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Newbie intro/questions on squat/power racks
- Thread starter xHumanChessx
- Start date
floor
Not a good idea to do heavy squats or anything on rubber (or runners). You will loose some power through the floor or your shoes or both.
Get 15mm plywood from Mr. Plywood (the stuff from Bunnings is ok just make sure it has not curled. But at the end of the day cheap plywood will have a tendency to warp more than good plywood) - CD finish(D's the rough side and C is a smoother finish which is the side up for weights). 15mm because my rubber squares are 15mm thick and they match up perfect with the 15mm plywood. When you get the rack sit it on top and you wont have to cut it to size. the plywood at 2400 long (1200 wide) will extend out from the front of the back which is great for lifting from the front of the rack. Sitting the rack on top will stop it from curling at the front but it might still buckle outside of the rack. Speak to the guys from mr. plywood first and they might suggest to finish it to keep moisture out but it should not be slippery. or can simply recess screw the corners of the wood to the concrete floor which i did and leave it unfinished.
I used a CFP or something water soluble matt finish wood floor product (Bunnings). Have used it for 12 mths with olympic weightlifting C & j's and never slipped.
who recommends rubber under racks?
cheers
Not a good idea to do heavy squats or anything on rubber (or runners). You will loose some power through the floor or your shoes or both.
Get 15mm plywood from Mr. Plywood (the stuff from Bunnings is ok just make sure it has not curled. But at the end of the day cheap plywood will have a tendency to warp more than good plywood) - CD finish(D's the rough side and C is a smoother finish which is the side up for weights). 15mm because my rubber squares are 15mm thick and they match up perfect with the 15mm plywood. When you get the rack sit it on top and you wont have to cut it to size. the plywood at 2400 long (1200 wide) will extend out from the front of the back which is great for lifting from the front of the rack. Sitting the rack on top will stop it from curling at the front but it might still buckle outside of the rack. Speak to the guys from mr. plywood first and they might suggest to finish it to keep moisture out but it should not be slippery. or can simply recess screw the corners of the wood to the concrete floor which i did and leave it unfinished.
I used a CFP or something water soluble matt finish wood floor product (Bunnings). Have used it for 12 mths with olympic weightlifting C & j's and never slipped.
who recommends rubber under racks?
cheers
The Hamburgler
Spotter Loader
Proper dense gym rubber is fine
GPC Nats we had guys squatting 300+ with no issues
GPC Nats we had guys squatting 300+ with no issues
xHumanChessx
New member
Cheers for responding to questions from a few pages back. I have seen several people (including here on AusBB) recommend rubber flooring for under a rack. At least one recommendation to use horse trailer mat. Starting Strength by Rippetoe i think recommends both plywood then rubber mat on top...
Re: GymDirect. I am less than enthused about calling up a company with my credit card details if they can't even respond to emails. It sucks having done all this research on their racks and now i'm back to square one. Any more recommendations for racks/retailers...?
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We started on starting strength...fantastic, then after about 12 mths & several resets, tried the Texas Method for not long enough, then started Madcow - which is Bill Starr's program ( Madcow 5x5: How to Gain Brute Strength And Hard Muscle StrongLifts ), and have been on Jim Wendlers 5/3/1 for 6 mths or so. Get the E book off his site or amazon $10, there is a ton of free stuff on the net but you need to read the book - which is great and to get the feel for the program and i keep going back to the book anyway (dont bother with the powerlifting edition of 5/3/1 until and unless you are ready to compete with powerlift. I found it a rehash of the main edition and then useless as i have no intention to compete in powerlifting - having said that I dont know why i bought it??? ONe of those gym mysteries i spose.
SS is fantastic but i did find Rips medical explanations difficult. Stay with SS for as long as possible as you will make great gains quickly (SS is a development from Bill Starrs program anyway). if you do end up at jim wendler there are some free excel sheets to download if you google that, which i use. I actually got onto 5/3/1 from the interview bwn rip and wendler on ss. We intend to stay on wendler for the next 2 yrs at least. We do, 5/3/1 boring but big, with 5 sets of an assistance exercise each day. first month after madcow got scared but the weight, reps and sets really cut in in the second month (word of advice if you do end up with 531).
re racks get the thickest gauge you can get (if your on a budget) at the best price otherwise spend a crapload and buy something made in the USA or here. dont get the virtual pressed metal jobs they are just too flexible - ask the gauge, size and weight of the racks. I had problems with the rack i originally ordered as it was light, was flexible and was supposed to be commercial....(its not the one your looking at). In the end i spent a crapload on a hammer strength but its solid as...
Which brings me to your bench, i excluded decline but incline or not is the question. I chose incline and think now it was a good decision. Problem was that i bought an Avanti brand bench which is the usual chinese pressed metal crap. I swear when it is set to 45 deg there was about 25mm sway at the top of the bench when using heavy dumbbells. even on the flat there was too much movement for heavy benchpress. If your not going to get a good incline bench then buy a good set bench and get a good incline in the future when you need it. dont buy a crapper...like i did.... as we just gave it away in the end and had the pleasure of buying an incline bench a second time. i bought a hammer strength incline bench which is as heavy as and NOOOOO movement. you dont have to buy a hammerstrength bench but get something about the same width as it is not as wide as that shit avanti bench i had and being narrower its actually better to bench heavy on. dont know why but it is???
Which brings us to dumdbells i bought some and I am sorry i did. Having said that we use them for Kroc rows now so at least we are using them.
Your also going to need some fractional plates, .5, .75, 1kg x2 so you can increment up slow. I found the 1.25 hence 2.5 kg jumps on the benchpress/shoulder press too heavy.
the above represents our main mistakes and needs.
cheers
Seriously mate what are your lifts. Unless your squatting in excess of 220kg I think your stressing needlessly about the quality of your gear.
I bought a $450 powerrack and it is fine. When it arrived it was the same as the one in a commercial gym I used to be a member of. It wobbled a bit but that was because my garage floor is shit. Coupla dynabolts and now it is solid as a rock. Makes no difference whether your racks are 2mm or 3mm except for the weight. Your pins are doing the work and they are taking the load through the box section. I would say solid 30mm pins sitting across 4 x 2mm box sections are stronger then the dicky looking connection on the hammer strength safety rails.
The lower end force rack is shit and the $350 no name specials are pretty shitty but you can get very good sub $500 racks with welded flanges bolted and decent chin up bars.
I also got suckered into buying fractional plates and their a waste of time. Progress in 2.5kg jumps and if thats too much progress in reps at 2.5kg less until you can handle the 2.5kg jump.
xHumanChessx
New member
Cheers Maxy for a really helpful post! There are so many programs out there it's overwhelming for a beginner, so glad I found Starting Strength, it's perfect for my needs right now (i'm a nursing student so the medical terminology suits me too). Now if I can get a half-decent rack and bench i'll be in business...(Hammer Strength is waaay outside my budget/needs!)
I'm abandoning GymDirect and, it seems, the muscle motion racks as I haven't found any other retailers who do the MMs. I'm now looking at the Force USA F-PC, which most seem to be very happy with here. GymandFitness seem to be competitive with price and freight, and have a package that suits my needs. Apparently you can get a good deal if you buy off them via eBay, but they don't have any packages listed there currently.
Still not sure if I need plywood or rubber mats for a concrete floor...? Opinion appears to be divided...
I'm abandoning GymDirect and, it seems, the muscle motion racks as I haven't found any other retailers who do the MMs. I'm now looking at the Force USA F-PC, which most seem to be very happy with here. GymandFitness seem to be competitive with price and freight, and have a package that suits my needs. Apparently you can get a good deal if you buy off them via eBay, but they don't have any packages listed there currently.
Still not sure if I need plywood or rubber mats for a concrete floor...? Opinion appears to be divided...
I agree with some of what Fluffy is saying. I think his point is you get much the same with cheap shit product as you do with expensive shit product so why pay the extra dosh to get the same shit product minus a few bells and whistles or an inch or two. I agree with this line of thinking.
For example I paid $1400 for the supposed commercial shit rack which when it arrived may as well have been the $500 shit rack. I had the option then of returning the $1400 shit rack and getting the $500 shit rack but had the money to go to the next level in quality. Which I did because i had the dollars and i thought whats the point already having the rocking incline bench. We have the rack forever now, I didnt have to bolt it to my garage floor because it shook like Elvis neither. I also didnt have to look at welds on only two of the four J hook sides and I also dont have to look at the squiggle welding (chinese cant weld) etc etc. Whats wrong with that?
Re the floor perhaps put a post on SS and get some feedback from them.
also omitted to mention if you dont want to get lifting shoes, no matter, just take your runners off and do the squats/deads in bare feet.
My Ironedge barbell jack arrived yesterday having ordered it the morning b4- its a godsend!!
also re the racks i havent seen the product or know anything about their customer service but there is a firm called cyber something at seven hills in nsw which sell racks. maybe have a look at their racks.
cheers
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G&F have heaps of packages on ebay running all the time, check their ebay store here Gym And Fitness com au equipment items - Get great deals on items on eBay Stores!
That package you linked to looks ok but I think this is a better deal (you just need to add a bench) POWER RACK CAGE SQUAT STAND W/ LAT PULL DOWN + 200KG BARBELL WEIGHT SET + GYM | eBay
I have seen that package go for $950 + P&H. Amazing value IMO, the plates alone are $500. I bought this package and was very happy with it - the freight costs were very good too which was a big factor for me.
I sent an email. But even if I did use the online enquiry I would expect it to work properly considering they are an online business.
The lack of response didn't completely put me off, I just ended up finding the best deal to be with G&F. If GD had the best deal I would of persisted with phones calls etc. until I got through to them.