I am thinking of buying a power rack for my home gym. But I only have standard barbells with standard plates. I read somewhere that power racks only work with olympic barbells and weights. is this true? Or do power racks work with everything?
Please help me out. Thanks.
And I’m thinking the only thing that matters is the length of the barbell. It should be 7 feet long. Whether it’s olympic or standard plates shouldn’t matter. Now if all standard bars are less than 7 feet long, then you may have some trouble. I’m only familiar with olympic bars.
Some standard bars are less than 7’. I found that out when I purchased my squat rack and my bar didn’t fit correctly.
Just measure and make sure.
Standard bars don’t work well in a normal sized power rack. They will probably fit on the J hooks but the weights end up INSIDE the hooks instead of outside.
However, if you have enough $$$ for a powerrack, at least invest in a $100+ 315 lbs Olympic set.
The bar may be crap but the weights are yours for life.
Buy another, better bar sometime in the future when you have more $$$.
I use my old 1" weights for bent rows, stiff leg deads, etc., all the supplemental exercises I do outside the power rack. That way I don’t have to unload the bar and move it to the floor and reload it.
I want a power rack because I dont have a spotter. I dont want to kill myself doing squats.
Are there any cheaper alternatives?
Is there something besides a power rack I can buy for me to do squats safely?
A power rack is your best choice. Have you tried finding used ones?
I purchased mine brand new for $264 (Body Solid) along with a 300lb Olympic weight set and bar for $115 and a flat bench for $60.
You could find this stuff used in the paper or a sporting good store that also sells used equipment (Play-it-Again Sports).
I would highly suggest an Olympic bar and weights to go with your Power Rack.