The Marcy Pro PM4400 Leverage Bench provides another outlet for strength training at home without pulleys or cables involved!
The PM4400 from Marcy Pro looks great, though the real benefit of a leverage bench is lifting heavy safely without needing a spotter. The clever leverage system and multi-position bench add some serious versatility. In addition, the steady, natural path of motion the PM4400 follows allows you to work out to the point of failure without the danger of dropping the weight on yourself. Because of this safe and worry-free aspect of training, you can lift heavier weights than you would usually feel comfortable doing, expediating your muscle growth like no other conventional weight bench or multi-gym could hope to.
Marcy has integrated innovative features into the Marcy Pro PM4400 Leverage Bench that distinguish it from others.
-         Weight limits, Arm height adjustability, and rock-solid stability:
One of the main benefits of the Marcy Pro PM4400 is the amount of weight you can load. Most free-weight benches or bench systems are limited to between 100 kg and 150 kg; this design lets you load up higher. This setup has enough weight for even demanding users. The max user weight on the bench is 158 kg, which is almost 25 stone. Then load one of the 2 lever arms with weight plates depending on which muscle group you target. The front arm loading capacity is 226 kg, giving you plenty of scope for performing exercises such as shoulder presses, Chest Presses, and squats. The rear arm can still take an impressive 181 kg and should be more than enough for even very experienced lifters performing exercises such as wide grip Lat pulldowns. The PM4400 is definitively a robust unit that will be around for years to come.
The lever arm is an intelligent way to replace barbell exercises. You can train alone without worries that a loaded barbell could slip out of your hands. Although this isn’t a squat rack or power cage where you can hook the barbell to load it or start your exercise at the desired height; you can still do it on the PM4400; the arms holder is on the main central upright. It features a height selector diagonal square post with 7 levels and a long, robust steel pin handle. Insert the pin at the level you want the lever arm to start/stop. The rotating bar from the PM4400 is handy for biceps, triceps, and squat exercises, but it can be unclipped and put to one side when performing other upper body workouts. Removing the rotating bar still leaves the primary set of ergonomically designed large strong handles to give you different grip possibilities depending on your personal preference and exercise type, especially with a hefty weight.
One point worth mentioning with the design of the Marcy Pro PM4400 Leverage Bench is the addition of 2 weight plate storage pegs to the central vertical support. It serves two purposes; the first is to provide you with somewhere to store your weight plates (not included) with an impressive 90 kg capacity on each side. The second is to increase the stability when performing exercises such as heavy pulldowns. The thick frame and the base design with cross braces attached to the central vertical support help provide more stability and create a safe training environment for working out without a spotter.
-         Bench adjustments and new improved adjustability bring more versatility:
The Marcy Pro PM4400 Leverage Bench sits on a cantilever with commercial-grade; its design means that the starting position is the lowest point and enables it to move back and forth to align your body perfectly with the press arm depending on the exercise. The seat pad and the back pad are fully adjustable, allowing you to get different workout angles, such as right angle, complete flat horizontal, and entire flat decline. A quick-release spring-loaded pin allows adjusting the bench back pad to 10 positions, several inclines, decline, flat, and fully upright angles.  The PM4400 bench also can slide towards the centre of the frame on the cantilever system to place you in a better position when performing the seated shoulder presses or when exercising with higher levels of incline. For performing the flat or decline bench press, you can slide the bench further forward to put you in a more comfortable position for gripping the handles.
Add variety to your workouts by adjusting the angle of the padded back support on the bench. Even changing to the optimal angle for incline presses of 30 to 45 degrees leaves you plenty of room to perform the pressing exercises comfortably. Due to the design of the lever and the positioning of the pivot point, the exercise will move through your body’s natural range of motion to ensure it is as effective as possible. A clever feature is that a swivel mechanism allows you to move the bench out of the way. This adjustable bench will conveniently swivel sideways; this is done by pulling the loaded pin on the base frame just behind the bench and rotating it around to one side. It will create an open workout space and give you access to the metal footplate underneath where you can stand and use the levered weight stack to perform standing lifts, such as squats and rows, as well as shrugs and overhead presses.
Make use of your weight plates; this equipment comes with 6 Olympic sleeves and 6 state-of-the-art Olympic clips for your 2” Olympic weight plates; you can still use your 1” standard weight plates by sliding out the removable Olympic sleeves. The bench comes with vertical support at the front for a separate leg developer. Weightlifters consider that all the leg exercise capabilities of the Marcy Pro PM4400 are more than enough without the need to isolate your quads (with leg extensions) and hamstrings (with hamstring curls) and extend the bench dimensions further. Nevertheless, you would be able to find a leg developer online that adapts quickly.
One of the features that make the Marcy Pro PM4400 lever system so versatile is providing you with the option to switch between upper and lower body workouts so easily.
-         Here are some of the most popular upper body exercises with the PM4400:
Chest: Incline bench press, flat bench, decline press
Back: Lat pulldown, bent over row, reverse grip row, deadlifts
Shoulders: Shoulder press, shrugs, upright row
Biceps: Reverse pulldown, bicep curl (wide & narrow)
Triceps: Triceps pushdowns, close grip press
Abs: Upper ab crunches, reverse decline crunches
-         The most effective lower body workouts will help build strength in all the major lower body muscle groups:
Legs: Squats, lunges, Romanian deadlifts, calf raises
Get an impressive-looking piece of equipment! The Marcy Pro PM4400 Leverage Bench is not just about presses and curls. You can work lats, so squats and shrugs and even triceps pushdowns. The key to choosing a levered gym unit is safety and the range of exercises, with both upper and lower body workouts possible. Although this isn’t a squat rack or power cage for supporting your squats, they can still be performed safely simply by sliding the bench out of the way. This safe and worry-free aspect of training gives you the confidence to lift heavier weights than usual. It will grow your muscles faster than any other machine. If you have the room for this piece of fitness equipment in your home gym, it is highly recommended due to its low cost compared to similarly priced multi gyms for the weight you can use in exercises.