After the stand, if the room needs it

Folding bench

A bench that folds down, or folds flat, is the right first bench when the room has to get its floor back. In the spend order it comes after the power stand.

What this usually costs: typical street ranges as of Sep 2026, not a quote. Check the current listing. A fold-down or fold-flat Bowflex-class bench is often about $350 to $500 on the manufacturer page and at major retailers. Cheaper category benches exist; confirm fold, lock, and capacity on the listing. A stays-out FID is a different, later spend.

The bench comes out for the session, then it gets out of the walkway, the parking bay, or the only path through a spare room. A fixed bench that stays out is the later choice, for a room that can give up that patch of floor.

Bowflex is the bench brand this guide starts from. This page names the brand only. It does not name a model, and it does not claim any unit was tested. A second bench in the room is Body-Solid. No model number is named. If you already have a Bowflex bench and a Body-Solid bench, check whether one of them folds out of the way before you buy a third.

The stays-out options are on benches. Mats go down first: floor mats.

What fold-down and fold-flat mean

Two motions get sold as a space-saving bench. Read the listing for which one you are looking at.

Fold-flat means the pad and the legs collapse so the bench stores low, or slides out of the walkway, and the floor under it is usable again. Fold-down, or stow, often means the bench pivots or folds onto an end so it takes a shorter footprint and can roll aside. Both can work. They are not the same stored shape. A photo of a folded bench is not a measurement. Confirm the stowed length, width, and height, and whether that shape still blocks a door or a car.

Some listings say the bench stores upright, or stands on end. That is useful only if the folded height clears the ceiling and the bench is stable while it waits. A bench that cannot fold, and cannot stand on end, has to live open. That is a different buy.

When a fold-flat bench is the right first bench

• The room is small, or it is also a garage bay, a spare room, or a path to the door.
• You need the floor back between sessions. The car, a walkway, or the dumbbells need that patch.
• You train with adjustable dumbbells, and the bench is not parked under a bar every day. See adjustable dumbbells.
• You can spend a minute unfolding and locking the pad before you press, and folding it again when you are done.
• You already have a Bowflex bench that folds, or another bench that does. Use that one. Do not buy a new brand because the second bench’s name is unknown.

On this path, the bench comes after the power stand in the spend order, if the room needs the floor back. If you already need a place to press with dumbbells and the floor is covered, one fold-down bench is still fine. It is still one bench. It is not a reason to skip mats.

When a fixed FID that stays out is the right bench

Buy a fixed flat, incline, and decline bench when the stand or the rack stays set, you press often, and you do not want to unfold a frame before every set. That bench owns a patch of floor. It should not rock, and the pad lock should not be a step you repeat mid-session.

The named FID on this site is the REP Fitness AB-3000 2.0. REP says it cannot be stored vertically. That is the stays-out bench, not a fold-flat one. Details are on the benches page. Skip it as a first bench if the room cannot spare a bench-length of floor between sessions.

A flat-only bench is the other stays-out option, if you never incline. It still needs a home. Folding does not help a bench you refuse to fold.

What to check

• Fold-flat, fold-down onto an end, or both. Confirm the motion, not the word “stowable” alone.
• Stowed size against the spot you will actually park it. Include the handle and the wheels.
• How the pad locks when it is open. A press should not depend on you holding a latch.
• Stated capacity on the listing, as user plus load if that is how the maker writes it. Do not take a number from this page.
• Pad width, length of the open bench, and whether your feet can plant without the rear leg walking.
• Whether the listing is for dumbbell work, barbell work, or both. Confirm that before you unrack a bar onto it.
• Wheels, if you have to move it out of a tight bay. A fold that you cannot roll is a fold you will leave open.

Who should buy, and who already has one

Buy a fold-down or fold-flat bench if you have no bench, or the one you have stays open and blocks the room. Bowflex is the brand this page starts from. Open the current Bowflex bench listing and confirm that the model you are looking at folds. This page does not pin a model number.

Skip the buy if you already have a bench that folds flat or folds down, and the pad still locks. That includes a Bowflex bench, and the second bench already in the room, whatever the brand on the label is. Keep the one that gives the floor back. Do not add a fixed FID until the room can keep a bench out.

Amazon search link (Associates tag rackandplat0c-20): amazon.com/s?k=Bowflex+bench

Amazon search link (Associates tag rackandplat0c-20): amazon.com/s?k=folding+weight+bench

The second search is a category link, not a named pick. Confirm fold, lock, and stowed size on the listing you open.