AbMat Preacher Pad Review
Last updated on April 5th, 2024 at 09:59 am
The Preacher Pad is a collaboration between Adam from Garage Gym Lab and AbMat, makers of a ton of various accessory type items for the gym. You can read about the Preacher Pad in this write up I did for the Garage Gym Competition here.
Key Notes
The Preacher Pad makes Preacher Curls easy in the gym. No shocker, a product made BY a garage gym athlete, works great for garage gym athletes.
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But in this write up I’ll focus on my experiences with the Preacher Pad. It is a fairly simple and straight forward product, so this won’t be a hugely deep and detailed review. Hopefully I can paint a few pictures for you so you can make a decision around buying it or not.
Adam was kind enough to send me the Preacher Pad for free.
Preacher Pad Basics
The Preacher Pad is what you get if you take a firm pad, wrap it in vinyl, and form it in the shape of a trapezoid. If you have ever used an AbMat before, think a very similar construction, just different size and purpose. The pad is fairly firm as it is meant to support the weight of your upper body, plus a loaded bar/DBs/cable attachment, while being smashed against your legs. That said, it is still accommodating for comfort so you aren’t going to feel like you are working off plywood. Don’t expect to do any other exercises here like hip thrusts or anything, this is definitely a one trick pony.
The unit overall is light enough and easy enough to move that even a small child could carry it around the gym and put it in place. It takes up a very small amount of storage space. So overall, very garage gym friendly. About 2 feet wide as the biggest dimensions, you should be able to find space in any gym.
Ok, so we have a light, firm, but comfortable pad wrapped in leather in a shape that allows us to perform preacher curls. And it does just that, pretty freaking well. I’ve used the preacher pad so far for cable curls, DB curls, and EZ Bar curls.
It performs, in general, like a typical preacher bench. You get your arms out in front of you, get a nice stretch and have the pad to push back into. It kills cheating and really forces a great contraction in the biceps. Sometimes these “gym hack” items leave a lot to be desired compared to the real deal. But damn if this doesn’t bring back fond memories of blasting biceps in a commercial gym.
Other Options
When I compare this to the Powertec Preacher Curl bench attachment I had, it isn’t even close. That thing was a pain to move, set up, and was pretty wobbly and overall lackluster. Storage was a pain in the ass, and it didn’t last long in my gym. The preacher pad is none of those things.
Another similar product is the Biceps Bomber. The biggest differences are really in the basic design of the units and how they impact the exercise itself. The Biceps Bomber puts your upper arm all the way back in line with your body for what might be called a “concentration” curl. It hangs off your neck and your triceps comes in contact with it, where the preacher pad has your arms out in front of you, like traditional preacher curls. Not the same, not ENTIRELY different, but the two units certainly function a bit different. More on that later.
Your other options in a garage gym are limited. You could use a GHD or some other pad or bench. These are often pretty lackluster. Something flashy for Instagram that doesn’t have much staying power. You could have a dedicated preacher bench, but unless you are working with a HUGE gym space, that is a REALLY big dedication to a single trick item, both in terms of cost and footprint. That is about it. The Preacher Pad has little competition.
Key Items to Consider With The Preacher Pad
The couple of things you need to consider with the Preacher Pad…
Most preacher curl set ups, the unit itself is all in one. The benefit there is that you have a seat, the pad, and either a machine handle or a rack for the ez curl bar. The preacher pad is… just a pad. So you need to provide all of those things yourself. Want to do ez curl bar preacher curls? You gotta set up the bench near the rack and be able to rack it, unrack it, etc, without hitting the bench or the rack itself.
The preacher pad is designed to have all sides of the unit come in contact with something firm. This means your body, where the top hits your chest, the back hits your belly, the bottom sits on your legs, and the front is where your arms rest.
Or you can have the pad sitting ON a bench or a plyo box or even a rack if you have the right tools and attachments to replace the bottom on your legs. The key here is that without the legs (or something solid at the bottom) in place, you have nothing supporting it. For me, that means I am almost exclusively sitting down with the preacher pad. Standing is pretty much a no go.
Space
If you have a more space friendly gym, the preacher pad opens up a lot more. The downsides of moving a bench around in my gym start to slow down the positives of the preacher pad. I can’t really get my FID to my dumbbells. And my FID straight up doesn’t fit with my rack, so the ez curl set up isn’t ideal either. If you don’t have these problems, you can straight up use the Preacher Pad for damn near every set of biceps you do, regardless of the weapon of choice.
And if you have a few more tools and attachments like a rack step up platform, maybe a reverse hyper, you name it, now you can work standing curls into your routine. Have an adjustable column cable machine? Get really creative with flat top curls, low cable curls, and more. Basically, my gym is not conducive to something that requires multiple pieces to function, especially when one of those pieces is a well placed bench.
These “concerns” aren’t me calling out the preacher pad for being poorly designed by the way. Very few things in the gym, especially the garage gym, work for EVERYTHING. And you drop some functionality when trading for floor space, storage, you name it. Regardless, these are things to consider before buying, just in case you had a very specific application in mind that doesn’t jive. The good news is, those are my ONLY negatives. The fact that the unit is so light and easy to move around, stores away easily, and functions well, far outweighs the minor issues.
Back to Biceps Bomber
The Biceps Bomber, as it wraps around your neck, would allow for you to perform curls standing. This mitigates part of the potential drawbacks of the preacher pad. For me, the Biceps Bomber is a little more functional in that I can use it for multiple applications with no real extra set up time.
But remember, these aren’t the SAME thing, just similar. The biceps bomber can be a little more uncomfortable for some people. It is also restrictive in where your arms are which can be downright unpleasant. The Preacher Pad also HEAVILY restricts cheating, compared to the Biceps Bomber which almost encourages it. Neither is bad, just again, different.
I have no issues mixing and switching both of these around in my program as they honestly hit different. The biceps bomber certainly comes in cheaper than the Preacher Pad. But in the garage gym $130 is often not a concern.
Lets wrap this up
If you were picking between the Preacher Pad and Biceps Bomber, I’d tell you to think about your application and buy the one that makes the most sense for you. I personally gravitate towards the preacher pad these days. I always LOVED machine preacher curls, by a WIDE margin my favorite biceps exercise. So setting it up on my lap and crushing some low cable curls is nostalgic and magical. It delivers that targeted burn that just doesn’t really show up in many other applications.
Use it, toss it to the side, hit your superset or whatever else, and good to go. I’ll likely use it for all my cable work. Mix in the biceps bomber for the EZ Curl Bar, and maybe not use either for DBs. Again, think about your space, what equipment you have, and your ability to maximize either item, and make a good choice. Ultimately, you can’t go wrong with either, and could do wonders with both.
The Preacher Pad is built to last and deliver the needed biceps pump we’ve all been chasing since we first picked up a weight. It does it in a package that is simple and effective, light and robust, and well matched to the garage gym life. If you have been missing preacher curls in your programming, the Preacher Pad is a pretty simple and surefire way to toss them back in, not break the bank and save a ton of floor space.
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Joe Gray
My name is Joe Gray - aka Gray Matter Lifting - and I've been lifting at home since 2013. In that time I've built a badass gym, deadlifted over 600lbs, helped grow r/Homegym to over 1 Million subscribers, created the Garage Gym Competition and written a ton of posts here on this site. I love the Garage Gym Community... If you do too, I hope you stick around.
