Rogue Monster Lat pull down vs Utility seat

This is a comparison between the Rogue Lat pull down and Rogue Utility seat including pros, cons, and alternatives. The Original was published in which accessory equipment to get for your rogue rack. Follow the links for details

Overview and review of the Rogue Monster Utility seat

The Rogue Monster Utility seat comes in at $225 and are a great addition to your existing rack to widen the possible exercises you can do. This article was originally published in "which accessory equipment to get for your rogue rack".

Overview of the Rogue Monster Utility seat

The Rogue monster utility seat is a versatile addition to your Rogue rack with which you can perform:

Box squats
Bulgarian somit squats
Hip thrusts
Step ups
Box jumps

And other applications you can come up with. The monster Utility seat can be combined with the Rogue flip down safeties or the monster spotter arms to create these training scenarios.

Pros of the Monster Utility seat

This is an easy platform to use in your rack for a good price of you have the right setup in place.

Cons of the Monster Utility seat

This seat only works in combination with other Rogue equipment and not as a stand alone which drives it cost above the stated price tag.

Alternatives to the Monster Utility seat

Alternatives to the utility seat are

If you only want to perform box jumps pylo Boxes can be the right choice for you. This can be stacked and cost less than other wooden boxes. Their disadvantage is that they can only be used with one height.

The competition boxes can be used with multiple height giving you three different configurations for your workouts. An advantage over the utility seat is that they are standalone and can also be used outside.

The box squat seats are adjustable I’m height depending on the user and can be used without the flip-down safeties. This makes them ideal for heavy box squats where you still want to have the possibility to squat to a pin.

Summary of the Utility seat

The Rogue monster utility seat is a great option when you want to make your home gym more versatile and already have flip-down safeties.

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.

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.