The squat rack is the centerpiece of nearly every home gym, and for good reason. No matter what your goals are, the squat rack will likely play a big part in helping you achieve them. The only piece of equipment more versatile than the squat rack is a barbell, and if you follow our recommendations, then you’ll already have one. A squat rack can be used for the obvious exercises like squatting and benching, but they’re also great for pull-ups, rackable deadlifts, and overhead press. Add in some attachments for a bit more and suddenly your rack can do everything from landmine movements to lat pulldowns.
Without question, the squat rack is where you should spend most of your time in the gym, especially if you’re trying to increase strength. Although you’ll use the rack quite a bit, the quality of even the cheapest squat racks have increased to the point that we currently feel no need to recommend a very expensive rack for those on a budget, unless you want the better quality and additional features.
You’ll notice that we only suggest power racks in this guide. We’ve noticed that many people starting home gyms will purchase squat stands and then upgrade later to a power rack due to their versatility. It also needs to be mentioned that most squat stands, when safety bars are added, aren’t much cheaper than their power rack equivalents. With the price of power racks today, we suggest skipping the squat stand option and going for a power rack. You won’t spend much more (in some cases you’ll spend less) and you’ll be much safer and satisfied in the long run.