Lifting Guides

The bench press accessories that earn a place in your bag, ranked by how much they change your pressing, with honest notes on the two we make.

What to buy a powerlifter without guessing their belt size: the consumables and tools lifters actually use, what to skip, and how to pick by the lift they care about.

Your own bench pad slides too. When a bench mat is worth it at home, what to look for in a pad, and the multi-mat packs for garage gyms with a crew.

On an incline bench gravity pulls you down the pad on every rep. Here is why sliding is worse on incline, the setup fixes, and what a bench mat changes.

Lay-flat mat or strap-on cover? The Odyssey Bench Mat, AbMat Bench Grip Cover and BenchSkinz compared on fit, setup time, travel and grip.