photo credit: jontunn

The first element of any free weight system is safety and when it comes to squats it is the most important thing to research. Consider that squat workouts can tend to involve some heavy weights. A quality squat rack will be made of high gauge steel and strong welds. Inspecting the welds on a squat rack, or any piece of equipment, can be done visually. Ensure there are no crack and that all welds on the rack are uniform in size and shape. Haphazard looking welds can suggest poor quality. The squat rack must have some sort of safety landing for the barbell should the weight lifter have an emergency and need to bail out. Things happen and even a good weight lifter may run into a problem.

Another characteristic of squat racks that should be considered is the rack’s footprint. It sounds painfully obvious, but there has been many a weight lifter who found a rack that had everything, paid for it and ordered delivery. Only to find that the rack took up entirely more floor space than anticipated. Perception can be deceiving. You may have sworn that the rack was five feet wide when it was actually six. It pays to measure the space you intend to place the rack prior to shopping for it. In addition to the size of the rack it is also important to remember that the bar and weights will extend beyond the width of the actual rack. Once more it seems obvious but also remember the carpenter’s mantra “measure twice, cut once.”

Finally, think about what you may need versus what you want. There are many racks that offer a slew of options. A good basic rack should include a safety measure and some weight plate storage racks. There are higher end multi-function racks that offer a great number of accessories to include things like shaft guided barbells with safety hooks. Your budget will govern much of your decision making process and it’s important to not get caught up in all the bells and whistles available. Think about what you are really going to use. Once again, there are so many styles and shapes in the market but the most important things to consider are safety, material strength and size.

photo credit: mrflip

Actually the first thing that you need to ponder is your budget. Do you have the money to purchase a bench in the first place. If you are looking to do just assistance exercises such as dumbell exercises or abdominal work then a cheap bench would suffice. If you plan on doing heavy benches then I would advise you into checking into a power bench which obviously is going to cost you alot more. Is this going to be something that you plan on doing for a long time or is it just a thing that you want to do to shed off some pounds. If you plan on being in the game for a long time then it wouldn’t hurt to get an expensive bench. Think of it: would you rather spend money on a shoddy bench that could liable to break and get you hurt or pay for a high quality bench that will last a lifetime. These are the things that you have to take into account.

Again, the most important factor that you have to take into account is its intended use. You can get regular flat weight benches that are made for assistance exercises. If you are looking to get into bench pressing then you want to buy a bench that has a rack. Most of these also come into a package where you can purchase weights with it. One popular set that I know of is one by the York Barbell Company of Pennsylvania. You can get a power bench with 310 pounds of weight. York now is mainly into the Olympic weightlifting game but you can easily go on Ebay or another auction house and find one.

Your budget and the intended use are the two main factors when choosing a weight bench. If you are able to satisfy the two then you will have no problem in finding the weight bench that is best for you.