know if you're going to like what you get... This time I love what I got. I'm going to babble like a teenage cheerleader for this product so I'll spare you the time if you're not interested.Pros- Excellent Quality- Reasonable price- Easy to put together- You don't need a spotter for benching with this- Stand for a spotter if you want- She's purdyCons- If your arms are over a certain length, this may be a dangerous option for you (You should read about this below this)- Don't jump on the spotter's standPros explanationExcellent QualityEverything about this bench oozes quality. It arrived in two boxes well packaged. All of the pieces are made of thick nicely painted metal. The bench pad is thick and supportive. The two stoppers that allow you to bench heavy weight by yourself are secure and will make you feel you're being protected confidently. The feet are wide and sturdy. The welds on the unit I received were neatly done and even the paint job was done well.The spotter stand is a thick piece of metal that will hold up all you big boys out there. This is almost something you would see in a professional gym. I could go on and on but the bottom line is whoever made this cared about what they were doing and they did it right.Reasonable PriceIf you compare this bench to others on Amazon near this price point, this one should come out at the top or near it. The construction is thick squared pieces of metal. You're not going to be twisting this or bending it or tipping it over or whatever. I've already harped on this but the higher the quality, usually the higher the cost. This is high quality and not such a high cost. Absolutely worth it.Easy to put together...self explanatory.You don't need a spotter for benching with thisHey now. I used to live in Ames, IA and I would go to this gym(Ames Racquet and Fitness) right by the Iowa State Cyclones Campus. So I would lay down to bench press, start to psych myself out and prepare for my benching, look over and see some beautiful college girl benching more than me. That sucked. So now you can attempt to increase your benching weight within the safety of your home. When you're ready and you're benching a decent amount, visit that gym. When you look over she won't be benching more than you. If you work out until failure you have nothing to worry about. The adjustable stoppers will save your neck and your pride.Stand for a SpotterIf you want a spotter there's a nice stand for one. Sturdy, metal and well placed.She's Purdy... ain't she.Con ExplanationSo I've read a bunch of reviews about this bench and there was a few reviews that concerned me. Specifically the reviews that mentioned the design of the bench was so that, when you attempted to return the bar into the rest position, the top resting position was to low and you may go over the rest position and blow out your shoulder.Is this a real thing? Well, Yes and No.The measurement from my armpit to the center of my palms is 21.5 inches. When I'm laying down on the bench bar in hands, I cannot place the bar into the top slot unless I raise my back up and off the padding. So in a normal benching situation, I would NEVER go anywhere near that top position and I would be safe.Now, if my arms were longer then I could see where this would be a big concern, but I'm thinking they would have to be like 5 or so inches longer for this to be a real problem. So to wrap this up...I love this bench, it's a high quality item, I will buy from Valor Athletics again.

I’m going to start by saying.. THANK YOU for listening to your customers reviews. There’s now three racks for the bar, the top rack was moved for safety purposes and the step for the spotter is heavy sturdy. I just got this bench today. Fast delivery! Installation was easy to assemble and nothing was damaged. I am so glad I made this purchase. It is WORTH every penny.. thank you! I finally got a bench that has the same quality as commercial gyms.

great bench.you are going to need to lengthen the the arms b/c the top striker plate is too high and you could easily overshoot and do some serious damage. remove the striker plates, bring to your local machine shop and have the shop cut a long (18") steel back plate with holes to align to the holes in the supplied plate. order from an industrial supply store FOUR bolts--flat head, 1/2-13x4" b/c these are not available around town.also, you need to remove the spotter parts when you do flies or you could break your radius/ulnas. would be nice if it was easier to remove those parts b/c they are screw-on, but they are easy enough to remove.nothing is perfect