If you go to any commercial gym, you will see an abundance of weight benches as they are a versatile piece of equipment that can be used for almost any type of training.
Whether you want to do body weight exercises or push your limits with barbell and dumbbell exercises, there are plenty of exercises to choose from.
Especially if it is an adjustable bench that allows you target certain muscle groups.
But if you are struggling to come up with ideas, here are few of the best weight bench workouts for you to try.
1. Bench Press
One of the most classic exercises to do on a weight bench is the bench press. This is something you would do on a completely flat or horizontal bench.
Here you hold a barbell at chest level with your palms facing up and press them straight up into the air.
It's an excellent exercise for your chest muscles and triceps, one that will surely test your endurance and is used as a benchmark in powerlifting.
2. Incline Bench Press
The incline bench press is a good variation of the regular bench press. Here, you adjust to the weight bench so that the backrest is on an angle of about 45-degrees, instead of being perfectly flat.
You still hold the barbell at chest level and then press it straight up into the air, but due to the change in angle at which you're sitting, it also slightly changes the muscles being worked.
Thanks to this new position, your upper chest muscles are being engaged far more than with a regular bench press, along with your triceps.
3. Skull Crushers
Another great exercise to do on a weight bench is the skull crusher.
Use an ez-bar or dumbbells, nothing too heavy, lay flat on your back, and hold the barbell above your head with your elbows bent and your palms facing upwards.
Start with the barbell just above and behind your head, and then straighten your arms until they are totally vertical. If you're looking to train your triceps, this is one of the best weight bench exercises of all.
4. Dumbbell Pullover
Speaking of your chest and triceps muscles, the dumbbell pullover is yet another great one to try. Lay flat on the bench, with the bench in its horizontal position.
Hold a dumbbell by one end with your palms facing upwards and totally extend your arms so they are stretched above your head and in line with the rest of your body (you should look like you are planking on your back.
Slowly lift the dumbbell upwards so that your arms are facing the sky, and then lower it back down to the starting position.
5. Bicep Curl or Incline Bicep Curl
Moving on to a different muscle group, the bicep curl or incline bicep curl is another great weight bench exercise. Here, you can have the backrest either in a vertical or in an inclined position.
Generally speaking, the more of an incline you have, the more it will train your biceps. Simply hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides and slowly curl them, all while maintaining proper form.
6. Incline Barbell Curls
If you want to step things up a bit for your biceps, try some incline barbell curls.
Here, you put the weight bench in its inclined position, but instead of sitting on it facing upwards, you lay down on it with your stomach, with your face looking downwards.
Hold either a pair of dumbbells or a barbell, and perform biceps curls. This is a much more difficult version of the regular bicep curl.
7. Shoulder Flies
If you're looking to exercise your shoulders, particularly your real deltoids, and to a certain extent your traps, then doing some inclined shoulder flies is always a good idea.
Instead of sitting vertically like on a shoulder fly machine, here you lay with your stomach against the bench while it is at a 45 degree angle, so you're slightly facing downwards. Then, lift the dumbbells upwards and outwards using your rear deltoids.
8. Dumbbell Rows
If you're looking for a good shoulder and back exercise, doing some dumbbell rows on a weight bench is a great idea.
Position yourself beside the bench, put your left hand on the bench to support yourself, as well as your left knee. Keep your right foot on the ground, and then use your right hand to row dumbbells, or in other words, pull them up towards your body.
Repeat this for the other side. Remember that your back should stay parallel with the ground and the bench at all times.
9. Cross-Body Mountain Climbers
If what you want is a super difficult abdominal exercise, and doing some cross body mountain climbers with elevated feet is the way to go.
Here, get in a push up position, but have your feet elevated on the bench. From this position, tuck in your knees one at a time so they get as close to your arms or midsection as possible.
It should look like you are climbing a mountain. You should look almost like a frog swimming with one leg at a time.
10. Hip Thrusts with Elevated Feet
To build some nice glutes, doing hip thrusts is great. However, if you want to make things a little harder, do some elevated hip thrusts.
Lay with your back flat on the ground and your knees bent, with one of your feet placed on the bench, and the other foot facing straight up into the air with your leg extended.
Use the foot that is being supported on the bench to thrust the other leg up in the air as far as possible, and hold at the top.
11. Bulgarian Split Squat
To work out your thighs and glutes, do a Bulgarian split squat. To do a Bulgarian split squat, face away from the bench and place the top of one of your feet on the bench, so that your leg is bent out behind you.
Keep your other leg on the ground and use this leg to squat down. It almost looks like doing standing lunges with a leg behind you and on the bench. To make it even harder, you can always hold some dumbbells.
Weight Bench Workouts
As you can see, there are plenty of different exercises that you can do with a weight bench, and we really just scratch the surface here. What it comes down to is that the weight bench can be used to train virtually every muscle in your body.
