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: jontunn

Weight equipment only requires you to pay once, and you keep it for life. That is why the demand of finding cheap weight equipment is growing rapidly. Finding cheap weight equipment can be difficult due to the “over talk” about these weight training equipment you see on television. It’s over shadowing the light of the “little guys”. The first thing you need to know when purchasing weight equipment is that you don’t have to pay for the big brand names to get a good quality machine. All you need to know starting out is what type of machine you want; rather it’s one that works the lower body, upper body, or the abdominals. Once you chose what type of machine you want, make a price range budget that you are willing to pay for this equipment. After you decide a reasonable price range, start researching brand names for this type of equipment. Look up the pros and cons of each brand name that appeals to you. You should come down to at least two or three different brand names. See which brand name good qualities outweighs the bad. Make sure you check out the warrantees on the equipment brands. Some offer a short warrant and that should raise a red flag alert in your mind.

After choosing which brand of equipment out weighs the bad you should have about 2 brands in mind. This is the most important part, find these weight training equipment brands at a local merchant that sells fairly used equipment. Buying new equipment is good but if you can find a lightly used machine that still does what it’s build for then that is the way to go. When you find the right equipment the next step is to check the price. The price of the weight training equipment should be within the price range of the budget you wrote out previously. If so the last step is to make your purchase.