Good bench for beginners, Sturdy, Stood the test of time, Potential for many exercises
Disadvantages:
Problems occur with heavy weights (n/a for beginners), Fairly expensive
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Having started weight lifting 4 years ago I am pretty experienced in benches, exercises and what is needed to build muscle successfully. The York DB5 bench is a pretty good bench for beginners as the multi-usage means you can start your weight lifting career in your leisure at home or wherever you decide to keep the bench! Personally when I bought it I stuck it straight in the garage and used it in all weathers including cold temperatures, rain, heat, snow and it has still only rusted marginally despite these conditions.
It caters for the following:
Flat Bench for Pec, chest & arm exercises. – good for these as a solid technique can be used for each while using the bench. Concentration curls (for arm) are fairly hard to do because of the shape of the bench, but still do-able. Helps if you are taller than 6ft!
Incline Bench for Dumbell fly’s etc – the solid shape of the bench affords a good shape for dumbbell fly’s in particular, however the incline bench feels a little strange compared to those in gyms.
Decline Bench for Lower chest exercises – ditto for the bench declined, I personally prefer using a gym for lower chest exercises.
Vertical Bench for Shoulder Press etc – my legs felt a bit strange due to the shape of the bench being either side while I did sit down military presses, not so good for the more heavy weights but still alright for beginners.
Abdominal Board for Sit-ups and Leg raises – very good for abdominal exercises and “feels” right when they are carried out as it should. Only low weight can be used for leg raises and again dedicated machines work better at the gym.
To conclude, this bench is a pretty good one for beginners but should only really be used by people starting off rather than more experienced users. I use it now for keeping up my strength rather than pushing myself as I don’t think it could hold up to the kind of weight I bench press now. If there is no way that you could get to a gym then you could go far worse than this board but to be honest you should become a member at your local gym if at all possible. It is also a good bench for initially building your strength if you would like to try out weight lifting before shelling out each month for a membership.
This product has not yet been reviewed. 
