Bench Blokz Solo Board Presses Review
Board Presses Made Easy
Bench Blokz Gym Gears
We recently received some goodies from Bench Blokz (benchblokz.com) for a product review – 2 bench boards and heavy duty wrist straps. As always, our reviews are completely unbiased, providing you (the athlete) with what you need to know.
You may have seen Powerlifters or those chasing strength gains do bench press with a wooden block on their chest before. This is essentially a much more useful alternative. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves- why do people put things between their chest and the bar?
The use of a board or bench block is particularly useful when trying to increase the weight on the bar- for example, lets say I put an extra couple of small plates onto the bar, which is already at my 1 Rep max (the heaviest weight I am able to use to perform the exercise through its full range of motion). In an age where spotters can be hard to find, I might not trust myself to try this new weight and go through the full range of motion with it. Nothing is worse than getting stuck under the bar whilst it tries to choke me out! So by using the Bench Blok I am able to gain confidence doing part of the full range of motion, knowing that the bar will just sit on the block if I am unable to re-rack the bar. As I feel comfortable performing this limited range of motion, I can use another side of the block that will allow me a greater range of motion. Rinse repeat until I no longer need the Bench Blok to perform a rep through the full range of motion. And hoorah! A new bench personal record is born.
Now of course, not performing the full range of motion on bench press may be useful in other cases beyond pushing new limits with your 1 rep max. Perhaps you have suffered a rotator cuff, or pectoral injury, and are doing rehabilitation. Moving the body through a range of motion that is gradually increased, and under safe load, can greatly help with injury recovery as part of a well-prescribed exercise program. This is supported in the Journal of Sports Medicine (Fees et al., 1998) for those who enjoy some light reading. Athletes need to return to the weight room following injury in a safe and progressive manner, and the guys behind Bench Blokz aim to do just that.
Finally, an existing problem identified with the wooden board method is that it doesn’t really stay in place too well (and we HATE things that don’t stay in place… it’s why we created our award-winning sunglasses for athletes!). Unless of course you want to glue wooden boards to your shirt. Bench Blokz have aimed to remedy this with their design which attaches to the bar itself.
What Do The Products Look Like?
We were sent the following (notice that with the block products, it tells you the equivalent amount of boards you would need to place on your chest to achieve this height):
Bench Blokz 1/2 board, 1 board (currently retailing at $34.95)
Bench Blokz 2,3,4,5 board (currently retailing at $59.95)
Bench Blokz 24 inch heavy duty wrist wraps (currently retailing at $20.00)
Our Experience
See the quick video below to see the products above in action!
I could easily imagine having either of these blocks in my gym bag for heavy bench sessions where I am pushing my limits, or doing some rehabilitative work. They are straightforward and simple to use. To me, they seem like a solid training tool that isn’t unnecessarily complicated or some kind of ‘fad’, but actually a very useful modern solution to using wooden boards. I liked benching with them, and personally will continue to use them.
As for the wrist straps, they felt very well made and durable, I liked the exposed rubber too. I wrapped them really tight so there was no chance of my wrists giving out (after all, that’s the point of them right?!). The BenchBlokz wrist straps definitely didn’t let me down and I really like the durability of all the products they sent- they really feel solid, and they have to be for their intended purposes!
Usefulness For Athletes
In a nutshell, these are well made products that are a great training tool for power-lifters, strength athletes, and those who need to do rehabilitative bench work. Whilst I would say they are definitely suitable for everyone, these are products that will naturally gravitate towards those really looking to push themselves. If your goal is to bench press bigger than anyone else, these are great products to help you get there in a safe and progressive way.
Conclusions
Overall we have scored Bench Blokz a 10.
There really isn’t anything to compain about here. They are great products, competitively priced, and great training tools if you need them- lightweight, durable, no nonsense. Products after our own hearts!
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