Rogue RM4 power rack vs TITAN smith machine

This is a comparison between the Rogue RM4 rack and the TITAN smith machine including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.

Rogue fitness vs TITAN fitness

Rogue Fitness is the current market leader when it comes to a functional home gym and commercial gym equipment. They have one of the widest portfolios including racks, barbells, benches, dumbbells, and apparel for the weekend warrior and dedicated athlete. The biggest downside of Rogue Fitness is their comparatively high prices to the competition.

TITAN Fitness is the clear cost leader when you want to build a home gym on a budget that is still similar to what Rogue offers in function, look, and feel. While you will save about half on the sticker price you will run a higher risk of inconsistencies in quality compared to a purchase from Rogue. The equipment will be safe but is more likely to have blemishes, quality issues with welds or that pieces will not easily fit into place. That makes TITAN a good option for a DIY enthusiast who does not mind tinkering with their equipment, but not the first choice to get the best equipment and treat yourself.

Overview and review of the TITAN Smith machine $1069

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

Overview of the TITAN Smith machine

A smith machine can be used to train your entire body with barbell presses, squats, bench presses and other movements. The main distinguishing feature of a smith machine is that the bar path is fixed as the barbell is attached to the frame. This makes a smith machine less intimidating for beginners than a rack with free weights. The TITAN smith machine is competitively priced and has some extra features that many other Smith machines do not have. The full feature list includes:

- Knurled barbell with 13.25-in of loadable space on the sleeves.

- (6) 8-in Olympic Weight Storage Posts.

- Band pegs on either side allow for added resistance.

- Two J-hooks attached to the bar takes a quick flick of the wrist to lock into 8 safe positions when finished with the exercise.

- Two safety catches can be adjusted to set before a lift to prevent injuries in the case of failed reps.

- Counter-balance function included!

- Four rubber pads on the feet of the Smith Machine protect flooring from unwanted scuffing and provide stability.

- Overall Height: 86-in.

- Overall Width: 66.5-in.

- Overall Depth: 54-in.

- Weight Capacity: 600 lb.

- Weight: 261 lb.

This is a solid machine for any commercial gym that wants to add a smith machine in their line up. Home gym owners will be better off getting a rack with a barbell instead.

Pros of the TITAN Smith machine

The pros of the TITAN smith machine are:

Plate storage on rack
Pins for band work
Price

Compared to other Smith machines in the market TITAN has done a good job to maximize the use of the frame of the rack for this Smith machine. You will have multiple pins to store plates on included in your shipment. This makes storing plates easy. Some other Smith machines in the market have massive frames and only eat up space without providing storage options.

Another great addition to this particular Smith machine are the pins for bands. Taken from the west side method approach of training you can attach bands to the TITAN smith machine which are provided at the bottom of the structure. Just make sure to bolt the machine to the ground of you do this as band work is one of the top reasons to topple racks that have it been bolted to the ground.

Keeping the price of this massive Smith machine around $1000 ja TITAN written all over it. It is their specialty to offer big fitness equipment at roughly half of the price of the competition and this Smith machine is no exception.

Cons of the TITAN Smith machine

The cons for the TITAN smith machine are:

Awkward racking mechanism
Space requirements
Attached barbell
Instructions / customer service

The mechanism to lock or unlock a barbell on a smith machine is in my opinion one of the biggest design flaws you can find in a commercial gym. Why smith machines have gotten so popular is beyond me. The mechanism provides a false sense of security to the user. If you fail a rep you still have to twist your wrists under strain to lock the bar back into position. While this is ok but not great for the bench press, for the squat it is near impossible. Combined with the fact that the bar is attached to the frame this can lead to some nasty accidents where you are folded like lawn chair under the weight. With a free weight you can at least just dump it off your back as a last resort. In my opinion smith machines provide little advantage for the risks they pose, especially to inexperienced trainees.

Everything you can do with a smith machine you can do with a rack and a barbell. Probably even better. This is why this machine eats up to much space for any home gym. Unless you are the Rock and have a whole crew of people carrying an entire commercial gym around for you. There is something to be said for quad development out of high rep smith machine squats. You do get a different pump out of the smith machine as there is less room to work with the supporting muscles from the back. Still, this is only interesting for full time bodybuilders and does not justify to give up valuable home gym space where you could place a rack instead.

The fact that the barbell is attached makes it less versatile than a rack. The barbell an get in the way of exercises, especially if you need to use the space inside the smith machine because you are short on space. Again a barbell and rack is the better choice and you can get this for the same budget from TITAN.

TITAN needs to cut some corners to offer you consistent competitive pricing on all of their product range. This is why across the board their customer service and manuals or not as good as the ones of their competitors Rogue and Eleiko. You are also more likely to have parts missing on your shipment or that they do not fit smoothly. This can happen with other, higher priced products, too, but the likelihood is lower. Quality management and consistency in production are good ways to cut cost. These processes are expensive is they are Labour intensive and also assume that some of the production gets discarded due to lack of quality. You can not do that of your strategy is to be the cheapest in the narbet which is exactly what TITAN prides themselves one. Got for your wallet, but expect some minor issues, especially with products that have a lot of moving parts like a smith machine.

Alternatives to the TITAN smith machine

If you have $1000 to spent on equipment I think you are better off to shell it out on a rack and barbell than a smith machine. A good rack from TITAN can be had at $500. A decent one would even start at $200. The Atlas bar comes in at around $200 and a set of 230lbs bumper plates is $375 from TITAN.

If you want to get a machine for training your legs it think the TITAN leg press is the better option than the smith machine. It comes in at roughly the same price. This machine can be heavily loaded, provides security to people who do not want to use a barbell, and you can work the ranges of motion that are hard to stay in for long in a barbell squat. If I wanted to blow up my legs and had space and key to add to my gym above and beyond a rack, a leg press would be high up my list.

The Titan belt squat machine is another way of getting more squat volume in your training without trashing your wer back. Belt squat machines are popular for quad development with powerlifters and weightlifters. The big advantage is here that the movement pattern is not predefined and you have less compression on your spine.

Conclusion for the TITAN Smith machine

The TITAN smith machine has a great price and some little extra features which make it an excellent Smith machine to get. The only problem for me is that I think that all Smith machines are a waste of space and should be replaced with a belt squat, extra rack or leg press, depending on what you already have. If you have the space and money to collect all different types of machines, do it. Still, a smith machine would only enter my gym to complete a collection for the sale of it, rather than because I think it is a good idea for my clients.

Overview and review of the Rogue RM-4 Monster Rack

If you want to just lean back and learn about the RM4 in a video you can watch the video above. I have bought the RM4 for my own home gym and I am very happy with it. I invite you to leave a comment on Youtube if you have any direct questions regarding the rack.

Price: 1.300 - 1765$

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 RM4 rack gives a cage for your powerlifting needs without providing a lot of storage options. See the details in this article.

Overview of the RM4

The RM4 is the core of the Rogue Monster rack series. This is the full rack that can be built onto in many ways. As it is part of the Monster series you can choose between 90'', 100'' and 108'' in height. The RM4 is 49'' long and wide. The overall footprint comes to 53''x53''. You get westside spacing and a multitude of colors to choose from. These are:

Bright Blue
Bright Green
Burnt Orange
Dark Blue
Gun Metal
Light Gray
Rogue Red
White
Satin Clear
Satin Black

With the MOnster rack, you are entering Rogue's flagship series of construction. This protects your investment for the future. You can choose from multiple options like Flip down safeties and 2'' Monster Sandwich J cups for your own comfort.

How many clients should the Rogue RM4 Monster Rack bring you?

If you think that the Rogue RM4 will bring you 5 new clients who pay you 50$ on a 1-year retainer it is worth the investment. This will yield 3.000$ net new revenue against an investment of 1.300$. Adjust the numbers for your own gym accordingly.

Pros of the Rogue RM4

This is a rack that can be upgraded easily while still being in the Monster series of Rogue. This is one of the most cost-effective options to get into the Monster portfolio with a relatively standard product to build upon. There are less costly options in the Monster series, but they are specialty racks which might lead to challenges when upgrading.

Cons of the Rogue RM4

The biggest con for the Monster series is the price tag. You can get a lot more rack for the same price out of the Infinity series.

Alternatives to the Rogue RM4

Here are some alternatives within the Rogue portfolio based on a budget of 1.300$

1x Rogue RML 490C @1.075$

With the Rogue RML 490C, you basically get the same amount of rack space at a lower space. The Monster Lite series is built a bit less sturdy than the Monster series. Some of the bigger machines also do not attach to the Monster Lite series. Apart from this, you save 300$ for more or less the same effect.

1x Metal jerk Blocks @ 1.150$

If you are considering to upgrade your existing gym you might want to consider metal jerk blocks instead. This will help to attract professional weightlifters to your gym who usually pay more and stay for longer. This is only an option when you have the basics already covered. #

Conclusion

The RM4 is a bit friendlier on your purse than its big brother the RM6. You still get a good option out of the Monster series to do your workouts in. Be mindful of where to store your plates when you buy the RM4 as it is very unlikely that there will be enough room on the rack itself