For home gym enthusiasts, a power rack is a handy machine to purhase (or build) when you are ready to get past the bench and dumbbells phase. It is a compact box that allows you safely perform a plethora of exercises that would normally require a lot of floor space if you were to purchase the correct equipment for each one seperately.

Scott over at Straight to the Bar has a buyer’s guide to purchasing a power rack, which has some great advice on what features to look for and how to choose one that is appropriate for you.

One of the things that delineates the cheaper racks from the ones that people are seen drooling over in garages everywhere is the spacing of the pin holes (the holes down the side of the rack that the pins are placed in). Within reason, a smaller gap between the holes allows for a greater degree of flexibility. Anything down to about 1” is fine (the cheaper racks have a gap of 2” or more).