NordBench

I ordered the band set with the bench. Only used them for a handful of things so far because I have quite a bit of equipment. The anchor points are the versatility of the bands definitely gives me options for when I want to make some variations in my routine.

I am a 40-year-old momma of 2 and NASM Certified Personal Trainer whose mission is to inspire my daughters and clients to build physical strength in order to maintain functional independence throughout all seasons of life. I recently added the NordBench to my personal fitness equipment and I absolutely love it! I am able to target areas that I haven’t been able to with other equipment. This bench is versatile and will definitely help in building the resiliency I need for my career as I start this next decade of life!

This will be a comprehensive review. First, I ordered it April 18th and didn't receive it until June 3rd. When I bought it said it would ship in April, but didn't ship till over a month later. Was a little dissatisfied with that, but not a huge deal as I knew it was a presale and was willing to wait. When I unboxed it, the instructions were lacking detail and you had to watch a video for the details on the best way to assemble the thing. I did have a big problem though. The piece with the circular pads for your feet DID NOT FIT in the tube it was supposed to slide in for adjustment! I was honestly super mad after waiting anxiously for this thing, and salty that I'd have to put in a request for a spare part and wait longer than I already had. But, me being impatient and ornery went and grabbed a hammer and hammered it in. I spent about 30 minutes hammering the piece in and out, and it ground down the finish and made some grooves in the tube that fit in but now it does slide freely and adjusts fine. I'm not nitpicky about my equipment being pristine, but this process did chip the finish from me hammering and obviously scratched up the post (picture below). Also, the rear footplate pop pin nut was cross threaded, and I had a hard time getting that to sit in properly. Once I got it though, it was fine. Besides these two problems, assembly was fine and the build quality is solid where it needs to be! MAKE SURE YOU CRANK THE HECK OUT OF THE BOLTS FOR THE ARM BY THE FOOTPLATE AND THE TWO PAD CROSSBOLTS! I didn't do this originally and it was super wobbly. Tightened them down and now there is no wobble at all. Welds were solid where they needed to be, but one thing I would like is the handle weld to be more robust. In the picture below you can see they basically have two spot welds on each side.
After a fustrating start I wanted to find ways to hate on the thing, but once I started using it I was super happy with it. I do wish in the paper instructions it showed you how to adjust the base support arm out, as after I finished assembly I thought I had the adjustment piece in the right spot in the little notches but when I tried a Nordic curl with the arm collapsed the whole thing fell forward and slammed down on me! Im super lucky my hands weren't on the handle or underneath anything because otherwise I literally probably would have crushed my fingers. Please please please, have some safety and setup instructions in the paper instructions!
Okay, with all the bad out the way, I want to say this thing absolutely ROCKS for the following exercises: Nordic curls, back extensions, all preacher bench exercises, Copenhagen adductor raises, QL raises, slant board squats, deep range of motion situps, adductor curls, hip flexor fallback curls (these are best single legged). Its also AMAZING for foot support for split squats. I didn't think it would be that special or make a big difference for split squat, but the curve on the front is absolutely perfect for fully supporting the foot and makes the movement super duper stable. Another thing is bodyweight reverse hypers. I'm 5'8" 210 pounds and with the bench at the steepest angle aand fully extended, my feet scathe the bottom frame. If you were half an in her taller than me, you will NOT be able to do reverse hypers on this. Another thing is I find hip thrusts horribly uncomfortable on this thing. The pads being split make them dig into your mid back and it doesn't feel good at all. I use a regular bench with a decline at 10 degrees and lay my back on that the skinny long way and that is the absolute best qay to do hip thrusts in my opinion.

Overall, the lack of communication in shipping, poor paper instructions and safety warning, quality control issues initially made me want to give the machine 2/5 stars. However, once assembled properly and using it, it feels too dang good to not give the machine itself 5 stars. For the price, its an INSANE deal, and the footprint is so minimal and the easy vertical storage and beefy wheels make it so darn specially efficient. An improvement I would like to see is the pad for your thighs to be one piece so hip thrusts are doable for me with heavy weight. I also would like the pop pin for the arm that slides the thigh pads in and out be threaded like the foot height pad adjustment pin instead of a separate pop and thumb ****. Stronger welds on the handles would be nice too. A magnet to hold the small angle arm that dangles freely would be nice too, as when you bring the pad arm down it likes to rest on the little arm that is supposed to rest on the pegs for the low angles and if you weren't paying attention you may think that that's how its supposed to be and it would collapse on you like it did for me! Super happy though, for the PRICE it cannot be beat! The freak athlete hyper pro is overpriced and way to complex for adjustment compared to this thing IMO. 100% recommend

I ordered a NordBench to add to my leg strength program and it has become an invaluable addition to my home gym. I've added so many movements to my work outs. I also use it for abs and upper body. The band system makes this thing a powerhouse.

I love my Nordstick. We have a full garage gym but I keep this in my living room. Every time I walk by I jump on it to practice Nordic Curls. I haven’t fully conquered a full NC yet, but it’s not going to beat me. Just a LITTLE bit more…

Setup was easy. It’s great to have a machine to progress to doing Nordic curls as well as back extensions. Great for a crowded garage gym as it’s compact and can be easily moved. Love the wide range of height adjustability as it’s hard to find something that fits folks under 5’ and well over 6’.

The Nordbench can do everything it advertises. I use it for 3-5 key exercises and it performs perfectly for those. It’s also small and easy to adjust, easy to relocate and it was easy to assemble. Excellent build quality as well. 5 stars

Just got my Nordbench, it has exceeded expectations. If you follow the instructions you can definitely experience a ZERO wobble stability. I'm 205 lbs and it is commercial quality build, as long as the base is fully extended it lives up to it's claims. The foam looks like it would not survive a commercial setting but for home use it is equal to gym level quality. Took 20 mins to setup, defense yake your time to get 10 bolts in snug and correct on the first try. I would highly recommend this. Stores upright as described, stores flat as described, fits in every room of my house. Thank you. Solid upgrades and refinement updates.

I just received my bench this week and put it together. I was able to put it together on my own. So far, I have done two workouts on it and find it to be very comfortable and very stable. It’s a great addition to my home gym!

I got mine in early November 2024 and after putting it all together it felt very solid and the padding feels very good when doing Nordic curls or back extensions or any abdominal workouts. This device is the only one I’ve seen on the market that effectively targets all my needs for a multi purpose exercise bench. The portability and compact footprint when standing upright make it a huge win for my household so it can be out of the way and also quickly accessible to get some workouts in, which is a must when you have kids and lengthy uninterrupted training is no longer a possibility in most cases. 5 stars. As a side note I did have some issues with mine that were not trivial but also didn’t stop me from fully enjoying the bench and the company sent me a new one free of charge with updates. I will be purchasing more from nordstick for like as I really believe in their product. When you get a call from the founder to discuss concerns that shows they really care and want to put out the best product.