How, What to, and Why I Upgraded my 2×2 Power Rack

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Introduction

A lot of times, when just starting something new (like building a home gym), corners are cut in the beginning. When it comes to building your home gym, a limited budget with necessities needing to be covered means making initial sacrifices with intentions of future upgrades.

If your story is like mine, you bought what you could afford, knowing that one day you could get something better.

A rack allows you to bench and squat safely and comfortably while also providing additional attachments to make your gym more versatile. 

Buying a rack requires funds, and top-of-the-line racks aren’t cheap. So, when you’re finally ready to level up in the rack department, here are some things I think you need to consider. Toward the end, I explain why I chose the PR-5000 as my upgrade choice.

Considerations

Ok, you bought your first rack. Maybe you even made a minor upgrade to your second rack, but now you’re ready to upgrade to the final rack for your home gym, the centerpiece of your space.

What do you need to consider?

This is the exact experience I found myself in. I bought a glorified squat stand in 2016 for under $200 from Walmart. A few years later, I upgraded to the REP PR 1100 and thought I was set for life, but then I found myself wanting more. When I finally made the decision to upgrade, there were some checklist items that I needed to consider.

1. Budget

The top factor on my list was budget. I had to get a new rack while spending $0 of my own money. I needed to sell other gym equipment so that I could make this upgrade.

(And the answer is no. I did not receive any free or discounted items as an employee of Garage Gym Experiment).

Budget will put things into perspective quickly as you shop for a rack. If you have a budget, you may have to make some sacrifices. Sacrifices like not being able to afford American Made, starting with a 4-post rack instead of a 6, and not getting some of the attachments you want now, knowing you’ll have to save up in the future. All of these are sacrifices I made in purchasing my new rack.

2. Attachments & Specs 

When looking to upgrade my rack, one of the main reasons was to be able to take advantage of all of the new attachments coming out for power racks – like the Isolator pictured below.

Most companies have focused more on expanding functionality for the 3×3” rack with 1” holes. This narrowed my search of companies and rack types those companies offer. Using my budget and this specific qualification I now had a list of racks and companies to look into. 

3. Future Growth of the Rack

Something that appealed to me was going with a company continuing to invest in its rack design.

Companies like Bells of Steel, REP, and even Titan seem to be coming up with large catalogs of attachments and upgrades that go with their already existing racks.

My New Rack

I ended up going with the REP PR 5000.

The total cost was just under $1,400. I was able to hit this number by using the used marketplace and selling items in my gym that I hadn’t used in a while and didn’t see myself missing once they were gone. Larger items included my rack with all of the attachments, my set of bumper plates, some unmatching 45 lb plates, single kettlebells, and a handful of other smaller items. 

I wanted to go with an American-made company, but unfortunately, it would have been nearly double the cost of the REP rack I ended up going with. It was already a stretch to save for this rack, and I couldn’t justify the budget jump.

I liked what Bells had to offer with the Hydra, but the ⅝” holes were a deal breaker for me. At the time I purchased, there is a rumor of a 1” hole option (available now) in the future, but I wasn’t willing to wait.

The last thing I wanted to do was to go with a “Storm Trooper” (white uprights, black cross members) rack like everyone else, but after playing with REP’s Rack Builder and going through the different options, I couldn’t say no and went with the white and black combination.

Conclusion

When it was finally time for me to upgrade to a new rack, things that I needed to consider were budget, attachments, and specs and choosing a rack that would continue to be developed on.

I went with the REP PR 5000 because it hit all of these needs. This is also popular in the home gym scene for these reasons. There are many great rack options out there, so make sure you balance your unique considerations when making this decision.

Next up, the “Athena Plate Loaded Dual System?”