XMark XM-4416 12 Position Weights Bench Review

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The XMark XM-4416 decline bench provides something that is crucial for consistent gains in muscle tone and strength in the form of its 12 height position settings.

In our review, we’ll look at the key design features, exercise options, and customer feedback. This should help you decide if the XM-4416 is the best workout bench for home ab exercises.

Design features

One of the most effective pieces of fitness equipment you can buy for any home gym is a decline ab bench.

They are usually very quick and simple to assemble, but can vary in the number of positions available.

If you have already been including flat ab crunches in your workouts, the next step will usually be to increase the intensity of your training.

In terms of sit ups, this can come in several forms. Two of the most popular are; adding a weight plate to your chest, and increasing the angle of the decline.

Fortunately, the XMark XM-4416 decline ab bench provides 12 preset positions. This allows anyone who is relatively new to fitness to set the angle of the bench to be at a position that remains challenging for them.

You can then scale up the intensity and recruit more abdominal muscles than floor crunches alone.

To help make it a little easier to climb onto the bench, a large handle has also been added.

Exercise options

Despite being an incredibly simple piece of workout equipment, the XMark XM-4416 decline bench can actually support a wide variety of exercises that target your abs, hips, and obliques.

While there are many more variations, the 5 exercises listed below are some of the most effective for toning and strengthening your core.

1. Decline crunches – One of the best exercises for toning your abdominals.

After choosing your preferred decline setting, you can wrap your legs around the padded rollers, lie on the back support pad, and slowly contract your abs.

There’s no need to roll your shoulders forwards and bring your elbows all the way up to your knees, a short, simple movement should be all that’s needed with the right tempo. (2 seconds up, 1 second contraction, 2 seconds back to the starting position)

2. Leg raises – This is where the handle attached to the top of the bench comes in so useful. With your head close to the first set of rollers, grip the handle with both hands and with your feet together, raise your legs up towards you.

When you feel a good contraction in your abs, lower your legs back to the starting position. Depending on your range of motion, the tempo can be a bit slower than crunches, with 3 seconds up, 1 second contraction, and 3 seconds back down.

3. Medicine ball sit ups – A great exercise for more anyone with a strong set of abs is the medicine ball sit up. Essentially the same as a standard decline sit up, but by holding the medicine ball you create the added resistance.

The angle of the XMark XM-4416 and weight of the ball can then both be adjusted to keep your workouts challenging and develop a stronger core, especially with its 400 lb weight capacity.

4. Hip raises – Similar to leg raises but requiring your legs to be in the raised position before you start, then kept there throughout the exercise.

Holding onto the handle and with your head just below the rollers, you can then push your feet towards the ceiling by raising your hips up off the bench.

5. Hip raise and leg raise combined – An ideal exercise for the more advanced ab workout, this requires you to hold onto the handle, then raise your legs up towards you, and raise your hips off the bench at the top of the movement.

You then lower your hips back to the bench, and your legs back to almost touching the floor. Keeping the tension on your abs is important so try to always prevent your feet or legs from resting on the bench between reps.

Customer reviews

An important benefit of buying any fitness equipment online has always been the ability to quickly find customer reviews.

Before deciding on any decline ab bench, you want to see a large collection of 5 star reviews and preferably very few reviews with lower ratings.

This is exactly what you get with the XMark XM-4416. With approximately 90% of the reviews rating this bench at 4 or the full 5 stars on Amazon, you’ll find plenty of people confirming what a great bench this is for ab workouts.

By clicking the ‘Buy Now’ button below, you’ll be able to read through the full collection of reviews before you buy. But we’ve put together the lists shown below, to give a quick summary of the most frequently mentioned pros and cons.

Pros:

Cons:

• End caps to the foam rollers will occasionally slide off without being glued on