Choosing A Power Rack Or An Olympic Half Rack?
Unless you have the money or the space, then you're probably going to have choose between a power rack or a half rack. But which one will suit you, and your budget, best?
Power Racks
These are the square looking frames with 4 uprights, lots of holes in the uprights and top and bottom horizintal bars connecting everything together. A staple of strength zones in commercial gyms, what are they and why do you need one? Why not read our guide on how to use a power rack to help improve your strength?
Safety When Lifting
Ok so when performing heavy lifting exercises, if you're working with an Olympic bar and doing squats or sitting shoulder press, then a Power Rack could hepl save a few injuries no matter what weight you are lifting.
In case you were to fall backward or fall forward during your set then a power rack is safer to use. To prevent injury, the four uprights stop the barbell from leaving the rack. Further, were you to drop a bar on the safety bars, as they are enclosed in the power rack, they stop the whole rack from tipping over.
In comparison, whilst a half rack may catch the bar, the force of the bar may be great enough to lead to the whole rack to flip. Thus, in terms of safety, it is clear that although a half rack can be made safer in differing ways, fundamentally a power rack is safer. Moreover, particularly beginner lifters, who may not necessarily have the squat movement down should use a power rack. This is a smart choice because should they lose their balance, they may have to let go of the bar whilst losing control which may result in injury. It is also recommended that beginners don’t use running shoes as the padded sole does not help with stability.
Power Rack Models :
+ Primal Pro Series Full Power Rack
+ Jordan Power Rack with attachments
+ Hammer Strength HD Elite Power Rack
An Olympic Half Rack
More popular than Power Racks where space may be an issue, the Olympic Half Rack should be a consideration if you like your strength workouts and want to
Versatility
The standard ceiling height of residential units are 8ft. Due to this, a lot of racks are made to approximately 81″ high in order to allow them to both fit within the unit but also to provide the option to complete pull ups without the risk of the user banging their head on the ceiling. This is also the right height for racks to be able to fit in a lot of basements without having to make problematic cuts into the ceiling struts. However, although this height is adequate for most exercises, anyone reaching 6ft and wanting to do standing overhead presses will face the bar smacking right into the frame at this height. If the ceiling isn’t an issue, then taller power racks can be used but these tend to not be as common and thus more expensive. As a result, the better solution is to use a half rack as you will be pressing outside of the rack anyway, thereby bypassing the problem of a power rack.
When we refer to Olympic lifts, we mean the snatch and clean-and-jerk, along with variation exercises such as complexes and front squats. The popularity of these exercises has been massively increased by the introduction of CrossFit. The half rack enables you to choose to do warmup exercise such as front squats off the rack, to then take a few steps back and perform a set of cleans off the floor without the rack being in the way dangerously.
Price
A half rack is cheaper to make and ship because it has fewer frame parts. Yet, good half racks can also be more expensive than some power racks as they need to be designed and made strong enough to remain stable in spite of having a lighter or smaller frame than a power rack.
Moving the Bar
Because you are always outside of the rack, a half rack offers more flexibility to perform exercises outside of the rack such as Olympic lifts or overhead presses. Even just switching the bar out is easier with a half rack.
A power rack requires you to unload the bar first completely and then manoeuvre it carefully around between the uprights to set it inside. In contrast, with a half rack you have the freedom to clean the bar to your shoulders, finish the set of standing rows outside of the rack and also set the bar on the rack ready to perform a set of squats.
Space
Finally, although technically the half rack footprint is generally the same as that of a power rack, in a tight space a half rack provides more room in which to move around and to step over the feet. Essentially, it gives enough room to make a difference. This is vital to consider especially in home gyms which may have limited space to make the most of.
