Lifting Guides

Two bench press mats, two different ideas about how a mat should stay on the bench. What the UPR Bench Bro and the Odyssey Bench Mat each do, and how to pick between them for the gym you actually train in.

Lifters have tried everything to stop sliding on the bench: a towel, chalk on the pad, a band around the bench, a strap-on grip cover and a bench mat. Here is how each one holds up in a real gym.

Grip surface, lay-flat or strapped, size, thickness and the guarantee. The five things to check before you buy a bench mat, and why most of the rest is noise.

A bench mat is a grip surface for the bench pad. Here is what it does, who needs one and how to use it.

The best benchers press from the same setup every rep. Here is the checklist, in the order that works.