Squat Racks, Cages and Stands Guides, Reviews and Recommendations

Squat or power racks, cages and stands are very important piece of equipment for any serious lifter. There are big differences between cages, racks and stands and it is vital that any lifter knows their pros and cons, regardless if one exercises at commercial or home gym.

Also, there are certain misconceptions about naming conventions and some terms are even used interchangeably, and that can lead to confusion and errors.

Power Rack, Power Cage, Squat Cage

Squat cage, also known as 'power cage' or  'power rack', is one of the most essential pieces of exercise equipment of any serious lifter, for many reasons.

Squat cage allows lifter to do heavy squats without exiting 'workout area' no matter what. And in the case of bad lift and dropped weights, safety pins prevent weights from hitting the floor - or the person inside the cage doing the lifting.

For maximum safety, it is vital to position safety pins on proper height, which is usually around 5-10cm (2-4 inches) below bar's lowest position during squat. This way, if the lifter is unable to lift the loaded bar, bar can be safely dropped or gently lowered from the back (normal squat) or chest (front squat), with minimum distance from the safety pins, without any damage to the cage, bar or gym floor and avoiding injuries.

However, if the bar is dropped from certain height (regardless of the reasons), safety pins will stop the bar before it hits the floor or lifter - such lifts should be avoided, but they happen when bars are overloaded or lifter simply makes an error or passes out.

Out of shape safety pins are normal occurrence in any commercial or home gym and they should be periodically replaced - they are not too expensive, at least not when compared with possible injuries they prevent like broken legs, arms, jaws, spine, neck etc. Seriously.

Squat Cage With Pull Up Bar

Squat cage can be used for other exercises, too. Various pull-ups and chin-ups are possible with or (sometimes) without dedicated pull-up bar. Pull-up bars can be designed as add-on attachment or as integral part of the squat cage.

For home gyms it is highly recommended to get squat cage with pull-up bar, since it saves space and allows one exercise machine to be used for several exercises.

Deadlifts, bench press, rows etc. from pins are common exercises often used for pushing trough critical points and preparing personal records.

Also, many squat cages can be used as weight stands.

Squat cages have cons, too: they are big, heavy, require plenty of space and can be quite costly.

Plans for DIY squat cages are available online and when properly done, homemade squat cages are as good as commercial squat cages - sometimes even better, depending on the quality and thickness of used material and quality of welds!

 Squat Racks

The term 'Squat Rack' is sometimes used for 'Power Rack', 'Power Cage' or 'Squat Cage' - it is similar piece of equipment, also used for increasing safety during heavy squats.

Squat racks are used almost exclusively for squats, they are smaller than squat cages, often somewhat cheaper - squat racks designed for really heavy lifting are expensive and heavy, but they can absorb really heavy punishment.

Most designs use fixed and much thicker pins in the form of bars covered with hard, thick rubber.

During lifting, it is possible that dropped bar misses safety pins/area and hits the floor or the lifter - IMHO, this is HUGE disadvantage when compared with squat cages.

To improve safety, some squat racks are fixed to the floor - very important when loaded bars are flying around!

Just as squat cages, some squat racks are designed to be used as weight stands - additional weights increase the mass of the squat rack, making it less likely to move around when being hit with the loaded bar.

Squat Rack With Pull-Up Bar and Dips Bars

Some squat racks designed for home gyms sometimes feature additional attachments in the form of pull-up bars and bars for dips.

If you are looking for squat rack for your home gym and you want to save some space, consider one if such squat racks - it costs slightly more than 'common' squat rack, but saves space and in the long run money, too, since you don't need to get dips/pull-up station/tower or some similar exercise machine.

Squat Stands

Squat stands are least secure of this 'big three' squat exercise machines, providing no protective cage and no safety pins of any kind. If something goes wrong, possibility of injuries is increased when compared with squat racks and especially with squat cages.

But, squat stands requires least space and they are relatively cheap.

To improve safety, squat stands are often fixed to the floor and/or concrete walls, and can be connected to each other with fixed or removeable bars.

However, using squat stands increases possibility of loaded bars being dropped on the floor, requiring both good floor rubber mats and good bumper plates.

Depending on the design, some squat stands are also used as weight stands (if designed well, additional weight can lead to improved stability), but optional pull-up and dips bars are rarely available.

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Long Story Short: if you do squats at your home gyms (and if you are not, you should do them, since they are one of the best full body exercises), consider getting a good squat cage - it is not small investment, it does require plenty of space, but good one can last for decades and allows the user to other exercise too.

For more information, feel free to check the following:

• Low Bar vs. High Bar Squat: A Comparative Analysis

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