Newbie intro/questions on squat/power racks

Hi folks,

First post here on the forums. I'm a 30 yr old guy, been training martial arts for years and supplemented training at home with a bit of kettlebells, body weight stuff, and in the past year some basic barbell workouts with a friend's barbell and bench. Have decided to take the plunge and embark on an actual barbell strength program, specifically Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength. I am already fairly committed to the home gym idea (heavy bag, mats, kettlebells etc), so looking at investing in my own setup. (Please excuse any technical term missteps and/or stupid questions, some flicking through the Rippetoe book is the extent of my experience in serious barbell training thus far).

The 5 major barbell lifts according to Rippetoe (and everything else i've read) are the squat, press, deadlift, bench press and power clean. To perform these I need either a squat or power rack, as well as bench, barbell etc (I do have a bar and some plates already, but the bar was cheap from a garage sale and the plates only add up to approx 80kg, so thus looking at packages). Here are a couple of examples of packages from GymDirect, whom seem reputable and competitive (and who I think have some affiliation with AusBB?):

Body Solid Safety Squat Rack + Body Solid Adjustable Bench + Olympic Bar + 105kg Weight Plates

3 Package Deal _ Power Rack + FIBEV flat incline bench + Olympic bar + 80kg Olympic weights $1095

So I guess my main question is what is the real difference between a power rack and squat rack? If I already have a pull up bar can I save myself what looks like some space and set-up hassles with a squat rack and do the 5 lifts just as well? There also seems to be some variety in benches I don't really understand, isnt all I need a flat bench?

Any general advice also really appreciated. Cheers.

A squat rack is generally the open style with two uprights where as a power rack is usually the cage style with four uprights. Depending on the squat rack style it should be suitable for benching, but a power rack is more versatile.

You only need a flat bench for the lifts you mentioned (bench press), but you may want to change up your exercises in future to avoid adaption. (Incline, decline etc)

I would go the power rack route personally.

I also recommend a power rack

There is so much potential with a power rack

E.g. you have the chin up bar, bands, chains etc

I am always finding more uses for my power rack.

Thanks for those thoughts guys, have been reading through the numerous power rack threads here and looking very seriously at getting one now. A couple more newbie questions in the meantime:

Space is no issue for me in my double garage (except height may be a little tight, looking at potentially inverting the chin up bar on this power rack), therefore are the commercial versions worth the extra money?
(eg: HPRSP Commercial Power Rack) Built in weight storage definitely has appeal, right now my plates are on the floor.

Possibility I might move overseas in a couple of years, do the commercial units hold their resale value any better generally?

And finally, is rubber flooring recommended with power racks simply to protect the floor beneath, or for grip, or what? Floor is concrete in my garage, don't need to protect it from scrapes, but perhaps need to protect the barbell and plates in case they get dropped...?

1) Bench width
I don't like the body solid benches, they are really thin around the shoulders. Ideally you want something 30cm in width. This became irritating for me at 100kg+ bench press, feels like you're on a @#$ plank. You won't get this in an incline bench, but have a hunt around for one as wide as you can find it. Do a search on the forums I believe I have some posts where I listed the brands and their widths. For a flat bench I highly recommend the gymdirect commercial ($300). The gymdirect incline you have there I actually own, I forget how thin it is but I ended up replacing the entire top with plywood of 32cm width, it feels nicer to me (wide shoulders here). I believe even standard it is significantly wider than the bodysolids (maybe only 2-3cm but it ends up feeling like a lot)

Also the gymdirect incline bench there is rated to 250kg total weight I believe, this may be an issue for you... I weight 110kg and bench around 130 max so it will be soon... it may not be for you for some time.

Oh, also make sure the bench you buy fits nicely in the rack you get...

2) Squat rack or Power cage?
Power cage is nicer if you have the space (generally height is the problem here). Otherwise get a squat rack. Mine works well for me... But I wish I had higher ceilings in my gym area - the main benefits being chin up bars, ability to attach bands, and some other attachments. The MM Commercial from gymdirect (gee im plugging them) has a very good rep I believe. If height doesn't permit a cage just get a squat rack...

joe said:

1) Bench width
I don't like the body solid benches, they are really thin around the shoulders. Ideally you want something 30cm in width. You won't get this in an incline bench

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Iron edge bench is 28cm wide... thats about the best option around for an incline bench, about $600 though!

joe said:

2) Squat rack or Power cage?
Power cage is nicer if you have the space (generally height is the problem here). Otherwise get a squat rack..

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Personally i think the safeties are a huge benefit to a power rack, also, imagine knocking over a squat rack when racking the bar....

but then again i'm the safety conscious type..

I think I am well and truly sold on the power rack over the squat rack, even though as pointed out the squat rack will serve my purposes as a beginner. Would rather buy a piece of equipment now that will fill my needs for the future also.

Hadn't looked closely at the benches, now I see that the 3 GymDirect packages i'm looking at have 3 different benches:
1)Commercial Flat Bench with wheels
2)Adjustable Flat Incline Bench (FIBEV) (gives back rest width as 25cm)
3)ASFID Super FID Bench

I don't see the total weight ratings listed, but I would imagine I am a LONG way off worrying about that, if ever (I weigh 85kg).

Anyone care to weigh in on commercial vs standard (specifically for the muscle motion PRs from GymDirect), resale value, rubber flooring etc?

The commercial one is a beast and becomes a pain in the arse to move...

Nothing wrong with the standard... That's what I would get...

Spend the money on a better bar....

The ABC bop220 is very popular...

My gym has both Iron Edge power bars and ABC BOP220, both are great bars.

I personally think rubber flooring is nice and will reduce any scraping/rattling... but i'm just picky about such things 15mm rubber 1m squares are available for about $30 each.

I'd recommend the commercial flat bench to start with and get an inline later.

NightFallTech said:

My gym has both Iron Edge power bars and ABC BOP220, both are great bars.

I personally think rubber flooring is nice and will reduce any scraping/rattling... but i'm just picky about such things 15mm rubber 1m squares are available for about $30 each.

I'd recommend the commercial flat bench to start with and get an inline later.

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I've got a Texas power bar and while I was initially impressed with it I'm not anymore. After about 12 months use its bent as fuck. Not really happy. The ABC bars are probably a better choice. Haven't heard anything about them bending.

I gotta say I really like my ABC BOP220. Even squatting only 100kg as I am now I like the centre knurling, I can only imagine how useful it is around 200kg+. But.....it also depends on your budget. Realistically you can get very strong with a China bar (from cyberfit or the like) and unless you're hammering it I can see one of them lasting a while. I haven't bent my China bar yet and I've dropped it from height plenty of times with 80kg and deadlifted 150-180 plenty of times. I've never loaded it with the sort of weights Bazza is doing though (probably over 300kg ).

joe said:

I gotta say I really like my ABC BOP220. Even squatting only 100kg as I am now I like the centre knurling, I can only imagine how useful it is around 200kg+. But.....it also depends on your budget. Realistically you can get very strong with a China bar (from cyberfit or the like) and unless you're hammering it I can see one of them lasting a while. I haven't bent my China bar yet and I've dropped it from height plenty of times with 80kg and deadlifted 150-180 plenty of times. I've never loaded it with the sort of weights Bazza is doing though (probably over 300kg ).

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Did you get it knurled to sticky spec? If so is the centre knurl less agressive then the outside knurls.

I'm gonna get one but the chick on the phone was dense as fuck. She knew what the ptc scott knurl was but got confused as shit when I started asking about the centre knurl. Hesitated cause for that money I wanna make sure I get exactly what I want.

Bazza20 said:

I've got a Texas power bar and while I was initially impressed with it I'm not anymore. After about 12 months use its bent as fuck. Not really happy. The ABC bars are probably a better choice. Haven't heard anything about them bending.

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Where did you get yours from?
Proper Texas is the most popular bar in the US. That many lifters can't be wrong

Fluffy said:

Did you get it knurled to sticky spec? If so is the centre knurl less agressive then the outside knurls.

I'm gonna get one but the chick on the phone was dense as fuck. She knew what the ptc scott knurl was but got confused as shit when I started asking about the centre knurl. Hesitated cause for that money I wanna make sure I get exactly what I want.

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Yeah I just asked for what he gets. She said it was the way they come standard now, but she wasn't quite sure what I meant and had to ask someone else.

I am comparing mine to a baby face smooth china bar so I'm not sure its as aggressive as what some may want. I can tell you the outer knurling left marks on my hands after my first bench session and I was doing all sorts of funny stuff to avoid it. Now it just feels good.

the hamburgler said:

where did you get yours from?
Proper texas is the most popular bar in the us. That many lifters can't be wrong

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uge

Odd

There's a few guys on here with them and they seem to have had no issues

As a beginner I'm looking at the package deals as I kind of need everything. The GymDirect packages offer an upgrade from a 700lb bar to a '1500lbs rated brass bushing heavy duty olympic bar' for $50. Worth it?

xHumanChessx said:

As a beginner I'm looking at the package deals as I kind of need everything. The GymDirect packages offer an upgrade from a 700lb bar to a '1500lbs rated brass bushing heavy duty olympic bar' for $50. Worth it?

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Don't quote me but I think the grip is 32mm on that one????

I thought the ABC bop 220 comes with a 28mmm grip... Go to a PTC and check one out...


I dislike training with thicker bars..

Also the mmpr standard and commercial racks are at your local PTC... Go and try one out...

Thanks for the tip but I'm in Lismore, northern NSW, guessing the nearest PTC is Brisbane. Not sure if anywhere local would have the MM racks, will look around I guess.