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Rogue Monster Lat pull down stand alone vs TITAN plate loaded chest press

Written by Pascal Landshoeft | Dec 28, 2020 5:00:00 PM

Rogue Monster Lat pull down stand alone vs TITAN plate loaded chest press

This is a comparison of the Rogue Monster Lat pull and the TITAN plate loaded chest press including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.

 

Overview and review of the TITAN plate loaded chest press $464

This is an overview of the TITAN plate loaded chest press including pros, cons and alternatives. This article was originally posted in Which gym machine to get from TITAN. Follow the links for additional information.

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Overview of the TITAN plate loaded chest press machine

 
The TITAN plate loaded chest press machine is a chest press machine with a foldable bench which makes it unique. Again TITAN designs a machine with the spacious home gym in mind that saves money and space. The plate loadable chest press can be used with regular Olympic plates. The bench is adjustable for incline presses and has multiple grip variations. The full specifications of this TITAN machine are:
 
- Fits Olympic plates and features (2) 9.5-inch loadable weight posts
- Fully adjustable bench for the incline or flat reps
- (13) Bench depth positions to easily adjust to any size athlete and to accommodate hand placement for presses
- (5) Lifting arm positions to easily adjust the angle of your lift
- Bench easily stores on top of the frame when not in use to
 
- Minimum Footprint: 64-in. W x 63-in. L
- Maximum Footprint: 64-in. W-in. x 23-in.
- Seat Pad Dimensions: 11 - 8-in. x 12.5-in.
- Lifting Arm Length: 34-in.
- Vertical Handle Spread: 26.5-in.
- Weight Post Length: 9.5-in.
- Weight Capacity: 1,000 lb.
- Weight: 155 lb.
 
This is a great machine for bench presses and replacing a dumbbell rack, if you have the space for it.
 

Pros of the TITAN plate loaded chest press machine

 
 
  • Multiple grip variations
  • Foldable bench
  • Plate loaded
  • Price
 
Compared to a barbell, rack and bench setup this machine provides you more grip variations. This could also be done with dumbbells and a rack, but then you have to factor in the storage space for multiple dumbbells and that they are awkward to work with by yourself once it gets heavy.
 
The foldable bench saves some space when you want to free up the center of your gym for stretching exercises, runs or other stout ones which need space. The footprint gets smaller, but you still have the metal frame to consider.
 
Plate loaded machines are great for home gyms as you can use one set of plates for all the machines you own. This saves cost in getting your little park of machines together as you not pay the weight stack for each and every machine.
 
As with all TITAN products you will have a hard time to find something that is priced better. Especially as this machine already includes an adjustable bench which already can easily cost $500 or more by themselves.
 

Cons of the TITAN plate loaded chest press machine

 
The cons of the TITAN plate loaded chest press are:
 
  • Plate loaded
  • Space requirements
  • Bench is attached
 
While plate loaded designs can be great in smaller gyms it can turn into a trip hazard and bottlenecks in high frequency commercial gyms. If you have a lot of footfall with a varying level of experience combined with little supervision, than go for a chest press machine with an included weigh my stack.
 
If your home gym is very crammed you might not have the space to get another machine in like the Titan plate loaded chest press. In this scenario you might want to get three pairs of dumbbells (light, middle, heavy) and spotter arms for dumbbells for your rack. This makes the setup more modular.
 
A further disadvantage of the TITAN plate loaded chest press is that the be cj is attached. This means that you can not move things around in your and might even need to get a second bench for that purpose. Just keep that in mind based on the plans you have for your gym and the exercises you want to do.
 

Alternatives to the TITAN plate loaded chest press machine

 
Alternatives to the TITAN plate loaded chest press are:
 
 
The Titan functional and plate loaded functional trainer can also be used as bench press stations as long as you get an additional bench. With the different grips you can have more variety than with a barbell. These two machines have $1300 between them. In a home gym scenario you might want to use the plate loaded version to save considerably.
 
Conclusion for the TITAN plate loaded chest press machine
 
The TITAN plate loaded chest press machine is a serious consideration to get instead of a full rack of dumbbells. If you have the space for a full rack of dumbbells you can most likely also fit this machine. You can do all of the dumbbell exercises you need with this machine and load it with plates instead. For a home gym this is a definite alternative. In a commercial setting you can not replace a dumbbell rack with this machine as you have to cover more people at the same time. It can however be used to make the bench press more accessible toi wider community of your clients.

Overview and review of the Rogue Monster Lat pull down stand alone 

 

Price: 2.950

This review was originally posted in the longer article "Which strength equipment to buy from rogue" in which you can read about 25 products of Rogue which cost more than 1.000$. The Rogue Monster lat pull down will create more bats in your gym. See the details in this article.

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Overview of the Rogue Monster Lat pull down

 
The Monster Lat pulldown Standalone is a lat pulldown machine for the expert athlete. As with all Rogue equipment this machine is built like a tank. The lat pulldown machine is a great example of how Rogue takes pride in what they do and takes their customer feedback series. 
 
If you read between the lines you can see that the pulley, the bar, cable, and Steel eye were not up to Rogue's standards in the V1 of this machine. All of these parts have been consequently brought in-house and are not bought from 3rd parties anymore. These things are normal when new production lines are being built, a new market is tested and new processes build around them.
 
At least Rogue took the right learnings from this and perfected their Rhino launch. The prone leg curl and the ISO leg press have not gotten a V2 overhaul yet whereas the Lat pull down has. Be aware of this when you buy from Rogue. I am positive they will accommodate valid feedback, especially on big orders. If you buy for your home gym, maybe wait on the leg press and curl until there is more feedback available or find a gym nearby to test them.
 
The Rogue Lat pulldown weighs 605lb and offers up to 300lb resistance in plates in 10lb increments. It has a footprint of 40'' by 60''. It is 60'' long, 40'' wide and 96'' high. The steel notes are 3x3 11-gauge steel just like the rest of the Rogue Monster series.
 

Pros of the Rogue Monster lat pull down

 
This lat pulldown is also a rowing machine so you get two for the price of one. The difference to many other rowing machines is that Rogue came up with an idea that does not make the bench longer. By positioning a footrest under the seat this lat pulldown machine turns into a rowing machine without adding extra length. 
 
Another big pro is that this machine allows the use of bands with the lat pull. This is very unique and I have not seen many machines like this. Especially when you have experienced athletes you will appreciate that you can work with bands.
 

Cons of the Rogue Monster Lat pull down

 

A lat pulldown is a big machine. It will take up quite a bit of space where a pull-up bar might create a similar effect. Especially in a home gym scenario, you might be better off getting dumbbells and a pull-up bar which takes up less floor space. As with other machines, the pulley system takes maintenance. Oiling this system and keeping it in check might not be for everyone.
 

How many clients do you need for the lat pull down?

 
If you think that the Lat pulldown will bring you 10 new clients who pay you 50$ on a 1-year retainer it is worth the investment. This will yield 6.000$ net new revenue against an investment of 2.950$. Adjust the numbers for your own gym accordingly.
 

Alternatives to the Lat pull down from Rogue

 
Here are some alternatives to the Rogue lat pull down
 
1x Rhino belt Squat Rack @ 2750$
 
The Rhino belt including the half rack will give you a better pulley system and the necessary rack to play around with it. It will not exactly be the same and the workarounds might be not ideal, however, it is possible. I would also be very surprised if Rogue did not capitalize on the opportunity to deliver a system that combines the RM6 and Rhino to a fully built all-purpose gym station. Stay tuned for that one.
 
1x Monster Lite Rig @ 2.495$
 
A monster lite rig will provide you with
 
  • 4 Squat/ Bench Stations
  • 8 Pull up Stations
 
For less than the price for one lat pulldown machine. If you are aiming to open a small CrossFit gym this is the way to go. This also shows you that Rogue still has to work on optimizing their costs on building machines. The upshot is that you will get a machine that is fully made in the US. If you work for the government this might even be a requirement for purchase. 
 

Conclusion

The Rogue Monster lat pull down is a very solid machine for your gym. If you do not want to compromise and attract the biggest and best athletes to your gym, this is the one to go for. 
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