Let's Have Another Power Rack Thread

[quote]DJS wrote:
Thanks Sam. I just learned some more interesting things. The body craft lat tower has no knee pads. So even though you can get a 200 lb weight stack plus plates, you won’t be able to use more weight than you weigh because there is nothing to hold you down. I’m not sure if that is the case with the powertec and the others as well but that is something I’ll have to look out for. [/quote]

I don’t have this rack but what I do with mine is adjust the catch pins to hip level, throw a bar and weight on it and sit the bar across my lap to hold me down. Works well enough. I had some foam pipe insulation laying around that I wrap around the bar so it doesn’t dig into my hip bone.

great ideas guys. Didn’t think of either of those ideas. dday that sounds pretty effortless for pull downs.

[quote]dday wrote:

[quote]DJS wrote:
Thanks Sam. I just learned some more interesting things. The body craft lat tower has no knee pads. So even though you can get a 200 lb weight stack plus plates, you won’t be able to use more weight than you weigh because there is nothing to hold you down. I’m not sure if that is the case with the powertec and the others as well but that is something I’ll have to look out for. [/quote]

I don’t have this rack but what I do with mine is adjust the catch pins to hip level, throw a bar and weight on it and sit the bar across my lap to hold me down. Works well enough. I had some foam pipe insulation laying around that I wrap around the bar so it doesn’t dig into my hip bone.[/quote]

Also… dday what rack do you have? How do you like your lat attachment? Does it get in the way of certain excercises etc?

For the money I think the Powerline rack that Sam S has is the best especially when you get it for what he paid. If you want a more heavy duty rack the next step up would be the Body Solid GPR378. It goes for about $549 and is actually a commercial piece. The lat attachment is very smooth and it also has a lifetime warranty in residential settings.

[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
For the money I think the Powerline rack that Sam S has is the best especially when you get it for what he paid. If you want a more heavy duty rack the next step up would be the Body Solid GPR378. It goes for about $549 and is actually a commercial piece. The lat attachment is very smooth and it also has a lifetime warranty in residential settings.

[/quote]

Thanks man. I just checked out the body solid rack. Looking at the picture of it with the lat attachment it brought up what I was talking about. Check out this photo. Now if you pulled out that bench and went to squat I would think it would be hard to get your head under the bar and into position with the lat thing in the way. You’d need to put the j-hooks on the other side it looks like or turn around. It’s stuff like that that I’m looking for feedback from people who have used one of these racks with a lat attachment. At the moment I’m leaning towards not getting a lat attachment and hoping some day i have room to get a stand alone.

[quote]DJS wrote:

[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
For the money I think the Powerline rack that Sam S has is the best especially when you get it for what he paid. If you want a more heavy duty rack the next step up would be the Body Solid GPR378. It goes for about $549 and is actually a commercial piece. The lat attachment is very smooth and it also has a lifetime warranty in residential settings.

[/quote]

Thanks man. I just checked out the body solid rack. Looking at the picture of it with the lat attachment it brought up what I was talking about. Check out this photo. Now if you pulled out that bench and went to squat I would think it would be hard to get your head under the bar and into position with the lat thing in the way. You’d need to put the j-hooks on the other side it looks like or turn around. It’s stuff like that that I’m looking for feedback from people who have used one of these racks with a lat attachment. At the moment I’m leaning towards not getting a lat attachment and hoping some day i have room to get a stand alone. [/quote]

On the powertec rack the J-hooks are removeable and can be placed wherever. I am sure it’s the same for this.

[quote]DJS wrote:

[quote]dday wrote:

[quote]DJS wrote:
Thanks Sam. I just learned some more interesting things. The body craft lat tower has no knee pads. So even though you can get a 200 lb weight stack plus plates, you won’t be able to use more weight than you weigh because there is nothing to hold you down. I’m not sure if that is the case with the powertec and the others as well but that is something I’ll have to look out for. [/quote]

I don’t have this rack but what I do with mine is adjust the catch pins to hip level, throw a bar and weight on it and sit the bar across my lap to hold me down. Works well enough. I had some foam pipe insulation laying around that I wrap around the bar so it doesn’t dig into my hip bone.[/quote]

Also… dday what rack do you have? How do you like your lat attachment? Does it get in the way of certain excercises etc?
[/quote]

I have two, the one with the tower is the fitness gear ultimate smith machine (pictured), which is well made but not a good rack. It has all the attachments for great assistance work but is hard to squat in which is why I have two. The fitness gear has a very narrow “cage” portion that unless you can go straight up and straight down you will hit the bar or plates on the rack. The other one is just a regular steal box made by parabody. Picked it up on craigslist with 800lbs and a bunch of bars for $500.
To answer your question not doesn’t get in the way but it’s not the same as an actual rack.

[quote]DJS wrote:

[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
For the money I think the Powerline rack that Sam S has is the best especially when you get it for what he paid. If you want a more heavy duty rack the next step up would be the Body Solid GPR378. It goes for about $549 and is actually a commercial piece. The lat attachment is very smooth and it also has a lifetime warranty in residential settings.

[/quote]

Thanks man. I just checked out the body solid rack. Looking at the picture of it with the lat attachment it brought up what I was talking about. Check out this photo. Now if you pulled out that bench and went to squat I would think it would be hard to get your head under the bar and into position with the lat thing in the way. You’d need to put the j-hooks on the other side it looks like or turn around. It’s stuff like that that I’m looking for feedback from people who have used one of these racks with a lat attachment. At the moment I’m leaning towards not getting a lat attachment and hoping some day i have room to get a stand alone. [/quote]

The rack should be 79" tall. The lat bar should actually rest on a small pair of hooks on the front of the lat attachment. That pictures looks a little dated. And yes, you can take the j hooks and put outside or where ever.


The Body Solid GPR370 is another great choice. You don’t have the ability for chin ups or a lat attachment, but for pressing and squatting and such it is an awesome rack. Goes for about $449.

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:

[quote]DJS wrote:

[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
For the money I think the Powerline rack that Sam S has is the best especially when you get it for what he paid. If you want a more heavy duty rack the next step up would be the Body Solid GPR378. It goes for about $549 and is actually a commercial piece. The lat attachment is very smooth and it also has a lifetime warranty in residential settings.

[/quote]

Thanks man. I just checked out the body solid rack. Looking at the picture of it with the lat attachment it brought up what I was talking about. Check out this photo. Now if you pulled out that bench and went to squat I would think it would be hard to get your head under the bar and into position with the lat thing in the way. You’d need to put the j-hooks on the other side it looks like or turn around. It’s stuff like that that I’m looking for feedback from people who have used one of these racks with a lat attachment. At the moment I’m leaning towards not getting a lat attachment and hoping some day i have room to get a stand alone. [/quote]

On the powertec rack the J-hooks are removeable and can be placed wherever. I am sure it’s the same for this.[/quote]

Oh Austin… you really are the man to talk to. My only other concern about getting a rack was the compatibility with my DB bench but then i remembered from your videos that you have my bench. The ironmaster super bench. I was worried about the placement in the rack because of how the bench doesn’t have “feet”. It has that long bar on the bottom so you can’t “strattle” the support beam. Does this cause any issues on incline presses?

[quote]DJS wrote:

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:

[quote]DJS wrote:

[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
For the money I think the Powerline rack that Sam S has is the best especially when you get it for what he paid. If you want a more heavy duty rack the next step up would be the Body Solid GPR378. It goes for about $549 and is actually a commercial piece. The lat attachment is very smooth and it also has a lifetime warranty in residential settings.

[/quote]

Thanks man. I just checked out the body solid rack. Looking at the picture of it with the lat attachment it brought up what I was talking about. Check out this photo. Now if you pulled out that bench and went to squat I would think it would be hard to get your head under the bar and into position with the lat thing in the way. You’d need to put the j-hooks on the other side it looks like or turn around. It’s stuff like that that I’m looking for feedback from people who have used one of these racks with a lat attachment. At the moment I’m leaning towards not getting a lat attachment and hoping some day i have room to get a stand alone. [/quote]

On the powertec rack the J-hooks are removeable and can be placed wherever. I am sure it’s the same for this.[/quote]

Oh Austin… you really are the man to talk to. My only other concern about getting a rack was the compatibility with my DB bench but then i remembered from your videos that you have my bench. The ironmaster super bench. I was worried about the placement in the rack because of how the bench doesn’t have “feet”. It has that long bar on the bottom so you can’t “strattle” the support beam. Does this cause any issues on incline presses? [/quote]

None whatsoever man. I love the iron master bench too. Just make sure you have the j-hooks high enough on the rack so you aren’t leaning back in an awkward position to unrack the bar.

[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
The Body Solid GPR370 is another great choice. You don’t have the ability for chin ups or a lat attachment, but for pressing and squatting and such it is an awesome rack. Goes for about $449.[/quote]

This is an awesome choice! Thanks for the sugestion. Here is what I have been using for the last couple of years which is somewhat similar but not as good. The uprights go up and down and I slide my bench in so I can do squats, bench, incline, decline, shoulder presses either seated and standing, BB rows, curls, shrugs etc. But I have zero safety. So I think I’m ready for the full rack and looking for the pull up bar and dips to make it worth the plunge.

I have a dip attachment for my ironmaster super bench but it rocks too much so its distracting and have not been able to work up the weights i used to do in a gym.

And I really want to be able to at least do weighted pullups. I have one of those door frame pullup bars right now and I won’t do weighted pullups on that for fear i’ll rip the doorjam down one day.

I still don’t think you can beat this for $450.

http://www.bestbuyfitness.com/product.asp?intProdID=3083

I mean chin bar, dip bars, over 1000# weight limit, plenty of room for squats, benches of all angles, rack pulls, anything really.

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
I still don’t think you can beat this for $450.

http://www.bestbuyfitness.com/product.asp?intProdID=3083

I mean chin bar, dip bars, over 1000# weight limit, plenty of room for squats, benches of all angles, rack pulls, anything really.[/quote]

That’s a nice rack. I don’t see how the dip bars work. If they are close enough together for dips then the space inside must be pretty small unless they’re angled or something. The GPR378 is 3X3 tubing, but also more expensive. Both have lifetime warranties so ya really can’t go wrong.

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
I still don’t think you can beat this for $450.

http://www.bestbuyfitness.com/product.asp?intProdID=3083

I mean chin bar, dip bars, over 1000# weight limit, plenty of room for squats, benches of all angles, rack pulls, anything really.[/quote]

Yeah I’m 99% getting the powertec with no lat attachment and a new texas power bar (see new barbell thread in powerlifting if you care on that.

I’m going black but your yellow one is sweet as hell too. So pumped!

[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
I still don’t think you can beat this for $450.

http://www.bestbuyfitness.com/product.asp?intProdID=3083

I mean chin bar, dip bars, over 1000# weight limit, plenty of room for squats, benches of all angles, rack pulls, anything really.[/quote]

That’s a nice rack. I don’t see how the dip bars work. If they are close enough together for dips then the space inside must be pretty small unless they’re angled or something. The GPR378 is 3X3 tubing, but also more expensive. Both have lifetime warranties so ya really can’t go wrong.[/quote]

Austin should answer this because he has it but i have a review that says they are angled in… so you actually get a lot of grips to choose from to find the right one for you.

[quote]DJS wrote:

[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
I still don’t think you can beat this for $450.

http://www.bestbuyfitness.com/product.asp?intProdID=3083

I mean chin bar, dip bars, over 1000# weight limit, plenty of room for squats, benches of all angles, rack pulls, anything really.[/quote]

That’s a nice rack. I don’t see how the dip bars work. If they are close enough together for dips then the space inside must be pretty small unless they’re angled or something. The GPR378 is 3X3 tubing, but also more expensive. Both have lifetime warranties so ya really can’t go wrong.[/quote]

Austin should answer this because he has it but i have a review that says they are angled in… so you actually get a lot of grips to choose from to find the right one for you.
[/quote]

Dip bars are angled inwards.

Forgot to rotate.

lol… is that your bed? I can just see you rolling out of bed in the middle of the night to take a leak and do a set of squats.

[quote]DJS wrote:
lol… is that your bed? I can just see you rolling out of bed in the middle of the night to take a leak and do a set of squats. [/quote]

Haha, yes I lift in my bedroom