How to Buy a Power Rack

For people wanting to develop strength and muscles the power rack offers an ideal place to hold weights and equipment for power lifting. Add a flat or inclined bench and expand the workout. Adjust the height of the weight bar for safety. The power rack enables the user to workout without a spotter. Main lifts include squats, bench press, dead lifts, jerks, dumbbell workouts and other strength building routines.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Power rack
• Weights
• Dumbbells
• Bench
• Bars
• J-hooks
• Pins
• Step-up platform
• Chains
• Bands

1. Measure the open area of your workout room before you buy a power rack. The racks average 7 feet tall, 4 feet wide and 5 feet long. For chin-up bar add additional ceiling space and for squats measure the width needed for your body size. Wider widths offer more comfort while training.
2. Consider how much weight you plan to use in your workout program. Power racks have various capacities. Many average 800 lbs for weight racks and several hundred pounds for chin and dip bars.
3. Buy a power rack with extra J-hooks or pins to hold your dumbbells and bars. The J-hooks hold the weight bar and usually one set comes with the power rack, an extra set allows for a second bar. The pins regulate how high or low you want the bar to move.
4. Look at pinhole spacing on the sides. Some models vary pinhole spacing along the side rack with closer spaces in the middle. A smaller spacing between 1 to 2 inches offers better flexibility for placing the pens and J-hooks. Low-end power racks have spacing measuring 2 inches and above.
5. Choose the options you need for your workouts. Popular items include step-up platforms, dip bars, pull downs and storage hooks for extra bars, chains and bands.

Tips & Warnings

• Check out the many power rack brands and compare prices at NexTag and BizRate websites. Pricing goes from a few hundred dollars to a couple thousand dollars with all the bells and whistles.