Rogue RM8 vs TITAN Glute and hamstring combo

This is a comparison of the Rogue RM8 rack and the TITAN Glute and hamstring combo including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.

Overview and review of the TITAN Glute and hamstring combo $699

This is an overview of the TITAN Glute and hamstring combo 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 Glute and Hamstring combo

The Glute and hamstring combo from TITAN is the Flagship version of a glute and hamstring machine in their portfolio. TITAN has many other variations of this, but this one is the most comprehensive and sturdy. It does what it says on the tin and is a great addition to any home gym or powerlifting gy as an addition to the essential items. This is not the forst thing to get for your gym but a good contender for the second purchase or third depending on your training preferences. In commercial gyms most people will not know how to use this properly and be intimidated by it. If you are working a lot with powerlifters and weightlifters, this might just be the machine to set you apart from the other gyms around the corner. The full list of features includes:

- All the exercises of a GHD and an H-PND in one comprehensive machine

- Heavy-duty steel construction guarantees years of dependability

- Fits Olympic size weight plates

- 10-inch of loadable sleeve length

- Includes (2) spring clip collars and a strap

- Adjustable footplate height and length

- Adjustable handle length

- Overall Footprint: 70-in x 42.5-in.

- Overall Length (handle extended): 79-in.

- Overall Width: 42.5-in.

- Pad Dimensions: 28-in x 16-in.

- Pad Middle Gap: 4.75-in.

- Grip Length: 6-in.

- Grip Diameter: 1.25-in.

- Arm Length: 28-in.

- Anchor Length: 25-in.

- Overall Weight: 253 lb.

- Handle Adjusts 6 holes: 2-in spacing

- Pendulum Adjusts 11 holes: 2-in spacing

- Foothold Dimensions: 7-in x 2.5-in.

- Footplate Dimensions: 19.75-in x 13.75-in.

- Footplate Adjustable Length 7 holes: 2-in spacing

- Footplate Adjustable Height: 45.5-in to 51.5-in from floor at 1-in spacing

This is the best Glute and hamstring combo you can get for its price. It is not the best in the market, but you will safe considerably compared to its direct competitor, the Rogue Donkey.

Pros of the TITAN Glute and Hamstring combo

The pros of the TITAN Glute and hamstring combo:

Price
Space efficient
Highly adjustable

As with many TITAN fitness items you pay about half of what the competition charges for a similar product. This can get very interesting for someone who buys in bulk or for their home gym. You can never argue with a good bit of saving and this also goes for the TITAN Glute and hamstring combo.

The TITAN Glute and hamstring combo saves space as the design combines glute and hamstring machines in one station. This means you have to place fewer machines in your gym to achieve the same range of exercises in your space.

What TITAN also get right about this one is that they made all the handles and levers highly adjustable. One of the main problems with these types of machines is that it can get very uncomfortable and downright damaging to your body, if you can not adjust them properly to your body dimensions. TITAN delivers on this for this model.

Cons of the TITAN Glute and Hamstring combo

The cons of the TITAN Glute and Hamstring combo are:

Padding
Space requirement
Underused
Instructions

The only thing TITAN could have paid more attention to in this design is the padding of the middle part of the Glute and hamstring combo. The padding is probably as thin as one you would find on a preacher curl machine. The difference is that you will rest your entire bodyweight on this one. That was an oversight when this was drawn up and shows that it was designed by someone who wanted to make a quick copy of the competition rather than someone who actually uses the machine.

A Glute and ham combo takes up considerable amount of space in your gym. In addition it also swings out to the back so you can not really place any other equipment right behind it. Pay close attention to your measurement and have a lot of clearance around this machine as it otherwise it becomes dangerous or unusable. IN addition the use of this machine is pretty niche. Only powerlifters and strength athletes will use it a lot which does not make it a great choice for your average commercial gym.

As with most TITAN machines with a lot of moving parts the instructions for putting this together leave a lot to be desired. What you save in cash you have to make up for in tim invested to put this thing together.

Alternatives to the TITAN Glute and Hamstring combo

The Glute and hamstring developer is slightly less expensive than the combo. It does not have the reverse hyper extension and offers fewer exercise options. In exchange the padding is superior to the Glute and hamstring combo. Both machines take up roughly the same footprint in your gym.

The TITAN H-PND is the massive reverse hyper from TITAN. It is huge and sturdy and you can not do a lot with this one for the price. The only exception is that it might not fit in your gym. If you are looking for a monster of a reverse hyper for your gym, this is it.

The TITAN Economy H-PND is the base for the Glute and hamstring combo. This has been stripped of the Glute ham options to make it a 100% reverse hyper. TITAN might consider to also make a version based on the H-PND rather than the economy only. If you only want a reverse hyper for a reasonable price that is not massive, this is the one to get.

The Rogue donkey is the gold standard for glute and hamstring developers that you can currently get. The pad is massive and everything about this machine is overbuilt. So is the price. The Rogue donkey will put you back $1.945. You can get three TITAN versions for this price.

Conclusion for the TITAN Glute and Hamstring combo

This machine is good for a home gym for someone of average size. If you are a massive powerlifter or bodybuilder you might want to tend towards the Rogue donkey. Same goes for a gym focused on the powerlifting population, even though it is massively more expensive. Also, these machines are more hype than they actually get used. More often than not you will only get very little use out of them and they just gather dust. Teaching your members how to do good mornings might be a better way for you to save money and space in your gym.

Overview and review of the Rogue RM8 Power rack

The Rogue RM8 power rack is the new flagship of the rogue rack portfolio for $7.350. It combines the new LT1, Rhino Belt and RM6 into the Rolls Royce of racks.Here are the pros and cons and alternatives to this beast.

Overview of the RM8

The RM8 is the newest edition to the Rogue Monster line up. After publishing the 50cal, Rhino belt squat and a multitude of new bar designs using the Cerakote finish Rogue out it all together and went even bigger. This is the ultimate station to get stronger, especially for anyone who wants to squat heavy up until older age.

As part of the Rogue monster series, you will get the 3x3 Gauge steel with the big bolts. The finish is currently only Cerakote black also I am quite positive that this will change in the foreseeable future. The RM8 has the following dimensions:

Length 10’6”
Width 6’4”
Width Rack inside 43”
Height 100.375”
Footprint 10’6” x 53”

You will basically get an RM6 on steroids with all the plate storage you need and extra functionality to attack your muscles from every angle. Here is the list of items:

Rhino Belt squat
Loadable weight trolley
Knurled Socket pull up bar
Custom Rogue Nameplate
6 long plate storage pins
4 short plate storage pins
Monster Sandwich J Cups
4 Monster band pegs

The Rhino belt squat is one of the most interesting new developments in the Rogue portfolio. It is especially good to train heavy for squats without putting too much strain on your lower back. An older lifter will appreciate it, you get lifters will be able to get more volume in. The stand-alone version of the Rhino comes in at roughly $2000 and I have already written about the Rhino belt squat it on my blog.

The loadable weight trolleys are two lever arms with the 50cal mechanism. Again Rogue has shown innovation on these. They revised that the original lever arms were cumbersome to adjust and can up with these. Footballers and Rugby players will appreciate the tackling training which can be done with them. Strongman athletes will have a good piece of equipment to simulate car deadlifts or uneven loads. Bodybuilders will have options to simulate all kinds of rowing and pressing machines when combined with an adjustable bench. Finally, powerlifters can use the setup to create a mini monolift.

The pull-up bar with knurling gives you extra grip. It is one of the newer additions to the rack options of Rogue. Still, it is a bar, not a lot to be said about it.

The custom rogue nameplates look cool, but that is about it. It’s a pity that Rogue does not allow the configuration to be changed to a simple cross member. The nameplate renders the beam almost unusable for any attachments. Still, it looks dang cool.

That plate pins are great as they safe you the extra hassle and cost to provide for plate storage. If you have children in your home I recommend getting spring collars to make the plates safe. Some like to put the plate pins as high as possible. I would not do that as the plates will drop from a height into anything below if they come off the rack. Most children won’t be able to move the spring collars, so at least you have some safety.

The band legs can be used to train with the west side method. You attach bands to the pegs and barbell for added resistance. You can see an example of how that works in the two videos below.

Pros of the RM8

The RM8 is the one-stop-shop for the latest and greatest that Rogue has to offer. The Rhino belt squat will give you many variations to train while keeping your lower back safe. You can switch from resisted jumps to band assisted squats. The potential is limitless. It is really great to see that products can still be made better in a market which you thought was saturated. If you have the money the Banshee won’t disappoint.

Cons of the RM8

$7000 is a big price tag for a rack. You can get 7 Fortis racks for this price if you were to equip a commercial gym. Another option would be a monkey rig which gives many more options to run classes of them. This beast is aimed at in e or two people. Of course, you can have more people train at it, but this is definitely the ultimate celebrity or athlete home gym, not the commercial option. Unless you are an NFL team and do not care about multiplying out the 7000 over half the numbers of players you have.

Another con is that for the biggest price tag you get no color option. That is a shame and hopefully changes soon. They probably assemble it by hand and coat it as they don’t have a production line for the RM8 yet. Stay tuned in this space.

Alternatives to the RM8

There are no alternatives if you want all the best toys of Rogue in one rack. But not everyone has 7000 to spend on a rack. Here are some alternatives to spend your hard-earned money on excellent Rogue equipment:

If you have the same amount of money to spend but also think about how to make that money back in a professional gym setup the monkey Rig or a monster rig might be a better choice. A Rig leaves you with more options for circuit training and positing people up. You can read more about rigs in my monkey and monster rig articles.

If you want to spend money on a very good rack for your home gym you can go for the RM6 instead. The RM6 comes with different height and color options and leaves you with more choice rather than the take it or leave it approach of the banshee. If you were to come to money at after stage you can still upgrade with the Rhino Drop in and the 50cal trolley arms separately. You can learn about the RM6 in my review.

The RM4 fortis is the best rack option from Rogue under 1.000. If you wanted to equip a commercial gym with seven racks rather than one rolls Royce that is the option to go for. The RM4 is still a great rack and your customers will be happy.

3WC is a rack option which can fold in and be snug against the wall. This way it is an ideal setup for a garage gym when you still want to park your car. It also comes in at around $500.

Summary of the RM8

The RM8 is the best to be had from Rogue. You can use the Rhino when your lower back is at you or do resisted pull-ups while the rest of the rack offers everything for plate storage to a pull-up station. Of course, it is over the top, but that’s the whole point.