Which squat rack to buy

It depends on whether you are buying for private or commercial use. For private use, a folding rack is usually a wise choice. For commercial use, a full rack with plate storage is a good idea.

What is your goal

The most important thing for exercise selection for your routines is that you are focused on the goals you want to achieve. Most of the times this is easier said than done. Many beginners want everything and nothing:

I want to look like a model, but eat well
I want to be strong, but not look bulky
I want to run fast, but I don’t like cardio

These are just some examples of goal sets of beginners. It is completely normal to be timid or unsure about what you want to achieve and can achieve. It always helps to prioritize first what is important to you. The fields usually are:

Looks
Health
Performance
Strength
Endurance

You can categorize it in a million different ways, but to keep it simple prioritize these five for yourself.

Looks are all about what you see in movies, on Instagram and the magazine covers. While these are highly artificial, fabricated images of people, their impact on social life is very real. If you look for fame or financial success based on your looks you can achieve this, just be aware that the choices you will make to get there are not necessarily healthy, make you enduring, strong or well-performing in sports. Eating disorders and steroids might provide an outstanding look, but don’t help you to be strong or have healthy sperm.

If your main focus is health you will mainly choose moderate diets and exercise regimen. You won’t go crazy on diets or schedules as this means too much stress. This will keep you healthy but probably never get you to the pinnacles is endurance, strength, looks or endurance. But that is ok as long as you are fertile and happy.

Performance is usually sports-related. This means that endurance and strength training is still important, but play a secondary role to skill practice in the relevant sport you pursue. It is of not of a lot of use to be strong like a bull but not being able to skate if you play ice hockey. The good news about sports is that looks don’t matter that much. If you are a blob that can lift a fire truck in a very truck lifting competition, nobody cares that you are not ripped or have shining white teeth. Even though that might help to attract sponsors.

If you are mainly into strength you can park all efforts and time on endurance and skill practice. You can fully focus on lifting barbells, stones, and other heavy objects. You might even toss them in the general direction of people in the gym who get on your nerves.

If you are mainly about endurance you can spent your time on your long runs, swims and cycles around the country and maybe never look at a rack. Yes, you might not be the strongest or most buff, but who cares when you cycle the Ardennes with a smile.

Prioritizing these five areas for yourself will help to make it a lot clearer to you, your GP and your personal trainer which exercises to pick and at which intensity to perform. This will determine which rack is the best for you or whether you need one at all.

Overview of racks

Here are four articles I have written which go into the details of the different racks of two vendors. They both have a good reputation for home gyms.

Rogue fitness is the market leader in the area of CrossFit and home gyms in the USA. They are based in Columbus Ohio and were founded by an ex-military man. They pride themselves for making their equipment in the States by American hands. While the price tags are about twice from their competitors you almost always have positive feedback about the finish of their products and their customer service when you research online.

Titan Fitness has a very similar line up to Rogue fitness, but at a much lower price. They also market themselves as American made. While their price is lower you will have it easier to find reports have blemishes, transport damage or poor/inconsistent finish on the Titan products. This doesn’t take away from their functionality, but might be something to think about when you place your order.

Sizes of racks

There are different types of racks which you can consider for your home. It will all depend on how much space you have and what your training goals are. Budget will of course also play a role.

Full racks with plate storage

These racks usually have a 50”x50” rack in the front and additional uprights in the back which you can use for additional plate storage. These are the biggest racks you can get which also have to be bolted down to the ground. The advantage is that you have lots of space for storage and upgrades. The entire family might be even able to train in parallel on these racks. The downsides are the cost and space requirements. This will probably take up your entire garage or basement unless you live like Oprah. Some models to consider in this section are:

Titan T3 with Extension kit
Titan T2 with Extension kit
Titan X3 with Extension kit

These racks are a valid option when you want to store your plates directly on the rack and you do not want them interfering with the positions available on the rack.

Full racks

A full rack is usually around 50” by 50”. It provides plenty of space inside the rack so that you can easily do a three-step walkout, even if you are big and move big weights. Most of a bench would also be inside such a rack once it is set up. Full racks still have four uprights and come in different colors and shapes. Some examples are:

These racks provide plenty of space to move around, but you probably want to store your plates somewhere else.

Half racks

Half racks are one of the original designs from Westside gym owner Louie Simmons. Their footprint is usually somewhere around 50” x 50”. These racks have half the amount of space inside the rack compared to outside. This usually makes them a little cheaper and eat up less space. You will also be able to do exercises from the rack while not being obstructed by it. Some examples are:

These are usually good for the right spaces or dorms.

Squat stands

Squat stands are usually the cheapest option for a home rack as they use the least material. They are generally less secure as the setup with spotter arms can be cumbersome and easier to miss than safety pins or straps. Squat stands are usually great when you have space and know-how to drop weights safely. They are not great in commercial settings or when you squat or bench press to failure often. Some of the examples for squat stands are:

Squat stands are best for people who know what they are doing. Beginners might not want to start with them without guidance.

Types of racks

The price of racks is often determined by how much material is being used to build them. Generally speaking the more footprint you get the more you pay. When this is not the case and you get the same footprint for seemingly a lower price look into the following factors:

Color options
Steel
Warranty
Country of origin
Numbered holes
Westside spacing
Included extras
Brand

If the price varies for seemingly the same thing there is usually a reason.

Color options can impact the price. Whenever you shop and you go for color, make sure that you choose a color option. If you go with default color on a color line item, you pay a premium which you did not have to. So if you want black and the default color of the vendor is black buy the standard model and don't go near any color options.

Many racks come in three different versions of steel tubes which are 2x2, 2x3 and 3x3. The thicker the steel the more you pay. Think about how big and heavy you are and whether you really need the 3x3 option. If no, you might save some money.

When material and size are the same but prices are different look into the fine print. What are the actual policies for warranty and which kind of damage is covered and which isn’t. This becomes especially important when you buy commercially instead of for private use.

Numbered holes are very helpful and are often laser cut which adds another step in the production process. Therefore models, where everything is the same except the numbering, differ in price.

With the country of origin, I won’t go into too much detail. If it is from the US or Europe it is more expensive and when it comes from China it is less expensive because of different Labour costs. If Chinese and EU/Us products have the same price, someone is having a laugh on your expense.

Westside hole spacing is found in the bench press range of the rack. Not all racks come with this so check individually. This set up makes it easier to adjust your bench press setup in smaller increments. It also can be helpful when you do a lot of training with bands and pegs.

Always check if something apparently cheaper or more expensive come with the same kind of extra material. Things to look out for are J Cups, pull up bars, plate pins, Landmine attachments and barbell racking options.

The last thing is the brand. Rogue and TITAN are well established in the market for squat racks. You might find other vendors that do not as much marketing and therefore can sell at lower prices.

Rogue

Rogue fitness is the market leader in the CrossFit community, maybe even in sales for racks in the US, but I don’t have the statistics at hand to support that. Rogue takes care in quality and invests a lot on marketing. This reflects in the prices of their products and good reviews. Rogue generally might not be the best option for a small budget but is a good investment and Most of their clients seem to be happy. They are geared towards CrossFit boxes and home gym owners.

Titan

Some say that Titan is the low budget clone of Rogue Fitness, however, I find phrases like this terribly unfair as it is never easy to establish a production line and distribution. Just try to bake a cake and sell it in your local community on a regular basis and you might get a grasp of the task. This being said the main argument to buy from Titan is usually the price. With low prices usually come shortcuts. These are usually apparent in the finish of the Titan products. They are still functional, just not as neat as the Rogue products. But who cares when you get a bench, rack, and barbell for the price of one Rogue rack.

Eleiko

Eleiko has recently repositioned themselves to target the upper market commercial gym owner or professional training facility. There are no more prices on their websites and you get quotes only on request. This is because Eleiko wants you to speak to a rep as fast as possible which is a corporate approach to sales. They want to sell a solution to someone who buys an entire gym and doesn’t want to deal with a lot of small transactions. This makes them a great one-stop-shop for elite trainers with big plans but maybe not the best choice for home gym owners. Their products are high quality and have a long track record of being used by Olympians all over the globe.

Elite FTS

Elite FTS is rough and ready. Everything is big, even monstrous. They are heavily geared towards heavy powerlifters and bodybuilders. If you like the pain, grind, and blood and occasionally grunt at people to get them out of your favorite rack, this is the place for you.

Alternatives to a squat rack

Alternatives to a squat rack are:

A rig is usually strung together by multiple racks. Depending on the configuration this leaves you with more option to run classes with your infrastructure while still providing rack space to your heavy lifters.

A hip belt squat machine is a good tool for seasoned or injured athletes to work on their legs heavy while giving their lower back a rest. The Rogue Rhino hip belt squat is one of the best machines for this purposes in the market to date.

The leg press machine is a classic loved by bodybuilders and anyone who is intimidated by free weight bar squats. Most gyms have this for their clients. The Rogue ISO leg press allows isolating single legs easier than most other machines.