Wednesday, 18 September 2024

Weights Bench

XMark XM-4418 FID Weight Bench Review

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Utilizing a ladder style adjustment system rather than the locking pin style seen on the XM-4417, the XMark XM-4418 FID Weight Bench offers a range of important improvements over the earlier model in the range.

It’s design features like these that will be covered in more detail throughout our review. This is in addition to exercise options and customer reviews, to help you decide if this is the best adjustable bench for your own home workouts.

Design features

The preacher curl pad and leg developer attachment extend the range of exercises that are possible with the XM-4418 bench

If you’re considering buying a new weights bench, one of the first decisions you typically need to make is whether or not to opt for a FID bench.

FID benches, like the XM-4418, have several major benefits over more conventional fixed designs, such as allowing you to target muscle groups from a variety of different angles using the same piece of equipment.

Not only do you save potentially hundreds of dollars by buying a FID bench in place of separate fixed position flat, incline, and decline benches, but you also make much better use of any limited space you might have.

XMark Fitness are a company that have specialized in producing this style of workout bench, not just in terms of the variety they have available, but also in terms of build quality and functionality.

For example, the XMark XM-4418 offers much more than a simple platform for pressing dumbbells and barbells. You also have multiple attachment options for isolating your quadriceps, hamstrings, and biceps.

If you find that the preacher curl pad gets in the way at all during your bench press workouts, this can be quickly removed and put to one side until you start your bicep workout.

This also helps with getting the full range of motion out of the leg developer, which has a set of padded foam rollers that double as a leg brace for the decline bench settings to prevent you sliding down the back support.

To keep the weight of the bench to a minimum, the preacher curl and leg developer both utilize the same resistance system, which is based around adding weight plates to the peg at the front of the frame.

Cushioning and incline adjustment

XMark have also reduced the number of moving parts by choosing to design the position settings based on a ‘lift and lock’ ladder style of back support adjustment.

This means you don’t have to worry about any locking pins getting jammed or worn away over time like you may have to with cantilever bench systems, or those that use a sliding rail design.

In terms of cushioning and support, this is another area that the XMark XM-4418 really specializes in.

The seat has been ergonomically shaped to provide complete support for your upper legs when using the leg developer, as well as when you want to rest your feet on the ‘U’ shaped base frame when performing press variations for upper body workouts.

XMark XM-4418 Flat Incline Decline Weight Bench

XMark XM-4418 – Features Summary

  • Lifetime in-home warranty
  • 8 ladder back adjustments from decline to military press position
  • Ergonomic 3 position adjustable seat
  • 3 vertical preacher curl adjustments
  • Removable integrated preacher curl bar
  • 3 position adjustable dual leg developer for leg curls and extensions
  • Preacher curl bar/ leg developer use standard or Olympic plate weights
  • Leg developer hold up to 200 pounds of standard or Olympic weight plates
  • Olympic adaptor included
  • Horseshoe shaped base for stability
  • Extra thick 2.5” Hi-density cushions
  • Oversized 4” contoured knee and ankle pads
  • Double stitched, sweat and tear resistant Duraguard Vinyl
  • Skid resistant rubber feet
  • Scratch resistant baked powder coat finish

Exercise options

The height of the bench is slightly more than similar models, which is why the U-shape of the base frame can be so useful

Without a doubt, one of the reasons that the XMark collection of weights benches has proved so popular amongst home gym users is their versatility.

Not only can they support an impressive amount of weight for the price, but they can also adjust to a wide range of positions and offer some effective attachment options.

Each of these features allows you to add more exercises to your home workouts, without having the added expense of having to go out and buy additional equipment.

Even a leg developer that uses weight plate resistance rather than cables and weight stacks will set you back several hundred dollars, and the cable pulley versions can easily cost over the $1000 mark.

That’s not to mention the cost of buying fixed position benches to cover the number of positions the XMark XM-4418 can adjust to, and the preacher curl pad / curling yoke combination.

To provide a better idea of the number of exercises available, we’ve put together the following comprehensive list. As with any weights bench, these exercises will often require you to have a set of free weights available, with a variety of weight plates to hand.

Exercise options:


  • Leg extensions
  • Hamstring curls
  • Preacher curls
  • Incline dumbbell press
  • Decline dumbbell press
  • Flat barbell press




Customer reviews

While written reviews like ours tend to focus much more on comparisons, features, and functions, customer reviews on ecommerce sites like Amazon tend to provide a much broader opinion on the usability of the equipment.

That’s why it’s still worth taking the time to read through these reviews as much as possible, as they tend to be based across a much longer period of time and in a wider variety of training situations.

The XMark XM-4418 FID Bench maintains a high average rating on many ecommerce sites, such as Amazon

Fortunately the XMark XM-4418 does actually have a useful collection of reviews to browse through.

Of course some will tend to be short, one line responses, but there are also some extremely well written and in-depth reviews that are certainly worth reading.

It’s from reading through the reviews on Amazon that we’ve been able to put together a list of pros and a list of cons, both of which you’ll find below.

Pros:

  • Easy to assemble, although it does take a little longer than your standard folding benches
  • Sturdy base frame design
  • Olympic weight plate adapter provided for the leg developer and preacher curl
  • Thick 2″ cushioning makes it much more comfortable to push heavier weights
  • Easy to follow instructions in the user manual
  • Leg developer and preacher curl attachments extend the range of possible exercises

Cons:

  • At 70 lbs in weight, this can be quite a heavy bench to move around, considering there are no transport wheels
  • When set at the flat or decline positions, there is a gap between the seat and back support cushions
  • Curling yoke tends to restrict your curls to a more fixed plane of motion than having a support for a free weight cambered bar (as seen on the XM-4417)
XMark Fitness Weights Bench Guide

Review Overview

Overall Review Rating

4 / 5

If you've already looked at a few other FID benches, you might have noticed that the length and height of the XMark XM-4418 does make it slightly larger than many designs.

It's this length and base frame design that helps improve stability, but it also means this probably isn't the best choice of bench if space is an issue.

The range of seat and incline positions allows you to find the setting that provides the best level of support for your height and exercise, but the gap between the seat and back cushions has proved an issue for some reviewers.

But the fact that this is a bench backed by a lifetime guarantee, and constructed of 14-gauge, 2 by 2-inch steel with extra thick 2.5-inch high-density cushions and double stitched, tear-resistant Duraguard vinyl shows that it's built to last.

The preacher curl and leg developer attachments are also extremely useful, but if attachments and upgrade options are something you place a lot of importance in, you really have to take a look at the IronMaster Super Bench before you make any final buying decisions.

Product dimensions: 78" (L) x 22.75" (W) x 47.50" (H) Product weight: 70 lbs Weight limit: 500 lbs

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