Powertec Dual Hyperextension Crunch Review

Powertec Dual Hyperextension Crunch Review and pics by Darkfact.

I was originally planning to buy the bodycraft hyperextension, but after reading some of the issues other people have had with that company and then reading that the bodycraft is really built for people less than 220lbs or so, I decided to go with the "beefier" powertec hyper.

Being the 5th piece I've bought from Powertec over the last 5 years I knew the packaging would be adequate:

Everything that was supposed to be included was included:

The instructions were your standard "diagram only/no text" that I've found common to this type of equipment, it was pretty easy to tell from the design what bolts to use where and how to put it all together. It took me about 30-40 mins total.

I found 2 problems while putting it together. The first was a crack in the plastic slide for the adjustable foot bar, it doesn't really cause any problems right now and I'm not going to send it back, but if it starts to fall apart I will have to get a replacement:

The second issue was an issue with paint reducing clearance with a tube that's supposed to go in between the bars on the pad frame, it's supposed to fit in there and rotate freely because it's the part used to adjust from the 45 degree to flat back extensions (and degrees in between). I had to completely "muscle" it in and wear the paint down so it would rotate some:

Besides those issues everything went together smoothly, I waited until the end to tighten all the bolts and it turned out to be a pretty solid and sturdy machine. It's actually a bit bigger than I expected, bigger than several fully welded hyper's I've used in gyms. It will handle my weight quite easily, in testing I held a 45 but I haven't tried more yet.

Conclusion

I'm pretty happy with what it turned out to be especially for how cheap it was brand new. As far as home grade equipment goes, it's probably the closest to gym quality that I own, and so it will most likely be the last to get upgraded, if ever. I will eventually own a commercial GHD so it's not likely I'll buy a new hyper unless I wear this one out. And if I break it or wear it out you guys will be the first to hear about it I promise!