I am looking at picking up a power rack in about a month and am leaning towards the Powertec Power Rack. It comes standard with dip bars and pull up bars which I like. The Lat tower is an option and wouldn’t get it to start with. It seems to be on sale everywhere and seems very well built. If anyone has one or a similar one please let me know your opinions, or one you think is better. Thanks for the help.
You see in the picture how the weight is racked in the front of the rack? This is because with the lat tower in the back like that there is not room to properly bench, so they tell you to unrack the weights from the front. This is dangerous and very difficult. You will end up benching outside of the rack, making the rack useless for bench.
With squatting you can just unrack from the front like the picture shows, a little unorthodox but it works fine.
The big things to look for in a rack are:
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The inside area is big enough. I would say the minimum is 40" wide. 24" deep is sufficient for most exercises, but I would prefer 30"-36" so that you can do lunges inside the rack.
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The rack needs to be strong. At least 11 guage, 2x2 square tubing. Examine the rack to make sure it is well supported, the big thing to look for is that it is properly secured and there is not a shearing force on any of the bolts.
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It has holes for adjusting the racks and safety bars all the way up. The racks and bars should also be very secure.
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It has the accessories you want, pullup bar, dip stand, weight rack, hooks for bands.
Except for the lat tower, the rack you have looks fine if you like that style of pullup bar.
There are a bunch of good racks on the web, elitefts is known for good quality, but they are expensive. Craigslist can turn up some pretty good deals occasionally.
that rack looks friggin amazing.
id never leave home if i had that.
Search for free-spotter.
[quote]LUEshi wrote:
power racks - Manufacturer of Gym, Weight, and Fitness Equipment for 40 years [/quote]
These things look like they are made with tin foil and would fold in half under decent weight. Give me some real steel cages that I could deadlift if I wanted to.
[quote]Cog wrote:
LUEshi wrote:
These things look like they are made with tin foil and would fold in half under decent weight. Give me some real steel cages that I could deadlift if I wanted to.[/quote]
I’ll agree that the safety pins suck, but I’m pretty sure you can buy better one’s for a little more. and many of them are made with 3x3in steel. And what does deadlifting have to do with a power rack. do you mean rack pulls? just how much do you do rack pulls with?
Whats up with midwestbarbells.com is that place legit? I wanted to contact them about some shipping/freight info and there isnt any easy to find contact info. I was about to do a whois search and call them.
I am looking to buy a TDS power rack and love the deals they list but i was a bit surprised to find no phone numbers or contact form that works.
or maybe I am blind…
The rack is steel, and the pins are SOLID steel. They don’t bend easy. I’ve dumped many a squat on them. Come the time I start throwing around Vogelpohl-ish poundages, yeah, I’ll probably upgrade.
Safety pins are a non-issue unless you’re dropping heavy poundages on them frequently. VERY heavy poundages. If you like to do stiff leg deads with 700 pounds and standing on a 3 foot box, I’d be worried. Otherwise no. Now the J-hooks? Yeah, the J-hooks suck.
There’s a picture hanging around on that site of 800 pounds resting comfortably on the pins. Granted, there’s a big difference between “resting comfortably” and “dropping suddenly from a great height”.
I know all their shit looks rinky-dink, but it’s actually solidly constructed and stands up really well. I bought their rack, adjustable bench and rack, and I couldn’t be happier. Plus it costs a third of anywhere else and they don’t fuck you (too hard, anyway) on the shipping. My whole setup (rack, bench and platform I built myself) before steel prices rose cost me around $500.
i’ve got the same power rack but without the lat/ row attachment and so far its been really good, very solid and great for a home setup.
IMO, you don’t need a lat tower for anything. You can just buy a pack of jump stretch bands for a lot cheaper and do the same kind of stuff you’d do with the tower.
I actually owned one of these awhile back. I got it at a great price before the price of steel went out of control, sold it for more than what I paid for, and then upgraded to an EFS rack.
For a non-commercial rack, Powertec has to be one of the best ones made. Pin hole spacing was decent (you can always throw sheets of plywood under the bench to bridge the gap between pin holes).
I had the lat tower attachment and did not care for it. Maybe Powertec upgraded, but the cables and pulleys would “bind” in a couple of spots. I am mechanically inclined and tried several different adjustments, but I never could get the cables to work properly. Plus, the rack comes with the chin attachment which allows for several different hand positions.
Again, nothing seriously wrong with the Powertec rack; however, I look at an EFS rack as an investment. It’s going to outlast you, so you will get your money out of it over the course of time.
I have this rack also without the lat tower option, I would recommend it.
[quote]sgtncasello wrote:
I actually owned one of these awhile back. I got it at a great price before the price of steel went out of control, sold it for more than what I paid for, and then upgraded to an EFS rack.
For a non-commercial rack, Powertec has to be one of the best ones made. Pin hole spacing was decent (you can always throw sheets of plywood under the bench to bridge the gap between pin holes).
I had the lat tower attachment and did not care for it. Maybe Powertec upgraded, but the cables and pulleys would “bind” in a couple of spots. I am mechanically inclined and tried several different adjustments, but I never could get the cables to work properly. Plus, the rack comes with the chin attachment which allows for several different hand positions.
Again, nothing seriously wrong with the Powertec rack; however, I look at an EFS rack as an investment. It’s going to outlast you, so you will get your money out of it over the course of time.
[/quote]
EFS as in this one?
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/collegiate_power_rack.htm
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