I’m considering buying repboards, but they’re $50 for a few pieces of foam. Seems excessive.
I usually train alone so standard boards for board press doesn’t make much sense. I thought about Bench Blokz, but they are just as expensive. Also, looks kinda unsafe.
Are there any cheaper alternatives?
Buy your own lumbar, some nails, and maybe some adhesive. Other than that, all you need is a saw and a hammer. Even a handsaw would work.
I guess you could even sand down the pieces or at least the corners.
You want one piece to be longer than the others to serve as a handle. Making the handle shape isn’t entirely necessary.
Other than that, some phone books might work. You’ll need to strap them down to keep them in place.
Literally anything that you can comfortably lay on your chest to shorten your range of motion will work. A book like fletch said, a foam roller, a bunched up towel, a pillow, go nuts. I have bench blokz though and they are definitely worth the investment just for the convenience if you train alone like I do.
If you train alone you can still use boards, just find something to strap them onto you chest - similar to repboards.
I forgot one, yoga blocks! They’ll even sometimes come with a yoga strap thing that you can use to hold them down.
If you use one, it’ll sink in to about a 1-board height after the weight’s suck it. Then when you press it off, the block will help spring it up. You can use that to train yourself to press fast off the block and overload your lockout. Before it compresses, it’s about a 2-board height.
I train alone bench blokz cheaper then vest, after you make your own boards, with the material and labor and if you have to buy tools, would have better buying blokz. If i had your email i would sell you my bench blokz for 20 bucks plus shipping as i no longer use , it is almost new, but now i use bands on smith machine instead. Mine has one board to five board i payed 59 bucks for plus shipping just takes up space on gym bag. About size of box of kleenex one piece. I dont know what rules are in forum . As far as exchanging emails.
Moderator?
Actually, I was considering buying some 2x6s and installing two hooks on them so that I can strap it to my chest. Then I’d have velcro on them so that I could stack them up. I figure the material cost would be around $15-$20, then the time involved. Not to mention the space it’d take up in my gym bag. Or if it’d even fit. I’m really leaning towards Repboards.
My concern with the Bench Blokz is that it might be unsafe when using the 4 or 5 board. Wouldn’t the block have a tendency to want to rotate if the weight is heavy or comes down in the wrong way? If the answer is no then I am definitely interested in yours. 
I see your point. I just used mine to shorten range of motion as i have bad pec tear. But with real heavy weight this is possible.
Just go to the lumbar yard and get you a 15ft 2x4, some wood screws, 10 eye hooks, wood glue and a bungee cord that would fit snug enough hooked to the boards around your chest. Cut 15 pieces in 10" lengths, glue 'em and screw 'em. Drill a pilot hole in both sides of one of the boards in each stack and screw your eye hooks in. This has worked for me for well over a year and super cheap. You don’t necessarily need the wood glue or drill a pilot hole, but I had the glue on hand and the pilot hole makes it easier to get the eye hooks started.
Actually, I’m considering getting a 2X6 and cutting it into 10" or 12" lengths, then attaching velcro on both sides. One of them will have two eye hooks and then I’ll get some kinda strap or bungee cord to hold it to my chest, then attach the other boards.
Similar to this: Making Boards for Board Presses - #6 by taking_back
I got a 2x6 and cut it up and made this!
Gonna try it out tomorrow. I have 5 boards with velcro so they’re adjustable. I am using a bungee cord to hold it to my chest but I’m gonna find an adjustable strap for it.
I used 2x6’s screwed together. I use a light mini band wrapped twice around my chest and put it on like putting on a tshirt. Then I put the boards between my chest and bands. It won’t move and you can do reps.
Replaced the bungee cord w/ an adjustable strap (from a laptop bag). Works quite well!
I use homemade ‘boards’ some kind of fibre board (Millboard it was called) anyway I made about 6 of them at ~1inch thick. They’re about 12inch x 9inch. The best way I have found to hold them on is to use a miniband (doubled) around my chest, lay down and place them under the band, putting one part of band near the top (chest) end of boards and the other at the middle / lower end (stomach). Because they’re wide and the band is pretty firm they hold really well.
