Incline Bench Booster Seat
Intro
For many of us, wanting to perform the INCLINE bench INSIDE our rack…we have an issue: the bench cannot slide back far enough due to rear cross members or weight stacks, etc….so the barbell is positioned way too far back – when ideally it at approximately chin/nose level…so to deal with this issue we do one of two things:
1. Rack & Unrack the barbell behind our head which can easily result in injury (SCREAM)
2. Lift our butt up of the bench which results in more delt activation and less chest activation
So the solution – is to simply fashion a “booster seat” so that we can keep our butt on the bench while sitting up higher on the bench to get in the ideal position
Options
To make the seat you can use packaging foam (which I have plenty of from home gym equipment deliveries). You can also buy the foam, use stacked EVA foam tiles….or even stacked cardboard.
If you want to skip the project altogether – you can also use a foam roller or the AbMat Bench wedge. However, neither of these two options are IDEAL even if they are the ideal height for you. The foam roller will get the job done , but will not be as comfortable as the DIY Booster seat we will build. Further, while the Bench Wedge is great for overhead presses, chest supported rows, etc.…. it has a slick top surface and a somewhat grippy bottom – BUT we want a very grippy surface on the top and bottom for this specific exercise.
DIY Tutorial
The Height of Booster seat depends upon:
Your height
Your specific make/model of bench
the Pitch you set your adjustable bench at
The make/model of your rack
Therefore, step one...put your bench to your desired PITCH (I set mine to be at 30 degrees) and set your j cups and barbell in position…and then WITH your nose under the barbell, measure the distance from the top of the bench’s seat to our butt…so for me it’s 4.5”. Therefore, I need to make a seat that is 4.5” tall
I used a block packaging foam which is 4.5” tall x 10” long and 8” wide. I simply wrapped the foam block in one layer of “grippy” shelf liner (LINK DOWN BELOW TO PURCHASE), and then secure it with some gorilla tape . The GRIPPY texture of this shelf liner will keep the booster seat on the bench and will keep your butt from sliding on the booster seat.
And That’s it…now let me reiterate that the pitch at which you set your bench will determine the ideal height – so you MAY want to make multiple versions of these - one for each pitch that you use.
Shopping Links
• SHELF LINER: https://amzn.to/3Bf7F3p
• Gorilla Tape (2 Pack): https://amzn.to/3cyMFhD
• Foam Roller: https://amzn.to/3OCAWiA
• AbMat Bench Wedge: https://bit.ly/DBL-BenchWedge 10% OFF with Promo Code: DBL
