I've mentioned before that I really appreciate products that punch way above its value and cost. Of course, sometimes you have to use products in ways that it was never intended to be used.
Such is the case with the latest addition to my punch-above-it's-price-point product, Ikea's Applaro. Applaro is part of Ikea's outdoor furniture line, made of solid wood and is supposed to be a regular bench for seating with storage functionality.
Keeping in line with my recent attempts to not be such a lazy fat-ass, I started thinking of getting one of those weight benches. The only problem with that is, a weight bench only looks "right" in a gym. But with the help of my lovely wife, I came to the realization that, with a little unconventional thinking with the Applaro, I get to have a solid wooden bench for exercise, and it doesn't look out of place in my balcony.
There is some assembly involved, and it does take a little elbow grease to screw in the nuts that hold the bench together, but after about 20 minutes, we have this:
Another feature that's pretty good is that it also acts as a storage for my dumbells and other gear for fitness, as you cen see below.
Sure, if you really wanna be particular about it, this can't really do absolutely everything a gym bench can do. For example, you can't adjust the angle of the bench for exercises like incline chest press or flys, but I guess I could place a few rolled up workout mats under my upper back to get a similar position going. It isn't long enough for me to lie on it and have my head supported, but I can kind of shimmy down a little to get that head support.
So the Applaro seems to tick the most boxes for my eclectic set of criteria for a workout bench. There are some compromises, but I'm OK with a little compromise, since I'm discovering that that is what life's all about anyway.