REP fitness FB-4000 comp lite bench vs TITAN chest supported row

This is a comparison between the Rep Fitness FB-4000 bench and the Titan chest supported row. Follow the links for more details.

Overview and review of the TITAN Chest supported row bench

This is an overview of the TITAN chest supported row bench including pros, cons, and alternatives. This article was originally posted in Which TITAN bench to get? Follow the links for details.

Overview of the chest supported adjustable row bench

Price: $464.99

The chest supported adjustable row bench is a machine that specifically isolates the back muscles and prevents lower back pain when you work with barbell rows. It also allows you to do weighted back raises, especially if you go very heavy. Some of the international elite powerlifters recommend this exercise to build a stronger back. Some bodybuilders also recommend it. This makes the chest supported row bench a niche product for individuals or gyms who work a lot with barbells and have serious lifters in their midst. If your rows are a little lighter, you can also achieve similar results with a simple free-standing barbell row. The full specifications of this machine are:

Weight: 128 LB- Adjustable Seat Height: 30 1/2” to 37 1/4"
Adjustable Depth: 68 1/2" to 65 1/2”
Adjustable Width: 55 1/2” to 42”- Seat Length: 18”
Seat Width: 9 1/2"- Seat Thickness: 2 3/4”
Band Peg Length: 5 1/2”
Footplate Dimensions (per side): 21 1/2” x 24”

This is a good addition to your home gym or commercial gym if you have to work on your back and space. Still, I personally think there some better purchases you can make for your gym for $400 like a set of good kettlebells, especially some heavy ones for swings, sumo deadlifts, split squats, and front squats.

Pros of the TITAN chest supported row bench

Pros of the TITAN Chest supported row bench are:

Spine protection
Goes up to very heavy setups
Works with a barbell

This is a great machine to make heavy rows with the barbell a lot safer. You will also isolate your muscles in the back a lot more. So if you want to work on your lower back and back with heavy loaded rows and back raises, this is a good machine to get. If you want to cut out any kind of activation from the hips or lower back you might want to up for a seal row bench.

Cons of the TITAN Chest supported row bench

The cons of the TITAN chest supported bench are:

Limited use
Space requirements
Cumbersome setup

The chest supported row bench has a very limited range of exercises you can do at that particular station. You will also need to get a barbell in place and load it. This needs to be lifted on the two pins in the starting position. While it is not a lot of setup, you might as well to regular barbell rows, especially when you do it for mass rather than maximum strength. In a home gym scenario, this machine will eat up space where you can place a GHD or a rack. If you need to decide between this and a GHD, I personally think the GHD is the better option as it gives you a similar effect in your training, but more variety for exercises.

Alternatives to the TITAN Chest supported row bench

Alternatives to the chest supported row bench are:

Seal bench
GHD machine
Adjustable bench
Rogue donkey

If you want to use an extended range of motion for rowing exercises while eliminating the lower back motion, the seal row is a very good option. To perform these rows you need a bench or station that enables you to elevate yourself so that the arms are fully extended while you lie on the bench. Then you start rowing.

A GHD machine helps you to do back extensions, situps and Glute ham raises. This machine has roughly the same size as a Chest supported row bench. They are usually slightly more expensive but more versatile. Definitely the better pick for a home gym that has that extra space beside a rack, but not much more.

An adjustable bench with a good pair of dumbbells can be used in a similar way to the chest supported row. just lay on the bench on your stomach and bring it to an incline bench press position. It is not the same thing, but a lot more space-efficient. You just have shell out more money for a proper adjustable bench.

The Rogue Donkey is a combination of a reverse hyper and a GHD machine. While it is quite pricey, I think this is the machine to cover all over your lower back development needs in one station. You still won't be able to do very heavy back raises or work with a barbell, but I think the trade-off is there. If you have tons of space, these questions become less relevant and you can get cheaper, specific one purpose equipment and spread them out over your floor space.

Conclusion for the TITAN chest supported row bench

The chest supported row bench is a good tool in a strength-focused commercial gym with a lot of space. There you have space and clients who can get good use out of the heavy rows to form massive backs. Home gym owners will probably just use the barbell for rows. If the basement or garage is bigger, you can look at the Rogue Donkey for all of your lower back needs, as long as your wallet allows for it.

Overview and review of the REP fitness FB-4000 comp lite bench

This is an overview of the REP fitness FB-4000 bench including pros, cons, and alternatives. The original was published under which rep fitness bench to buy. Follow the links for more details.

REP FB-4000 Comp lite bench $115

The FB-4000 is one of the lowest-priced options in the bench department of REP fitness. This bench is a little beefier than the FB-5000 but not compatible with a Thompson fat pad. The full list of specifications is:

Total height: 17"
Total Pad Length: 45.25"
Pad Width: 12"
Total Footprint: 7 SQFT
Designed with Competition Standards
3% Tolerance

If you want a good bench for a low price this is it.

Pros of the FB-4000 Comp lite bench

Pros of the FB 4000 bench are:

Light and easy to move
Low price
Single post design
Grippy cushion

The grippy cushion is one of the best product ideas of REP fitness for their benches. Combine it with a low price and single post design and you get yourself a good recipe for a nice bench for a home gym.

Cons of the FB-4000 Comp lite bench

The cons of the FB-4000 are:

Vertical handle
700lbs limit
Finish
Instability when sitting on it

Vertical handles are not as good as horizontal ones for rolling your bench around. Minor issue, but still worth mentioning and will probably be fixed I future designs.

This bench has a 700-pound limit while others of REP fitness have a 1000 or even 1500 pound limit. If you want a big sturdy bench this is not the one. Even though you could bench 700 on this, I wouldn’t recommend it.

This bench is also designed for bench pressing, not for general use. The single post makes it unstable for exercises like hip thrusts or step-ups.

Alternatives to the FB-4000 Comp lite bench

The Rogue Utility bench and the TITAN hefty bench are good alternatives to the FB-400 if you want a thick pad or a multi-purpose bench.

Conclusion for the FB-4000 Comp lite bench

Good price , solid bench... can not do a lot wrong here.