Word Count: 1,557
Average Read Time: 5 minutes 40 seconds
Back in my day, weight benches were for bench pressing.
Not anymore.
Nowadays, if a bench doesn't do leg curls, bicep curls, belt squats, do your taxes, and allow you to call your mother, is it really a weight bench?
Many would say no. That's why we're going to take a look at the Apex Bench, which, in my opinion, is one of the most interesting benches on the market and potentially the bench to beat, at least when it comes to the overall bench ecosystem.
(Quick shout-out to Apex Strength, formerly known as Tib Bar Guy, for sending this bench out for me to review. If you decide you want to pick one up, you can use the link in the description. It helps me out at no additional cost to you.)
And one quick note before we get started:
This article is a review of the Apex Bench itself. Apex has a large and growing collection of attachments for the bench, and I'll mention those throughout the article so you know what's available, but I'm not going in-depth on the performance of each attachment here. If you’d like to see posts on each individual attachment, let me know.
The Apex Bench At A Glance
This is a weird review. Normally, I'm reviewing a bench because people are interested in the bench itself. If you're looking at the Apex Bench, there’s a good chance you’re not so much interested in the bench itself.
You may be more interested in the 9,001 things that this bench does.
It’s over 9000!!!
But we can’t skip over the bench. After all, what good are the attachments if the bench they’re attached to sucks?
Apex Bench Specs
Bench height: 17 inches
Front foot width: 10 1/4 inches
Back foot width: 27 inches
Back pad length: 38 1/2 inches
Seat length: 13 inches
Pad width: 12 1/2 inches
Pad gap: 1 1/4 inches
Vertical storage footprint: 17" D × 27" W × 55" H
Weight: Approximately 51 lbs
Does the Apex Bench Have a Gap?
Yes, the Apex Bench has a gap between the seat and back pad.
The gap is 1 1/4 inches.
I know people are particular about bench gaps. I'm not one of those people.
The back pad is long enough that the vast majority of people, including myself, at six feet tall, are going to bench exclusively on the back pad without having to worry about the gap.
Personally, I actually think having the gap can be a good thing.
You can use the gap to make sure you're lined up properly on the bench before you lay back. But that’s just my opinion.
Apex Bench Back and Seat Adjustments
The back pad adjusts from -10 degrees to flat, and then from 15 degrees all the way up to 85 degrees in 5-degree increments.
The seat adjusts from -20, -15, -10, and then up to 30 degrees in 5-degree increments.
There is also a secret bonus adjustment that you can unlock.
If you pop the seat pin out, you can pull the seat past the last hole until the end of the rod rests against the pop pin, instead of the pop pin being slotted into one of the holes. That gives you an angle somewhere around 40 degrees, although I haven't measured the exact angle.
How Good Is the Apex Bench?
The bench itself is solid. It's a great bench, and it's stable.
I've been daily-driving the Apex Bench for over a month now, and I have literally no complaints about the bench itself.
If I had to try to come up with some complaints, the biggest one is that it's a pretty big bench.
At 55 inches long, it's one of the longer benches I've used. It's the longest bench that I currently have in the garage for testing.
It's also a little bit on the heavy side. My scale showed about 51 pounds of “felt weight”. (Felt weight - how heavy the bench feels when the front foot is off the ground and you’re moving it around on its wheels.)
And apparently my wife agrees with my scale that it's a little bit heavy. In her words:
“It’s not THAT heavy, but it would be heavy for a beginner… or any other females that’s not me.” 🤣
What Colors does the Apex Bench Come in?
The Apex Bench comes in several color options.
You can get it in:
Black
Clear grind
Stainless
Red
Gray
Blue
White
I obviously have the white version.
You might be able to tell if you watch my YouTube videos that I'm a little bit partial to the black-on-white color scheme. I’m a huge fan of the storm trooper look.
Is the Apex Bench Worth Buying Without The Attachments
If you’re one of the very few people reading this who are only interested in having a good bench and don’t care about all of the attachments, I have good news. The Apex Bench is still an amazing bench on its own.
Even if you aren't considering any of the attachments right now, I think it's worth considering a bench like this if you think you might possibly be interested in attachments down the road.
You still get an amazing bench, and you keep the option open for attachments later if one catches your eye.
But if you buy a bench that doesn’t accept attachments and later see an attachment that catches your eye, you’re out of luck.
What Attachments Are Available for the Apex Bench?
Again, I'm not going to review all of these attachments in this article. Each of them deserves its own, separate review.
But it is worth knowing what you can add to the Apex Bench.
The ecosystem includes (at the time of writing):
Turns your Apex Bench into a Nordic Bench that allows for Nordic curls at 85-degrees all the way to -10-degrees.
The Matrix machine (my favorite attachment) allows for sissy squats, hip thrusts, Bulgarian split squats, and preacher curls.
The Striker pad allows for chest-supported rows and can flip around to act as a half-back bench for overhead exercises.
The landmine attachment allows you to do, well, landmine exercises.
The Barret Belt squat turns your Apex Bench into a (great) belt squat machine. It also allows for rows and Romanian Deadlifts
The hybrid board is a stand-alone accessory that acts as a slant board for heel-elevated belt squats, a stand-alone heel-elevated squat, can combine with the Barrett Belt Squat for calf raises, and is also a Tib Curl Machine.
The dip attachment not only allows for dips but also has a padded backrest for hanging leg raises.
The multi-grip pull-up bar has 3 pronated grip options, 2 neutral grip options, and 1 ~60-degree grip option.
This ab trainer is slightly unique vs. other bench-attached ab trainers. You can do both decline sit-ups as well as leg raises by holding onto the handles.
These pop-out band pegs allow you to do dedicated band presses.
The leg trainer allows you to do both seated leg extensions and lying leg curls. It has dual weight sleeves and includes built-in band pegs. You can also add a cable kit, which allows you to use your leg trainer with a weight stack.
It’s also important to note that there are THREE attachment ports on this bench. (Well, three that are currently being utilized. More on that later.)
Some attachments can only go in one port, while others can be attached in any port. This allows you to have multiple attachments connected at one time.
There have been a few occasions that I’ve performed supersets or circuits, with every exercise being on the Apex bench. Some examples include:
Overhead tricep extensions (Styker pad) + Preacher curls (Matrix Machine)
Preacher curls (Matrix Machine) + Dips (Dip Station) + Landmine 180s (Landmine)
There are many more possible combinations. Those are just ones I’ve personally done as they’ve come up in my own workouts.
Future Plans for the Apex Bench
Back to me mentioning there are three ports currently being utilized?
Well, there are two additional ports that I don’t even know what they do yet. Logan (one of the co-owners) has confirmed there are future attachments coming that will utilize these two mystery ports.
He also told me that there are attachments coming that will allow for Beyond Power Voltra mounting.
That's one of the reasons I think the Apex Bench is particularly interesting. They came out of the gate SWINGING with their attachment lineup and already have more attachments coming.
If none of these attachments suit your fancy, which I would find surprising, there will be more coming that might.
Check out my full video review on YouTube! 👆
Thank you so much for reading! If you found this information helpful and want to help the Treadaway Training blogcast grow, simply share this post with a friend. If you like what I have to say, join the Skinny-to-Jacked Society Facebook group or check out my YouTube channel. God bless you AND your family, and I'll see you next time.
