Yeah. We had our entire home gym order queued up in my wife's Amazon cart like 3 weeks ago. Had it down to the bands and clips we wanted. Fucked around and waited for another good paycheck to cover it all and boom...covid 🧟♂️ I have the cash now so just waiting for prices to stabilize.
I love my 6 post. The weight storage makes it so I don't have to bolt it down, and helps to keep the garage organized. The only thing I would change if I were to do it again is buy a shallower rack. Mine is 42" deep and I find that to be almost too much. Personally, I think about 30" would have been perfect.
I’m just sold my home gym all rogue ..squat stand power bar plate storage fat pad ..and all my plates , had no choice I am moving to Arizona and don’t own a car , would have cost me 2,000$ to ship from Illinois when I only paid around 1000$ for every thing
Holy shit! Ortega did 2 reps and paused and I was thinking "ok, come on man, bang out at least 1 more. You got this! Fuck it, go for 2 more!" ...then he reps out 3 MORE! Waiting for him to rack it... and then he pops out another 2! 🤯 Good job man!
There's one more type of rack I'd consider for home use - a yoke. They're comparable to squat stands in many respects but have the advantage of obviously being usable for yoke walks. Being a strongman, that's a huge bonus for me, so it's my first choice when I eventually start building my home gym. Good video as always, Brandon.
I thought about it, but in my experience a yoke makes a great yoke, but often not a great squat/bench location. I reviewed one from StrengthShop a few years back.
Have had a home gym several years now and it’s great in this current climate. I’m not really into the plethora of machines at Commercial places but am well stocked. I have a full rack, pin loaded pull down/row, several specialty bars, jammer arms, 2 benches and iron master dumbbells. It’s tight fit in large single garage but I enjoy it.
I bought an inexpensive half rack. It has allowed me to do a good deal and was really cheap. Didn't think about exceeding the capacity of it but it is happening. Yay. Well now I'm looking at spending more money on a full rack. Spending more money in the long run but I wasn't going to spend the big money right away.
If you buy a rogue squat stand (for example SML-2) you can later on upgrade/convert it to a RML-390F. If you have low ceiling, as what i have (200 cm height), i bought a SML-1 squat stand. When i wanted to upgrade to a full squat rack i just added a pair of crossmembers (30 inches), HR-2 HALF RACK CONVERSION KIT and a X-43M MULTI GRIP CROSSMEMBER. This is a perfect setup if you dont have the money for a full power rack and want to be able to upgrade later on.
At this time, stock is extremely limited on bars, plates, and alot of racks. That and shipping is limited due to certain companies having to shut down. I have an order for a few things I hope gets on a truck soon otherwise its no gym for weeks on end.
Set up a garage gym last month. Have both a squat stand and Rogue Monster Rack. The kid and I use both. We actually squat with the stand more than the rack. Kid’s max is 305 lbs, but we’re usually doing sets between 225 and 275 lbs. in a month or so when he’s doing sets with 300 plus we’ll move to the rack. Like others have said, getting racks and weights is tough right now. I got the rack and bar from Rogue and used bumpers in the neighborhood. Still need a curl bar, a hex bar and some dumbbells. Regular squats kill my neck so I’ve been doing front squats. I am going to move to a hex bar. Get some!
I have a three quarter rack so you are still enclosed but the shorter front posts allow overhead pressing without hitting any cross members above and make it easier to get the bar in and out. For me it's the sweet spot for a home gym.
I think it missed a point of comparison or differentiation, Overhead pressing and need for height there. I have an older 4 post rack and just two hours ago purchased the RepFitness Half Rack system. The reason -- I figured out I would need a 100+" rack height or still need to lift outside the rack and need front pedestal feet similar to what you have. I am a bit taller than most at 6'4" but that was what convinced me to go that way. On the topic of failing, I haven't had a problem with spotter arms as that is all my commercial now-closed gym had. Set them at the right height and fail forward to let the arms catch the weight. It might not be as simple above 450#, but so far it's worked well.
I just picked up a little squat stand, because of some present gym issues.....and it defiantly doesn't feel as nice as a half or full rack. The thing that is super appealing about the full rack is not just the real estate for accessories, but also the ability to have a someone squatting at one end, and another benching at the other end, with the right set up.
If you are going to go with squat stands, I recommend the ones with plate pegs on the bottom. Putting a 35 on each one makes a huge difference in stability. As for safety bars, I use a pair of collpsible steel saw horses, rated at 1000 pounds each. It's just as safe as a power rack. Accessory-wise, I made a U-shaped dip bar that fits on the saw horses, and I do pullups on attachments hanging from a huge eye-bolt mounted in the top of a door frame. This enables me to work out in my kitchen, in a space that is about 6x8 ft, doing basically everything I would with a power rack except barbell bench press, with most of the stuff stored outside on the enclosed porch when not working out.
A bar wont miss your safeties that easy. But. When missing, it can bounce off your safety catchers. For those of us who train alone I would always suggest a full rack unless there is no other option.
I actually like having a mirror in front of the rack when doing squats. It sometimes helps me gauge my depth in training so when comp day comes I hit it no problem.
I have a foldable rack, and never folded it once, but does have a small footprint and accessories are sufficient for me. I never desire(d) a full rack as it takes up too much space and I like space in my garage which is why i only own 1 specialty machine, a calf machine.
I have contacted Rep Fitness about creating a modular squat rack that can be upgraded piece by piece to become a full rack (Their Rep 5000v2) and they said they have plans to come out with one. So hopefully its sooner than later. This is where I think most "Rack" companies miss the mark.
I fold my wall mount Fray folding rack every day (open to begin; close when finished). There you go. Now you know me, and you can say you know someone who bought a folding rack for the space and functionality and uses it for the reason he purchased it.
My 2 cents is this. In general people nowadays take up a new activity and immediately want pro Calibre gear. It never used to be that way and it doesn't make any sense and it's extremely unnecessary. If your starting out in something get the starting out level because you do not know if your going to stick with it, and alot of people get into something because it's trendy not because of passion. If you stick with it get progressively better equipment as needed. You do not need SBD sleeves to go with your first gym membership.
Like any hobby, people like to invest in it. I agree you don't need to go all in right away, but you also risk certain issues by not buying quality up front, like having to spend additional money to upgrade or get what you want.
@@BasementBrandon in my opinion, investing in a hobby you will stick with makes sense, investing on something new is a waste of money. As well if someone can only squat 225 it doesn't make sense to get a rack that has a 1500 pound capacity. A little while back a kid in the gym was benching 185 pounds barely for a few reps then told me he could only use a competition bench. To me that's rediculous. Example, Right now I get a few reps on squat with 505 with band tension, so I have a rack with a 700 capacity. But it's ok if we have a difference of opinion.
A lil trick to give yourself a extra 3.5 inches is to set the rack on some 4x6 timber and bolt the rack into it with some structual screws or lag bolts, or you can even give yourself 5.5 extra inches by getting a 5.5 inches. I learned this trick by placing a cheap rack outside and didnt want it to have direct contact with the gound to prevent rust so I bolted it on a 4x6 pressure treated wood and give me that extra reach too.
These times have me considering seriously putting together a rack and some extra accessories such as dumbells and kettlebells for sure. A 4 post rack is the way to go, even though I'd rather just drop the barbell. But I'll go insane with everything closed and curfew in place.
I usually lift at my school. I just need a way to lift until we get back. Just got a $379 half rack on sale. I can squat, bench, and deadlift. Works with me.
i always thought that squat stands were often primarily used by olympic weighlifters. since all they do is high-bar or front squat, and they always have bumpers, they can just drop the weight rather than rely on safety arms. squat stands also allow space to practice jerks and other overhead movements without interference from a cage.
I use a cheapo combo rack for my home gym for less than $200, it claims it can hold 550 lbs and I only got 172 lbs in standerd weight plates (pandemic home gym, already had the CAP weights scattered and rusting, cleaned and painted them) It's a Kicode something something, if its your only other option I HIGHLY recomend it over the cheaper Walmart stuff with no real spotter arms
I traded up from a folding squat rack with spotter arms to a 4 post rack. Exactly what you said, I never folded it up anyway and while it was extremely stable I never felt completely safe squatting with spotter arms. I just sold it a couple of weeks ago, would’ve easily got my asking price right now! Lol
I keep thinking about upgrading my RM3 to an RM6. I keep two plate trees behind the rack where the uprights of the RM6 would go, so no space lost, in fact I could probably store more stuff on the RM6 in the same amount of space.
@9:53 "Folding racks, I think they stand on their own" Doesn't requiring a wall anchor mean they do the exact opposite?! Keep up the good work. Love your content.
The one thing I regret was not watching you or garage gym reviews before purchasing a rack. I bought the Rogue SML -2 squat rack but should've just paid a little more for the R3 power rack. I will prob use the SML-2 squat rack for the next few years and then sell it and maybe just full send for a PR-5000 from REP. I am still very happy with the SML 2 squat rack though.
I get around not having a pull up bar on my short rack buy putting the j-cups at the top and placing a bar on in then doing pullups from my knees. From a dead stop they are hard and I can just add a weight vest if needed.
Hey Brandon big fan, I have one question since you've masterfully covered Power Racks; could you do something on Squat Stands specifically....some people such as myself don't have too much space to work with and I wanted your opinion and assessment on this matter.
My squat rack is my brother stands on the bench press and lift the weight on my shoulders and when I'm done I back up so he can grab the bar and put it down.
Hey Brandon, just got back to regularly catching your channel rly great stuff. You might have covered this in older videos - How long have you started lifting? & Have you always done powerlifting or did you used to do more bodybuilding workouts? Have a good one mate
Been training since the mid to late 90's for basketball initially, then got into bodybuilding style training, but have been doing mostly powerlifting for the past 8 years.
Would a four post rack without plat storage realistically need to be bolted down? I can’t envision it tipping or sliding anymore than a typical squat stand would
Depends on the footprint. A lot of squat stands have legs that extend to help brace. I had a garage set up where the main piece as a 30" depth power rack that was not bolted down, but I had half rack feet on it to keep it stable.
Have a monster lite squat rack and was thinking of upgrading to the half rack. Wanted straps to be able to do things like rack pulls and not rest the bar on pins. Rogue doesn’t offer straps in that length so would have to do something custom or perhaps spud version. Not sure if most other companies offer short straps either for half racks.
Brandon Campbell Diamond right! I’m stuck between getting the Rogue RM-3 Monster Rack 2.0 or the Rogue RM-4 Monster Rack 2.0... which do you recommend considering I don’t have an issue with the $150.00 difference or space in my garage?
Bryan Gutierrez really personally preference at that point, if you’re looking for more space to do stuff inside the rack the rm4 makes sense. I’ve had both depths and find the 30” of a RM3 to be fine.
I signed up for notices from Rogue and REP Fitness and hounded them the month of April. First notice a rack was available I responded 3 days later and it was gone. The next time I responded immediately and got one. In the meantime I had purchased a Rogue squat stand I found on NextDoor. So now I have and use both. The point is stay after it stuff still comes available. Good luck from an old guy who can still bench & squat his weight.
Hello! Super rookie over here. 112 lbs female just trying to build muscle / definition with not tons of experience . I definitely prioritize safety and something versatile. Looking into the R-3 power rack Or RML-390F Monster Lite Rack. Would love your feedback , suggestion!
I think the R-3 is the better rack overall, but you HAVE to bold it down. That being said the 390f will offer a similar experience and doesn't need to be bolted.
This is a great video. I would like your recommendation regarding building a home gym of the first floor of a new house. What additional safety features should one look our for? Thanks.
Great video! Great channel! Just curious on your opinion of the racks offered by Archon. Looks like they have some well priced options and offer some added accessories for the racks that are not offered by other manufacturers.
If I could buy over again I would probably go for a powerrack. Got a ER combo rack atm, really like that too (especially for bench). But I think it would be more space efficient for me to have got a powerrack. Because atm I've got some pullup bar to the side of the comborack and that means I have to move the bar every time I do those or I will get my bar up my ass...
Great video Brandon! Coming from an outside gym user, i find the content you have incredibly helpful with the layout i have ahead of me. I had just started investing in a home gym & have to start from scratch =(. The footprint of the room it will be in; inside a home on the first floor with the dimensions of 130x113x94. The options i am considering are Rep Fitness PR5000v2 or Rogue Monster RM3 OR RM4 and until recently Titan X3. I currently do not have any weight storage either. I know this is going to get pricey, and thought it out, and the mentality of the buy once cry once is where i'am leaning towards. I would like to try and build a deadlift platform inside the rack, but iam not sure which size depth would be the better option. Brandon, any thoughts you have would be extremely helpful.
When your squat rack doesn't have a pull up bar you can put the bar on the highest level of your rack and you can use that as a pull up bar. It's definitely not ideal because you have to keep your feet of the ground by pulling your heels to your but and especially when you're tall it still might be too low but it's worth a try! And you can also attach a (DIY) pulley system to the bar. I'm even thinking of putting a thick board or something on my spotters so I can lay on it and have a chest supported row.
Well if someone has a room that uses for gym but for more things like gatherings,the first option is king in my opinion,but you need a spotter or 2 for PR.If you are able to lift >250kgs,you should also be grown enough to have a job to afford the cages 🤓
Brandon, Dude! Are you lifting at Poe’s Gym at 4:30 of the video? Matt is an awesome guy and owner... I train there a couple times a year when I’m in Nashville.
Thanks for doing these. I'm moving later this year and will be putting together a new home gym in my garage. What model rack do you own right now is it an R3?
I was wondering about the folding racks. I am willing to store it when not in use bc I do park my car in the garage. Is there one would you consider for the budget gym build series
I just sold my RML-3WC to get an RM-3, but I would highly recommend it. Like everything else Rogue, it’s extremely well built and has much heftier mounting arms than other folding racks. And for around $500 depending on color/stringer options, it’s a great deal. Others like PRx get a lot more expensive when you get beefier racks and their hole spacing/sizing differs, as well. Also, the 21.5” version was so low profile, I could park my car in the garage without folding it, but putting it up took about 60 seconds when I did. I know I’m not the Brandon you were asking, but from my experience, I can’t recommend another folding rack more.
@@brandonstout9402 first thank you for the information. I posted on this channel bc I know there are people that are more knowledgeable then me about this subject area then I am that follows Brandon as well as him his self.
So due to all this, I went ahead and bought a complete set up from rogue. I want your opinion. I got the SML 70” monster lite squat stand, Ohio bar, monster lite matador dip attachment, about 495 lbs of 2.0 color bumper lb plates, the individual pull-up system, the adjustable bench 2.0, a set of 90 lb rogue urethane shells, land mine handle and a hip thrust pad. What are your thoughts? Also, I was wondering if you know if the matador dip attachment will fit on the squat stand? I don’t see why not.
Sounds like a pretty nice set up at the end of they day. The Matador will fit fine, they just don't suggest accessories for it b/c of the stability of a free standing rack.
What are your thoughts on the Rogue Fortis racks? Why do they cost a similar price as the RML racks? Do you think they would be a better option than the RML?
I only have a 212cm/7ft ceiling height in my garage,so i don't have the ceiling height for most cages.Rep has an 80 inch high cage but in Australia it's around $2000 after all the accessories. Squat stands might be what i have to get?
Depends what you want to do long term. Squat stands are simple and get the job done but if you want to expand with accessories, the options are more limited than a full cage.
@@BasementBrandon 👍 i understand this,but as i said,my ceiling in my garage is too low for 99% of cages and the 80" high Rep cage is over $2000AUD with accessories.I'm not paying that.
@@ninjamaster7724 Do you have to go REP? Any other options in Australia at a better price point? The nice thing about some of these 3x3 racks is you can always adapt accessories.
@@BasementBrandon i found an ATX 4 post cage that's 195cm for under $1000 but it only has 2cm clearance from post to post for my 6ft barbell,lol. First world problems,lol.
