If you are going to do weight lifting with the barbell seriously in your home gym or garage gym, you will most likely need to buy a squat rack or power rack.
Indice dei contenuti
Which rack to buy
By visiting a fitness equipment site like ours you will be faced with a myriad of sometimes unknown terms and dozens of available options.
- Power rack
- Half rack
- Full rack
- Rig
- Jcup
- Safety straps
And much more. In short, you’re giving yourself a headache…
Considering that this will be one of the most expensive parts of your home gym, we think it is really important to know well what to buy.
Differences between squat rack and power rack
There are 3 main differences between a squat rack (also known as squat stand or half rack) and a power rack (also known as a full rack or power cage).
A power rack is larger, safer and will allow you to perform significantly more exercises than a base squat rack.
Because you need a rack
Barbells can be one of the most useful and versatile tools to add to your home gym, but we all know that bringing a loaded barbell in place to perform an exercise such as bench press is almost impossible unless you have a rack.
The number of exercises you can perform with a barbell when you own a rack of any kind is exponentially higher than the number of exercises you can do without.
The difference is so big, you probably shouldn’t even invest in a barbell if you don’t own a rack. We know it may not seem encouraging, but we are sure that with our guidance you will find the perfect rack for your needs, at the best price.
Rack = Security
In short …
If you are going to train with a barbell, you need a rack. Hundreds of people get hurt because they lack proper support such as a rack during challenging exercises.
A quick review of the terms and names of the squat rack
Browsing the net in search of the perfect rack, you will come across many different terms. Many of them are simply different ways of saying the same thing. It can be confusing, we know, but we will simplify it for you and reduce it to two macro categories.
The squat rack
The squat rack is also commonly known as: Squat stand and half-rack. For the purposes of this article, we will use these three terms interchangeably, but mostly we’ll call this type of rack just squat rack.
A squat rack is made up by two vertical columns with a fixed or support base that allow you to load the barbell and to rest it at the end of the exercise.
Its stability, safety and versatility vary depending on the model. Below is a series of squat racks available on our store.
Royal Squat Rack SX-15 II
The Royal Squat Rack SX-15 II is made of high-quality steel profiles with measures 60 mm x 60 mm x 3 mm, which means it can easily hold up to 450 kg and more. To the Rack we also added a bar for pull-up or muscle-up and is available for purchase here
Mighty Squat Rack SX-15
The structure is indispensable for all of those who want the best compromise between a rig and a squat stand: it allows both training with weighed squats as well as exercises on the bar. The Mighty version is extremely stable, so you can easily train your muscle up, in addition, for greater stability you can load the rack with bumpers or anchor it to the floor.
The structure is made with 80 mm steel profiles and is available for purchase here.
The Power rack
The power rack is also known as a complete rack or power cage.
A power rack doubles the number of uprights that has a squat rack, for a total of four. Four, however, is not the maximum limit of uprights found on a power rack. It is not uncommon to find racks with 6 or even 8 uprights.
An example?
Our Mighty Power Rack CX-39
The first two rows of columns allow the installation of safety pegs with which you can safely perform all the exercises for which you usually need a training companion. They can also be used as an aid to perform custom breaks and many other exercises.
The middle part, between the second and third row of columns is wider and has in addition to the usual chin-up bar also a multi grip bar with which you can comfortably perform narrow or wide pull-ups and chin-ups.
The last part of the structure should be used to store the equipment such as discs and Olympic barbells. If you want you can also add other accessories on the side (a dip bar is included in the package) and so put the icing on this steel cake is available for purchase here.
Overall, a power rack is obviously always taller than a squat rack. However, anyone who has space or budget limits can safely buy a squat rack like the ones we’ve shown above.
Examples of Power Racks
Here are some examples of power racks available among the dozens of different models this address in our store
Accessories Power Rack and Squat Rack
There are safety devices designed for each type of rack, and many accessories to add to modulate your rack, let’s see what we are talking about.
Safety Spotters and Angel Arms
Angel Arms or Safety Spotters are steel profiles that offer safety during training and are compatible with all our rigs and racks of the Mighty Series (or the Mighty series). Their purpose is to offer safety when you perform exercises on the bench, during the lifts and squats, going to physically replace your training partner called a “spotter”.
To offer greater safety, some modifications have been made, thus becoming more robust and long. The holes on the sides are smaller than 14 mm offering the possibility to add resistance bands and other accessories, simply fixing them with a small pin and are available for purchase here
Safety Strap for Power Racks
Our Safety Straps are compatible with all our Mighty rig. In the set you will receive two pairs of steel carriers, pins and a pair of nylon straps. Our Safety Straps are 70 mm wide, support up to 4 tons of weight and offer reliable protection during the most difficult exercises. To change the position of the straps you don’t need to move the pins, since the carriers are made in a similar way to the J-cups, so they are easy to mount and are available for purchase here.
Mighty Dip Bar
The Dip Bar takes its name from the most common exercise that can be performed on these training accessories. However, there is a wide range of exercises that can also be performed on the dip bar, to strengthen the upper body muscle groups. The dip bar is fixed to the structure from the front with a bolt.
Sphere Pull up
Our Sphere Pull up is compatible with all Royal Rig and Mighty Rigs series constructions. With this small tool your Rack will have a new station to perform the pull ups and is available to be purchased here.
Modular Gripper
The Kingsbox brand has become synonymous with continuous innovation and versatility. These are the characteristics that describe the new modular gripper, which consists of two parts, which can be combined in various ways.
As a base, you will need a profile on which you will then fix the various accessories. This profile can be purchased together with the rig/rack, separately, or as part of this set. In the basic price of this package there are two pairs of sockets that will allow you to train chin-ups from different angles. You can then train by soliciting different muscle groups. With a wider grip you will work more on the backs, while with a tight grip will be the biceps to make a greater effort. The distance between the grippers you can adjust it to your liking.
You will also have the possibility to add to the two sockets that make up the base pack, also two spherical sockets, available in two sizes. In addition to training your back and arms, you can also strengthen your grip. Our Modular Gripper can be purchased here.
Sturdy Pull-up Pull-up Bar
The Pull up Bar is easy to install on all Royal Series Rigs and can be set to the desired height. By mounting a Kingsbox chin-up bar on each side of your Rig, you will get two additional stations to perform the pull ups and as always can be purchased at this address.
Multi Grip Bar
Our new multigrip bar is very practical, it can be used to perform wide or narrow grip chin-ups and chin ups. It is compatible with all our rig Royal and Mighty
and you can buy it here in our store.
Space requirements for a rack
Not everyone has an unlimited amount of space to build their own gym at home or in the garage. This means that the first thing to decide is what may or may not be installed in your space.
One thing to remember is that you will need both space for the rack intended as a structure, and for the equipment, barbells, discs, dip bars etc etc… Squat racks generally occupy much less space than a typical power rack.
Width
The width required for a squat rack is approximately the same as a power rack. This means that for any rack holding a barbell, you will need at least 3 m of width.
Height
The height of a power rack can easily reach 250cm, then calculating that you want to do muscle up you should quietly have at least 360cm, in the opposite case it will be sufficient 250 or even less in the case of some squat racks created specifically only to support the barbell as our Royal Squat Rack SX-5 II that measures in height only 186cm.
Royal Squat Rack SX-5 II.
The stability of this squat rack is much higher than that of the other squat stands.
Too many times when you train squats, Presses or Bench Presses it’s difficult placing the barbell on the stand as you must always be very careful to center the supports on both sides at the same time not to overturn one of the two pedestals. With this squat stand we solved the problem. Laser cut, welded by professionals and powder coated in black, this rack is very stable, during the phase of support of the barbell will have the same feeling as when you place the barbell bar on the columns of the rig. You can lean on over 250 kg and is available for purchase at this address.
Versatility
One of the keys to building a respectable home gym in a small space is buying equipment that can do more than one thing. Of course, there are some people who have unlimited space to build their dream home gym. But many have to be satisfied with what they can afford.
This means that the equipment we would buy should be “versatile”.
Stability
Although this will vary by model, overall a power rack will be much more stable than a squat rack. Always remember that stability is important when you move a lot of weight.
Accessories
Thanks to our racks you will be able to realize your training station one piece at a time, according to your means, with the guarantee of having quality products at the right price.
Here is an example of what we are talking about, our best seller :
Mighty CX-35 CPS
Its simple and functional design is an excellent basis for any home gym, its functionality can be easily expanded by adding various accessories and complements.
On the back of the rack, we added a CPS pulley system, which will allow you to run squats with your belt, chin-ups and other exercises and this is the address where you can purchase it.
Price and conclusions
Whatever your budget is, we are sure that on our site you will be able to find the right rack for your needs. However, I must make a few distinctions, what costs EUR 200 will not have the same quality as what costs EUR 2000. Demanding such a thing will lead you to buy a poor quality product without any warranty not produced in Europe.
There are hundreds of deals on various megastores, but remember that if it’s too good to be true, it could be a fraud.
Buying your rack from Kingsbox allows you to rely on a team of professionals who always answer the phone, who have a physical warehouse and sold thousands of satisfied customers their excellent products, guaranteed by European certified quality.
