In this hands‑on review, Victoria S. Dorsano walks viewers through the Freakathlete ABX bench, from unboxing and assembly to detailed performance testing. She highlights the bench’s heavy‑duty steel construction, zero wobble, and extensive adjustability (backrest 0‑85°, seat 0‑40°, top component 4 positions) with seamless gap‑less movement. The compact 50" × 24" footprint and 1,000‑lb load rating make it suitable for small home gyms while still supporting heavy lifts. Victoria demonstrates a wide range of exercises—flat and incline presses, 45° bicep curls, triceps extensions, shoulder presses, chest‑supported rows, Bulgarian split squats, hip thrusts, and plyometric box jumps—showcasing the bench’s versatility. She reviews the available attachments (dip, bicep, leg developer, sit‑up, cable) and provides pricing for each, noting the total cost. The sole criticism is that ABX components are not interchangeable with the Hyper Pro system, limiting cross‑compatibility. She outlines the ideal buyer: those with limited space who value stability and adjustability, while warning that tight‑budget shoppers or users who prefer very soft padding may find it less suitable. The video ends with a recommendation, price link, and standard YouTube call‑to‑action.
Chapters
Man, I really didn't want to come on here and say this. So if you've watched any videos on my channel before, then you know I have a pretty good working relationship with the guys over at Freakathlete. They've made one of my favorite machines, the Hyper Pro, but now they've sent me the ABX bench to test out, and now I gotta come on here and tell you guys about the fact that I think I like the ABX bench even more than the Hyper Pro. Which, don't get me wrong, the Hyper Pro is absolutely incredible and amazing. Still and always will be a big fan. But I'm almost mad at this point because like, how do they keep coming up with these amazing things? And if you think I'm just here swooning over an average gym bench, then you're wrong. I'm going to show you why it's not your average gym bench, because Freakathlete never does anything that's normal. They do some crazy pieces of equipment, and I'm really excited to share about this one today because this is by far the best bench I've ever used in my life. It almost made me realize how bad the other benches are that I've ever used, especially if you're like me and you have a small space for a home gym setup. So the Freakathlete ABX bench showed up at my door about a month ago, and I've been putting it through hell. Not only myself, but my husband as well, because he couldn't resist and has been loving this bench as well. So today I'm going to break down exactly what makes this bench different than any other bench you've probably ever used before, in what situations it's worth the investment, and the one thing I would consider changing. So let's talk about the setup of this bad boy. Similar to its big brother, the Hyper Pro, a lot of the components came pre-assembled, which was a nice thing, but there still are some main components that need to be put together. All that took about maybe 20 to 30 minutes, and there was a super easy instructional video to follow along with. But immediately, as soon as I started putting the components together, I was impressed by the build quality. And honestly, I shouldn't be given how great the Hyper Pro is. And like I said, I'm almost mad that they keep making such great pieces of equipment because I'm like, how? Just so you can get a quick look, the heavy-duty steel components of this bench are insanely sturdy. I mean, there is like zero wobble to this thing and I'm not light. Like, it's not moving anywhere. Like, it's not moving. I can rock from side to side. This thing is not going anywhere. Hypothetically, if I was able to chest press this, this would not be moving. Okay. We're here, guys. This thing is not moving. Oh yeah. 50 pounds ain't nothing. Let's go. Okay, we're gonna go back down now. I got volleyball tomorrow. Woo! That's heavy. Like I was saying, zero wobble. Okay, now check out how many different adjustment positions there are on the backrest. Component of this. I love the versatility of the adjustments down here, and you really only need one hand to adjust up, and you can go from 0 to 85°. So you're basically able to go bam, and to adjust back, it's incredibly smooth, easy. And then the seat can adjust into 5 different positions. So we have 0°, 10, 20, 30, and 40. And the great thing is there's no pins to lose, nothing sticking, everything moves and glides perfectly. One more thing that's worth mentioning about this bench, which I think is really cool, is that there is zero gap between the pads when you adjust it. So there's literally zero gap when I am adjusting here. You can see that the seat actually adjusts and closes that gap as I'm adjusting this base part. So literally it just closes it up, which is so cool that it's able to do that. So that's another plus, is that it's very seamless across the board. And then we have this top component that can also adjust into 4 different positions. So we have position 1, which is straight up. We got 2 right here. We got 3 here, and we got 4 all the way down in this decline position here. And then if you let it hang, I mean, that comes all the way down here, so I guess that could be an additional position but not really intentional. So as you're able to probably guess, the multiple positions and ways that you can adjust this machine means a multitude of different exercises you can do at different angles. Because I personally hate benches that have like 2 settings, which is flat and 1 incline, and sometimes that's not the particular incline that I want. And yes, the adjustability is absolutely fantastic, but what I love the most is how easily it fits in my dining room. Voilà! It's only about 50 inches long and 24 inches wide, so it doesn't dominate the space, and it's able to situate perfectly vertical. It's not wobbly or insecure, so I don't have to worry about it falling down, which I don't think a lot of benches can do easily. And it's rated for about 1,000 pounds, which I will not be testing that, but You can trust the company because they have. All right. So let me show you some of my favorite exercises I've been doing on this bench. Now, of course, we have the traditional flat dumbbell press, right? It's great. It's stable. This is the basic. Say I want to do a quick incline press. We're going to bump this up 30 degrees, labeled right there. Very easy to find. And I want a little support here. Bam. And we got our nice stable incline press. Let's go. Another one of my favorite moves from doing the ATG program was my 45-degree bicep curls, which this bench, very easy to tell where you're at on the 45-degree curve. So you go here, boop, boop, and we're down here. Now they also have a bicep curl attachment, which I do not have. But what it does is it helps stabilize where your elbows are placed. But for me, this works just fine. So let's say I want to do some overhead movements and I don't want this component in the way. And look at that, it's out of the way. And now I'm able to do tricep extensions without that back piece getting in the way. Same for a shoulder press. Now, to be clear, I'm not sure that this is the appropriate use for this because I'm pretty sure that they have a preacher curl attachment. However, I'm not doing crazy heavy bicep curls, so I'm not too worried about this in this position. So I can just do curls here, and this has worked lovely. You might be asking, Victoria, what is this piece for if it's just in the way and you can just attach it down? Like, what is— is there anything else you can do with it. To that I say yes. We put it in this bottom pin position. It's perfect for chest supported rows, or for that matter, you could do flies out to the side. So those are some of the main movements I've been doing on it, along with like Bulgarian split squats, hip thrusts, and then some different plyometric like box jumps, essentially. And it's been great at catching my weight, not moving, being incredibly stable. But like I mentioned, it would not be a Freakathlete piece of equipment if it wasn't adaptable with a couple of different cool attachments. So the one I have currently is just the dip attachment, which I will show you. It even actually shows down here, it says dip to help you know where you put it for the dips. There's this little adjustment knob here that you pull out just slightly to make room, and then this one is a pin you just pull and you can get this to slide on into place. There's that. And then you tighten this to secure. And look, it's so stable, you guys. Like, this bench is wild. It's— the cool thing is that all those movements take very little time to adjust in between, so mid-workout I'm able to switch between movements super easily. So for context, you guys, I've probably been working out for over 2 decades, so like 22 years at this point, and I can say I've used a lot of different benches in that time span. And you know, budget benches under like $200, they tend to wobble, they break down over time, and they're just not built super great. And then you have like commercial gym benches, you have your Rogue benches, things like that, and they're built like tanks, but they lack finesse and the ability to be modified. I think the ABX from Freak Athletes, it's like a very great sweet spot where you're getting very, very high quality with the finesse and adjustability of something that you're going to want as a home piece of equipment. Or honestly, this would be great to have at the gym too. The current price for just the bench itself sits around $600. The dip attachment I have is about $80, and then if you want the bicep attachment, that's $200. The ABX leg developer to be able to do hamstring curls and leg extensions is roughly another $400. And then there's the sit-up attachment you can also add in for $120 if you want to be able to do like decline sit-ups and things like that. And lastly, there is a cable attachment that's $50 if you want to be able to link the leg developer with a cable machine and be able to pull weight that way as well. But even all those components aside, the bench itself I think is well worth the investment. Now, as I mentioned in the beginning of this video, I've been a longtime fan of the Hyper Pro. The Hyper Pro also has various attachments. It has the leg developer, it has the upper body attachment. There's a lot of different things that you can work into that, the GHD, all that stuff. The one rub that I have with ABX, and I think the whole system in general, is that the components do not interchange. I have a leg developer for the Hyper Pro that I would love to be able to use for the ABX bench too. Now my theory is that they may end up resolving that and finding a way for those things to be able to attach at some different point in time. But as it stands right now, as I'm making this video, the components do not belong in the same like machine family. So ABX components have to stay with ABX, HyperPro components and attachments have to stay with HyperPro. I really wish that there was a crossover because, you know, that would just be seamless. That is literally my only criticism. And like I said, I wouldn't be surprised given how Freak Athlete really listens to customer feedback and is really good at evolving their products, that there will be a day where maybe those things can— components from one thing can attach to the other thing, essentially. So who might the ABX bench be great for? Well, if you're building a home gym that is planning on lifting very heavy and aggressively, then you're definitely going to want a very stable bench. So this will do it. If you're someone like me who doesn't have like a home garage gym and has a home dining room gym and needs to be able to tuck machines away in corners of rooms, and have them not take up a lot of space, then this also might be for you. But this might not be for you again if you're on a tight budget and you just need to be considerate of that. I would argue that this is an investment and it's a worthwhile investment, but I get it if you are trying to keep an entire gym setup budget under a certain amount. This might not fit that budget. This also might not be for you if you are somebody who prefers really cushy padding. Um, this padding is pretty firm. I prefer it. I like it because it makes it easy to do things like Bulgarian split squats and step-ups and things like that without feeling like my foot is sinking on foam. So I think that the padding is really great. But if you're somebody who's like, I like to feel like I'm lifting on a pillow, which I don't know why you would like that, but maybe you're out there and you're like, yeah, that's me, then this probably isn't for you. Link is down in the description for the ABX bench from Freakathlete if you feel like this bench might solve all your home workout woes like it did for me. And guys, as always, if you found this video helpful and enjoyed this review, please give this video a thumbs up. Comment down below for the algorithm, and subscribe to the channel. I greatly, greatly appreciate each and every one of you who comes on this channel and supports by watching and engaging. It means so much to me, and I'll catch you guys on the next one. Bye!
