Marcy Olympic Weight Bench with Preacher Curl Pad and Leg Developer MD-857

Package arrived a day early! The bench obviously needs to be assembled, but it is pretty simple and the instructiins are pretty good. Once assembled, the bench is sturdy and works great. The leg extension and two weight storage posts can fit regular sized weight plates (small hole) or olympic plates (big hole). There's a sleve that fits over the post so it will fit both sizes. The seat (Bench) pads themselves look amazing. They also have an attractive red embroidered logo. Very classy looking. The entire bench (seat & back) unit slides on the main rail. There is a nice spring liaded threaded pin to lock in the position you want. There are a total of 5 sliding pisitions to lock the seat into. The seat back is adjustable at 4 levels. 1 decline, 1 level, and 2 incline positions. The seat base is adjustable at 3 positions. 1 level, and 2 inclined. Now...... that means when combining the the three adjustable areas, there's still only one decline position, but multiple incline angles can be achieved. The seat will sit almost straight upright, and the adjustability of the base cusion will keep you locked in and NOT sliding off the cusion. Lol. Nothing about this bench looks cheap, but the bench cusions look top notch. The preacher curl pad is large enough for both elbows at the same time comfortably and can be adjusted up and down at 4 intervals. The curl handle is a nice addition allowing you to use the same plates for curls. The leg extension arm can be locked in place (for doing crunches) or free floating for doing sitting leg extensions or standing leg curls or side hip extensions. The curl bar is held on with a single pin so can be easily removed for doing the leg exercises. While doing bench presses, there is the normal bar rest up top as well as a smaller (spotter) bar rest below. Setting this lower bar rest in the second hole seems to be the best setting. It's the "oh poop" rest for when you can't quite get out that last rep. Though an actual living breathing spotter is best. There are a total of 5 positions to be shared between the two bar rests (2 on each side L/R) the diamond plating on the front of the post looks cool, but also helps keep the post from being dented. The multiple holes (bar rest positions) makes it easy to get the bar at a comfortable height at any incline level. There is a squat bar rest as well. I wouldn't call it a true squat rack, as you've got to take a few steps back from the bench before actually squating, but it does rest the bar at the right hieght making squating possible. The squat bar rest can be set at 2 heights, aproximately 4 inches apart. Well that's it in a nutshell. The bench is sturdy, durable, and looks great.

I bought the two-piece option 10 years ago. I honestly forgot it came with a rack for the bar and holder for weights. I use the bench with a Valor fitness power rack I bought on Amazon as well. This bench is great because it does so many things in my small home gym. I can use it for bench, dumbbell bench, incline, db incline, preacher curls, leg curls, leg extensions, nosebreakers, and more. I can even do decline bench and decline db bench if I want as it will negative incline. I can also attach the preacher curl attachment backwards, put my legs over it and hook my ankles under the leg curl pads to do situps when it is declined. I'm about to go work some nose breakers now and I was just looking at this bench thinking I should give it 5 stars. I consider it to be a good value for a home gym. It is fairly stable, the height is good. I think if you wanted to use it to step on and off it may be a little wobbly for something like that if you don't do it at the top. My ceiling height is too low for that in my basement gym. It is a bit large, but it is easy enough to pick up and move around. It does not fold up at all.

I've been using this bench for about 3.5 months and overall I'm quite happy with it. I'm a beginner who had done a little dumbbell and weight bar stuff over the years but had never done a bench press in my life. I didn't feel like it made sense to go to like a power cage setup so went with this. It's a 4 star rating so I'm am absolutely satisfied but I'm going to breeze through the positives as I think it's the negatives that might help others decide if this is what they want. Positives: It came undamaged; the setup instructions were clear; it's seems sturdy, well built and no piece looks or feels shoddy; everything works and fits correctly; it has held up without any problem so far after 3+ months of daily use; I was not expecting to like the preacher curl pad but I am loving doing preacher curls (which I hadn't done before); aside from adding some padding to where the leg lift portion contacts the rest of the bench and the barbell crutches in general (more on those in the negatives portion) I haven't needed to add my own improvements to the equipment; though I am not utilizing it yet, I like the squat rack on the back, it's well padded too, and love the weight pegs on the bottom to hold extra weight plates. I'm excited to use this thing everyday and leave happy with the workout. Negatives: Like others have reported it came in a box that was severely damaged. The weight of the equipment and the lack of stabilizing foam means the weight doesn't get dispersed across the box and so heavy points break the thin cardboard and the plastic straps around the box cut into it and break the cardboard. Happily there was a significant amount of plastic and cardboard wrapped around ends and edges, so while the state of the box had me expecting a return, I only found a single small scrape when I opened everything up. Still, they need to ship this better. I do not like bench press "crutches" (the pieces that hold the barbell) that come with the unit. They extend 7" from the vertical posts and, for me, were very much in the way while doing bench presses. Even when I consistently cleared them they were on my mind while I lifted. They are also, like others have reported, not coated or wrapped in anything so they immediately scratch and scuff (and hearing it happen every time you put the weight down sucks). The safety "crutches" (that you install lower in case you can't get the bar back up to the normal crutches) extend 10" out from the vertical posts and are also not coated but both of those things are fine, for me, as you place these low enough to not interfere with your lift and they should rarely, if ever, actually come in contact with the barbell. The last thing I don't like about the unit is the vertical posts. While they are absolutely sturdy and generally satisfactory, they have an odd dimension and too few holes. I decided to buy j-hooks to replace the 7" crutches but the vertical posts are 2" x 2.5" (rather than the more common 2"x2" or 3"x3") and so I had to by 3"x3" j-hooks and then use spacing foam to prevent the hooks from leaning (I also tried 2"x2" hooks but they just didn't clear the 2.5" side of the posts). It ended up working out fine but a more traditional sized post would have been better. It also seems like there should be twice as many holes in the vertical posts for placing the crutches/j-hooks. The holes are 5.5" apart from the top of one hole to the bottom of the next. That seems like a dramatic distance to me. The placement works out for me but just barely (though it's not uncomfortable at all, thankfully) and it really feels like the holes I'm using are the only possible placement that would work for me. It would be nice to feel like there were some options with something that is constructed to be "adjustable." In general, I'm happy with the purchase and I'm using it daily.

This weight bench is great quality everything is solid and sturdy. Instructions were pretty straight forward but the packaging was exceptional. The small parts, bolts, washers, and nuts, were all vacuum sealed with a cardboard backing that had everything labeled and organized. It really saved time and energy. You're going to need an adjustable wrench or a socket wrench to do the job.It does come with 3 allen wrenches. Most of the nuts were 16mm, There was one point I used a 19mm socket for one of the longer carriage bolts. The instructions were very straightforward, once you got past the initial shock of how many parts there were. My only gripe for this bench press is that I'm 5'5 and the bench sits high. I expected this to be a "problem" and weighed the pros and cons. The squat rack and 2 piece design, with separate incline bench for this price was worth that problem, but just to clarify for anyone else. If your 5'6 or below your going have trouble getting comfortable setting the balls of your feet on the ground. You're feet will touch the ground but your knees will most likely be set lower than your hips (lower than you're most likely used to) so it might feel a little awkward. I personally just step on a set of 45lb dumbbells to adjust my posture, which works for me. Anyways the rack itself is great I love the height adjustment for the catches. The screw tightened knobs are spring loaded halfway which is great for on the fly adjustments, saves time, and energy. You don't have to completely unscrew it out to adjust the height every time, loosen up 4 or 5 turns... yank the knob... adjust and tighten and you're good to go. The incline adjustment pivots on the bench are strong. All the joints are riding on pretty solid carriage bolts. I personally sprayed them with WD-40 but it's not really necessary. One thing about the design, the curling bar specifically the arm pad design seems forced... I looked at it and figured a guy in the engineering department decided to slap it on there as one last added feature because it would work. Which it does, it's nice but as I was finishing up setting this up those 2 things left me scratching my head. The quality of everything else is great then you see the arm pad height adjustment screw knob, which is literally is just a screw unlike the spring loaded ones in the rack. The knob on it is obnoxiously awkward it rubs against the seat it does really seem like the design was forced, along with the pin that actually secures the curling bar. (I was finishing up assembly and realized that pin was there wondering to myself, "What the f*** is this?" I thought I skipped something but soon realized what it was. Neither of these 2 take away quality of the bench. Quite frankly, you could use it without the arm pad and curling bar. The leg developer and inclining bench are still phenomenal build-wise and work very well and you do have the option of using the curling bar if you choose.

What I had not planned on was the looks of this bench. Matches my gray weight set and looks good as my home gym. Who cares about looks though when performance is what counts. Assembly was easy enough but tedious of course. A trick I learned from an old Indian Chief was to use a razor blade and gently cut out the numbered bolts etc from the package as you need them so they don't get mixed together. It's sturdy and for the price and works well. Two issues I have. Not enough peg holes for the height of the barbell. I have long arms, in the flat position the highest position is barely too high by about two inches which forced me to use the next lowest peg and that starts my rep out at halfway. I prefer to start my reps at the high position, I think in the long run this will keep my max reps weight lower. Second issue is once again on the flat bench is I really have to move my ass forward on the bench to keep the barbell in front of the peg during repetitions. If I could use a higher peg hole that wouldn't matter but once again not enough peg holes for adjustment. I'm six foot, if you are any taller I suggest something else. Otherwise, a fantastic sturdy setup for the price.

Be prepared for a million parts but all bolts went in perfect and all parts were there.

bought this about a year ago when I wanted to start working out consistently but couldn’t make it to the gym anymore because of a toddler at home. My main goal was chest workouts, and for that purpose, this machine has done a solid job. I mostly use it for flat, incline, and decline chest press, and it feels stable even at heavier weights. I’ve done flat presses with up to 170 lbs including the barbell, and I also use it for squats with around 150 lbs, and it has held up without any wobbling. For the price, it’s definitely sturdy and well built. That said, not everything is perfect. The preacher curl and leg extension attachments are okay, but they’re not the strongest part of the machine. I don’t really use them and ended up removing them altogether since I have a functional trainer for biceps and a separate leg extension machine. The bench itself is adjustable and works well for shoulder presses too. I regularly do dumbbell shoulder presses on it, and occasionally overhead barbell presses. I also sometimes use it to do biceps using dumbbells, working out abs, triceps using a small bar. I'm 5’10”, and the size and setup fit me well. When I first got this, I weighed around 135 lbs. After using it consistently over the past year for chest, shoulders, and legs, I’m now about 172 lbs. While the results obviously come from consistency and diet as well, this machine has made it much easier to stay on track at home. Overall, it’s not a perfect all-in-one machine, but for the price and for core lifts, it’s very solid. If your main focus is chest and basic compound movements, this is a very good buy for this price. All the best!

A little history: I have worked out before, used higher end benches and all that. I just moved and setup a home-gym in my garage. So this thing arrives and it took me about 2 and a half hours to put it together by myself. The instructions were very straight forward and I did not need much more than a wrench and an allen key. Though I am sure if i had my old allen key bit for my drill I could have done it in less than 2 hours maybe 1.5. - There is a little sticker that says 'marcy' on it that was not on properly so I reversed the bar so it's not visible but kind of made me shake my head when I put it on. - The two metalic/aluminum plates (stylistic) on the arms of the bench were bent slightly (ie they were secured very lazily from the factory) though not to the point where they were coming off or interfered with anything. - The weight racks on the back were easy enough to put on save one of the screws for them would not thread properly (i replaced it with one of my own and all was well). - The removable case to change from standard to olympic on the rack itself kind of moves but I see a hole on the side that I assume is for a normal screw which will solve the issue--though these screws were not supplied if so. - The removable safety and bar catches are easy enough to use but after ONE use with a brand new 7' olympic bar I notice the paint is coming off them. It could have used just a touch of padding. I thought this was just stuff coming off the bar but I noticed the same thing happen later with an older curl bar. - The adjustable flat bench is not well thought out and the bottom part kind of wobbles when you sit on it (there is just a pin that you use to adjust the height. Not that I'm going to fall or anything. - The top part of the bench is useful with the removable bar to switch between flat, incline, and decline positions so kudos there. This is the ONLY reason I am 'satisfied' with the bench itself. - I like the fact that it has squat rests. - The leg extension, preacher bench, and bicycle curl bar are all relatively nice additions though if space is your concern with this unit you will have a tedious process removing the extension on the fly (though that means the unit can probably handle a lot of weight on the leg and curls. Ultimately I would say this is a piece of crap, and yet for 250 dollars for a bench that has all these features despite the flaws mentioned above I would say it's a "great" product for budget gyms. I cannot say if it will last more than 5 years intact, I fear I will break a few things on it eventually but who knows, it may last for 10, and by then who cares? If you've used the bench religiously/diligently and have experienced growth accordingly you'll probably be benching more than 400 and weight about 200+ so the weight "limit" will probably force you to buy a better bench or something then. Also from what I heard from other reviews, Marcy will replace things during the warranty period (I hope so at least) though I haven't had to yet. I usually don't write reviews but I felt I HAD to for this great starter bench at such an affordable price.