Merax Weight Bench with Leg Extension - 6+3 Positions Adjustable Olympic Utility Benches with Preacher Curl Upgrade Design

I want to thank my commercial gym for giving me the gumption to find a personal workout bench with a leg extension to strengthen my knees and hamstrings. Now I don’t have to wait for a machine squatter or long queue of users to finish using the equipment only to be rushed when it's my turn because the gym refuses to have more than one machine.It took me about two hours to assemble the bench using a 17mm (11/16) socket wrench and a small 8” pipe wrench using the detailed diagram with inventory as a guide. I might have to buy two more washers, as suggested by other feedback, for where a bolt fits the inner fulcrum for the leg extension because it is slightly wobbly.Overall, I am satisfied with the purchase as even with a few days of unimpeded leg workouts my knees have gained some stability.

I bought this for my home gym and have been using it for about 9 months now.Pros1. Good value for the money. It is very sturdy and easy to use. (see number 2 of cons)2. The settings of the bench are well positioned allowing you to do flat and incline exercises on the bench.3. The adjustment bar to position the bench into various incline positions is very strong and won't slip like other workbenches might in this money category.4. In the upright position - the back of the bench comes up beyond your head to provide support.5. Easy to take and put on weights on the leg extension.6. The leg extensions and leg curl portion are well positioned allowing the user to do these exercises in proper form.7. I attached a workout chain with a straight small bar to the end of the leg attachment and do bicep curls pulling the weight up while I am sitting on the bench with the back in the upright position. This is a great bicep workout.Cons1. The decline position is way too low and unusable. Essentially you are laying the bench all the way down - this is not a proper decline position.2. The legs are in a semi-circle and although this adds to the sturdiness of the bench - it also contributes to its legs being easy to trip over.3. The preacher curl attachment is useless - it doesn't have any adjustments to allow the user to change the angle. It only goes up and down. I just have it sitting next to the wall. I tried it once and realized it is worthless. (see pro number 6 above)4. The preacher curl attachment doesn't allow the user to fully extend your arm because the leg attachment is right there preventing this. Look at the photos with the male using the preacher curl and you can see what I am talking about.5. The leg attachment wobbles from side to side and cannot be tightened. I was able to cure this by putting metal washers on both side of the inner part of the pin that is used to attach the leg extension to the bench.6. The instructions were literally just pictures with no words. There was only two large picture with all the bolts and nuts trying to show where they go but the photo was such poor quality that I had to make educated guesses of where each bolt goes based on sizes and probable location of where they go.SummaryI am 6 ft tall and have no height problems using this workout bench. Overall I am satisfied with this purchase. There are probably better workout benches out there but you will pay a considerable amount more for them. Anything that is within this price range will not beat this for value. I would recommend this to anyone who has a home gym and wants a simple bench with the leg extension unit. I have not had any mechanic issues with this unit.

I didn't even install the leg extension or preacher curl parts as I have them on other machines. For just the leg curls, it is GREAT! I read that people find it uncomfortable, I had no problems. It doesn't feel cheap. It is really worth it. Piece of cake to assemble.

Easy to assemble, sturdy but too low, Can't put 45 plates on leg ext. Will have to raise that part up to use! And guess what, that what i wanted the bench for. ... But they gave full refund! Great service. Will buy from rhem again.

When buying weight lifting equipment for under two hundred dollars, you shouldn't hold your expectations too high. My wife and I were wanting a bench with leg extension and curling capabilities and this bench seemed to be the best value based on the reviews already posted. It isn't perfect by any means, but we've made it work for us.Assembly was fairly straightforward although the bolts were not easy to distinguish between the lengths of them. There's a measuring scale in the manual that I think they provide so you can measure your bolts against but it isn't accurate. You pretty much just have a diagram showing which bolts go where and you have to look closely to really make sense of it.The bench itself and using it is a mixed bag, if you will. Because it's made of lighter steel, when you add weight plates to the front of the bench, there's the potential for the bench to tilt forward if you're not careful. As someone else did in their review, I've placed a 45lb plate on the back legs of the bench to help prevent it from tipping. Speaking of adding weights, you can not use standard sized 45lb olympic plates on this bench without raising the bench 4-5 inches off the ground. The bar that you slide the weight plates onto is too low to use 45lb plates or even standard sized rubber bumper plates where 10,25,35, & 45lb plates are the same size. If you're using traditional cast iron plates up to 25lbs, you should be fine, but I don't know if 35lb plates would hit the floor or not. One big negative is when you add weight plates to the weight bar and attempt to do leg extensions, the plates end of hitting your shins on the front of your legs and it's painful. I've taken care of this by placing a 1-2 collars, one that you would use on a barbell to keep plates from moving, on the bench's weight bar to space it out about 4 inches away from my legs.It's not a great design, but we may keep it since it's working for us and a better one is roughly 2x the cost.

Its good for apartments when don't have a lot space .

This bench is easy to assemble and sturdy. Size is just right. We had a Marcy system with a multifunction bench like this and we liked it but this one is a little bigger and feels better because it’s size. The color combo and padding is nice and durable as well. What we like the most is that the leg extension part is high enough of the floor that your feet don’t rub on the floor and that’s great since my husband is 6’4”.