Abstract

A bench construction for use by a lifter reclined thereon in performing weight lifting movements includes a bench top having an upper surface configured with portions anatomically contoured and dimensioned for supporting and at least partially restraining the reclined lifter from lateral and longitudinal shifting. The bench top finds particular application in use for weight lifting movements such as the bench press, and the upper surface includes a lower-body section configured as a first depression contoured for receiving and stabilizing the lifter's buttocks. In addition, the lower-body section includes leg stabilizing sections configured for engaging the lifter's upper legs to predispose and hold them in a predetermined laterally-diverged orientation. Disposed between a first, upwardly facing substantially planar section of the upper surface and the lower-body section is an intermediate, elevated section defined by a bilateral support means for engaging and supporting the lifter's back and trunk beneath the Latissimus dorsi muscles.