Top 10 Workout Bench Workouts

John wrote last week about the convenience of having a workout bench at home for getting some exercise with. Today I just wanted to share 10 quick, easy, and effective workouts that you can do with your workout bench, that will give you a full body workout from your arms and chest all the way down to your legs and hips.

Weightless Exercises

I want to start by showing you 5 different exercises that you can do using your workout bench that don’t require any weights. All you need is a workout bench and an ounce of motivation, and you’re good to go. Here are the exercises:

Incline Push-ups – Incline pushups are a modified version of the regular push-up. Rather than doing your push-ups on the ground, place your hands on the workout bench, with your feet on the ground, and then perform the push-up. The closer your legs are to the bench, the easier the push-up will be.
Incline push-ups are great for people who struggle with regular push-ups, because they’re easier to do, but still workout similar muscle groups. If you’re comfortable doing regular push-ups, another great tip is to perform regular push-ups until you can’t do anymore, then switch to incline push-ups to push your muscles even further.
Decline Sit-ups – If you have a workout bench that can be turned into a decline, like the Weider 130 FID Bench & Ab Slant Board, then a great exercise to perform is the decline sit-up. Just set the bench to a comfortable angle, and bring your body up like a regular sit-up. Try not to use your arms or use too much momentum.

Decline sit-ups are great because they not only workout the upper abs, like regular crunches, but they also bring in your lower abs and your core, for a more complete ab workout.
Leg Lifts – Another great ab exercise you can perform with a workout bench is the leg lift. Simply lie down on the workout bench so that your hips are at the edge of the bench, and your legs are hanging off. Then lift your legs up to about 45 degrees, and then bring them back down.
Make sure not to bring your legs down all the way back down to the floor. Keep them in the air the whole time, for a constant exercise. Your legs should not go down more than a few degrees lower than the angle of the bench, and you should not feel any strain on your back.
Squats – One of the mistakes that people make when performing squats is that they don’t go down low enough. You can help correct this problem by performing squats next to a workout bench. Position yourself so that you butt will touch the workout bench when you squat all the way down. Then perform squats as normal, keeping your back straight and your hips out.
Make sure not to actually sit down on the bench when you come down. Just touch your butt to the bench, to make sure that you’re going low enough, then come back up.
Step-ups – This exercise is slightly dangerous, so don’t perform it if you feel uncomfortable, and take it slow the first times through. In order to perform a step-up, just place one of your feet on the bench, then bring the other up so that you’re standing on the bench, then come back down. After completing a set of these, alternate legs.
It’s important when performing this exercise to keep your balance, and to make sure there are no dangerous objects near your workout bench that you could run into, should you lose your balance.

Free Weight Exercises

The exercises listed above are great for cardio exercises, but if you want to get some serious strength training in, you’ll want to combine your workout bench with dumbbells and other free weights. Here are some exercise you can do using a workout bench and some weights:

Bench Press – This is probably the most common and well known bench exercise. Simply carry the weight above your chest with your arm extended, then bring your arms down so that they are hovering right above your chest, then push back up. You can work out different parts of your chest, depending on how high or low your arms are on your chest, and how close your arms are together. This exercise can be performed with either dumbbells or barbells.
Dumbbell Flies – Another great exercise to perform on a workout bench is the dumbbell fly. Lie down on the bench, then hold two dumbbells above your chest, with your arms extended. Then bring your arms apart, so that they are hanging on your side, then bring them back up. Try to keep your arms rounded the whole time. If performed correctly, the exercise should look like you are lying on your back hugging and un-hugging a large barrel.
Head Cracker – The head cracker is a great tricep exercise to perform on the workout bench. You can also crack your head open if you do it incorrectly, so please proceed with caution!

To perform the head cracker, hold a dumbbell right above your forehead while lying on the bench, with your arms bent, then straighten your arms, and then lower the weight down again (slowly!) so that it’s hovering above your head. Try not to move your arms while performing this exercise, try to isolate your triceps. And again, bring the weight back down slowly, or you could end up with a serious head ache.
Shoulder Raise – This is a good workout for your shoulders. Simply lie down on the bench with a dumbbell in one hand, resting on your pelvis. Then bring the weight up in a straight arc so that it’s being held right above your body, in a 90 degree angle. Then bring the weight down, slowly.
You can do this exercise by alternating between two arms, or do one set with a single arm, and then switch to the other arm on the next set.
Weighted Sit-ups – This is a simple variation of the sit-up, that involves hugging a weight (this works best with barbell weights) while performing a sit-up. Just lie down on the bench, hug a weight, and perform a sit-up as normal. This will help you develop a lot more ab power, and help to increase the size of your abs.

There are many other exercises that you can do with your workout bench, but hopefully this will give you some ideas for your next workout. If you perform all of the above exercises on a regular basis, you will start seeing the results in just a few months. Make sure to warm-up and stretch properly before attempting any of these exercises, so you don’t injure yourself, and have a great workout!