Data Discussed
- Roller J-Cups were the top J-Cup Choice, beating out Basic/Standard, Sandwich, and Monolifts (in that order) with 36% of “top preference” votes.
- Only a small % say they own a single pair of j-cups in a perfect world.
Introduction
When setting up your power rack, there are four primary j-cup options that you can add to your home gym – basic, roller, monolift, and sandwich (terms may vary). There are a few other options, but these are definitely the most basic ones that most should consider.
We polled the home gym community, and I am relatively surprised, but also impressed with the outcome.
The J-Cup style with the most votes was…. Roller J-Cups with nearly 36% of the total votes. It was relatively closely followed by basic/standard (most cost effective) with 30% of the votes and sandwich (25%). Monolifts attachments received just 9% of the votes.
Which J-Cup Should I Get?
There really isn’t a correct answer for this. Ultimately, your best type of J-cup will depend on your needs and preferences.
However, here is a quick way to think about it.
- Go with a basic j-cups if price is the most important factor. While these may not come with as many unique benefits as some of the other options, they’ll do the job for any home gym owner. They’re made of metal and use a UHMW plastic liner to help protect your barbell.
- Sandwich J-Cups include a thicker layer of UHMW than the standard options and will give your barbell even more protection. Therefore, if you own barbells that you’d like to keep in pristine condition, the additional cost over a standard j-cup may be worth it.
- Roller J-Cups include rollers on the bottom that allow the barbell to slide easily on the j-cups so that you can easily center the bar for your lift, which can be difficult with the options mentioned above (especially with heavyweight). For me personally, this provides the best overall lifting experience.
- A monolift attachment comes especially in handy when you bench or squat heavy weight. They allow you to unrack a heavy load from your j-cups without needing a spotter. You simply lift the loaded bar and the arms fall backwards so that you don’t have to walk or pull the weight to get in proper position.
In a Perfect World, You Have Multiple Options
Here is some more data for you. We followed up the “preference question” with, “in a perfect world, how many j-cups are on your power rack?”
Only 7% said they’d own one.
There are a few reasons that most want to own multiple pairs.
- Convenience: having multiple pairs can be beneficial so that you can superset, train with multiple people, or simply leave up for certain lifts. For example, you may want to squat with monolifts, but not have to move them around for other lifts.
- Variety: Since certain types of j-cups have different advantages, you can use each in different ways. For example, roller j-cups come in very handy for bench press.
Conclusion
If you’re in the process of beginning your home gym build, it may be confusing to decide which j-cup option you should go with. Hopefully, these survey results and poll results from home gym owners gives you a good idea of what to start with.
While the basic options will do the job for most, there are certainly reasons to go with another option to begin or add as you continue to build out your home gym.