Is The Marcy MD-879 The Best Budget Olympic Weight Bench?

I’ve always liked Marcy. What impresses me about these guys is that they keep prices down while still delivering on quality. Yeah, it’s not high-end gear, but for the price, you get a lot for your money

Built from 14-gauge steel, you know the Marcy MD-789 isn’t a heavy-duty commercial option. Still, 14-gauge steel is pretty impressive for a budget bench; there’s some weight to it.

Premium Feel

Weighing over 90lb including rack, is excellent for a low-cost Olympic bench. That weight gives everything a sturdier, even premium, feel, which many users have mentioned, which is exactly what you want.

Stability is key when pressing heavy barbells. You need a sturdy bench under you, and you get that with the Marcy. It’s not some cheap wobbly bench. It’s a stable, well-made weight bench, which is something Marcy has always excelled at.

It’s certainly an Olympic bench I feel is worth a much closer look, and in today’s Marcy MD-879 Olympic Weight Bench Review, I’ll be taking a close look at everything this bench has to offer, including those minor drawbacks.

Also dont miss our comparison of the Marcy MD-879 with its one-piece bigger brother, the Marcy MD-857, at the end of the review, as it will be interesting to see how these two match up.

First, a quick look at the Marcy MD-879 Olympic Bench specs, pros, and cons!

Specs

Read More: Top 3 Marcy Olympic Weight Benches

Why Do We Like The Marcy MD 879 Olympic Weight Bench?

The best feature of the Marcy Olympic bench is that it comes as a two-piece set.

Most Olympic benches are attached to the barbell catch rack, which limits the number of exercises and makes it difficult to use the weight bench for anything other than barbell movements.

Walk-in Squat Rack

With the Marcy bench, you get the best of both worlds. You can use the bench as a free-standing adjustable weight bench, plus you can use the bench’s barbell catch rack as a walk-in squat rack.

You can even use the rack to box squat just bring the weight bench into the squat rack space and have it completely flat to make sure it stays balanced.

Load The Storage Pegs With Plates For Extra Stability

The one downside to owning a rack that’s not attached to the bench is stability issues. Thankfully, the Marcy squat rack does come fitted with a couple of storage pegs.

It’s a good idea to load these pegs with weight plates. This will add some much-needed weight to the stand, which will help with stability. Plus it keeps the plates off the floor and makes them easily accessible to the bar on the rack.

No Spotter Bars

The crutches are adjustable in height, allowing them to be used for both presses and squats. Still, something that is always an issue with Olympic benches that don’t include spotter bars is safety, there is zero safety if you fail on one of those presses or squats!

Always best to have a spotting partner with you if you’re planning on lifting heavy.

Click here to check price of Marcy MD-879 on Amazon

Good quality Bench For the Price (6 back pad positions)

Marcy makes surprisingly good weight benches. The MD-879 bench is similar to their best-selling adjustable bench, which I reviewed over 6 years ago and still receives high praise today.

Okay, the MD-879 bench isn’t a tank of a bench, but it’s quite heavy. It’s built from 14-gauge powder-coated steel and weighs around 50lb on its own. So it will feel solid and not like a cheaply built, unstable bench.

Ladder Adjustment System for Backpad

I was happy to see the bench uses a ladder adjustment system, something I highly recommend, especially on low-cost benches.

Ladder adjustment systems tend to be sturdier, can take heavier weight weight loads, and are much faster to adjust than the pull pin systems.

The bench includes 6 adjustable back pad positions easily enough for all of our pressing needs, and the padding isnt too soft to cause stability issues nor hard to be uncomfortable. It’s just right.

Seat Doesn’t Adjust

Although the MD-879 is one of their cheaper models, Marcy hasn’t cut on quality, which is a good thing. However, they have cut on a few features, and one of those is an adjustable seat.

I feel an adjustable seat is vital if you want to press heavy in low incline angles. Why? Because an adjustable seat stops your butt from slipping down the bench, it provides a stable base to press from, thus increasing pressing power.

Is the lack of an adjustable seat a deal killer? It depends on how heavy you’re going to lift and how important incline pressing is for your goals/workout. If you’re not going to press super heavy, you can just about get away with not having an adjustable seat.

Bench attachments

On the positive side, the bench includes a preacher curl and a leg developer. Not everyone will get use from this, but it’s still worth having.

Preacher curls are one of the best exercises for isolating and maxing out the biceps. This is an attachment you’ll get a lot of use from if you want to add some size to your biceps.

Still, I’d recommend removing the leg and preacher curl when using the bench to flat bench press, as they can get in the way of foot placement, which is really annoying. Thankfully, they are detachable.

Weight  Capacity 600lb on The Bench – 300lb For Catchers

It’s always important to know first the weight capacity of both the bench and the barbell crutches when buying an Olympic weight bench.

As I’ve already mentioned, the Marcy Olympic bench isn’t a heavy-duty option, so we can’t expect it to boast 1000 lb+ capacities.

But at 600lb for the bench, we’re sort of in mid-weight range for an Olympic bench. The question is can it take it? And that’s a good question to ask as there are so many Olympic benches out there that love to boast high capacities but, in reality, dont have the build to handle it.

I’m glad Marcy didn’t slap some silly high-capacity on the bench. 600lb is realistic for a 50lb well-built bench with a ladder adjustment system. However, low cost benches don’t include the high-quality welds of commercial benches, so we still need to be cautious.

I wouldn’t take it right up to its max regularly, always safer to stay 100lb below the max capacity of both the bench and rack.

Also, we need to remember that the max capacity of the weight bench includes your own body weight.

Drawbacks of The Marcy MD-879 Olympic Bench?

For the price, there really wasn’t much I could find to fault about the Marcy 2-piece Olympic Bench. It’s a shame the seat isn’t adjustable, that’s really the only main drawback about this bench, and a few minor ones, like the lack of adjustable spotter bars, and the bench is a little high at 19″.

Still, these are drawbacks that affect most Olympic Benches in this price range, and, to be honest, if you want a more heavy-duty, semi-commercial or commercial Olympic two-piece set up that includes these extra features, you’re looking at paying twice as much.

Bang for your buck, the Marcy MD-879 is about as good as it gets for two-piece sets in the under-$300 price bracket.

Average Time For Assembly 2 hours

Some people found the Marcy a breeze to put together, while others said instructions weren’t clear. Tools for the job come with the bench, but many people have used their own tools, such as a 5/8 socket and an adjustable wrench. 

Final Verdict

It’s no surprise to me that Marcy has come up trumps again with another excellent low-cost piece of gym equipment. Their MD-879 Olympic bench is better than anything else I’ve come across for under $300.

What I like most about this two-piece set is the bench. It’s a sturdy, heavy bench that can be used on its own or with the rack, which is a big plus.

Make sure to load the storage horns to keep the rack stable, and have a spotting partner with you if you’re going to lift heavy. You shouldn’t have any problems when using the Marcy MD-879 Olympic Bench.

Overall, a lot of the bench for the money; yeah, it lacks a couple of features, but that’s to be expected in this price bracket. At least the quality is there, so durability shouldn’t be an issue.

How Does It Compare?

Marcy MD-857 Olympic Bench (standard one piece)

As I’ve already mentioned, Marcy is the go-to company for high-quality, low-cost Olympic Weight Benches, both one-piece and two-piece units.

The one-piece MD-857 Olympic weight bench is by far their most impressive. In fact, this is my favorite Olympic bench from Marcy. It’s a solid one-piece Olympic weight bench, this thing weighs well over 100lb, it’s a heavy bench for the price point, which of course is what you want.

The main advantage of choosing a one-piece Olympic bench is stability. The bench being attached to the barbell rack creates a much more stable unit than the two-piece design.

But it’s not just the weight and one-piece design I like about this bench. The seat design is also impressive. You can slide it to five positions, so you’ll always find the perfect position for your presses.

Also, the seat has two incline angles, which means you’ll have all the important support when incline bench pressing.

And what’s even more impressive is that the MD-857 actually includes adjustable spotter arms for the barbell rack, so you dont have to worry about getting pinned under the bar if you fail on the last heavy rep. You can lift heavy safely on your own with this Olympic bench, which is a big plus.

The essentials are all there with MD-857.  Still, it’s a one-piece unit, and it, too, has its drawbacks. The main drawback is not being able to use the bench independently from the rack, like you can with the two-piece designs.

Also, with a one-piece design, you tend to get fewer backpad angles. The MD-857 boasts just 4, which is disappointing.

But the positives with this bench far outweigh the negatives; it’s a solid, well-made one-piece Olympic bench, and for around $300, it’s a steal.

I prefer the Marcy MD-857 over the two-piece Marcy MD879 simply because of the extra stability you get from a one-piece unit, and the fact that the Marcy MD-857 includes an adjustable seat and spotter bars, which is important for my training.

However, which one suits you the best depends on your training and your goals. Whichever one you choose, both offer excellent value for money, you won’t be disappointed.

Marcy MD-879 Olympic Weight Bench FAQs