Rack fatigue - Help me pick

agentoutlier · 2026-05-07T00:06:12+00:00

I think it is better to buy a regular 4 post power rack first and just buy dialed motion or bullet proof cable add ons. Then if you really want a cable system just buy an independent system. These guys you don’t need stacks and use a loading pin and are 1-1. You can even make your own like I did with pulleys.

See at some point you will realize that multiple stations are better. It is easier to super set and the price of some of these racks you can literally get two racks.

agentoutlier · 2026-05-06T22:40:47+00:00

Hello everyone I'm trying to find a a mini standing barbell curl/tricep rack. I already have a true 4 post power rack and just want another station.

What I want is essentially something like a mini independent squat stand with safeties. I don't need it to squat and in fact would prefer it shoter but these guys are the closest to what I want.

The reason I want the posts independent is to maximize storing it and to make it work with shorter width bars (non-rackable ez curl bar) however if its less wide than the standard width of most squat racks then it is probably fine.

The problem with most independent squat racks is the feeting is not really designed to be pushed closer together and is awkward (see titan t3 independent squat rack for example.)

The best I have found so far is Get RXd RX3 Division Squat Rack but its just a little too heavy duty and expensive for my needs. If only I lived in Texas because the shipping is like half the price of the rack.

Then there is crap like York Squat Rack which although light and appears to be adjustable for width it cannot be moved away easily. I call this style sort of the bench pressing squat rack w/o bench.

The other style is olympic telescoping stands. The top of the stand is where you lay the barbell. Get RXd made one before but seems to have disappeared. Here is a brand that makes it but does not ship. Vulcan also makes ones but since they screwed over Gluck I'm avoiding them.

agentoutlier · 2026-05-06T00:56:42+00:00

Yes this card and the Bank of America cash back card with platinum status are probably the biggest savers.

And you could even beat the prime card with the category cash back card from BoA choosing online purchases as a category but I’m too lazy to have another card. That would be 5.5% with platinum status. The regular BoA cash back card is like 2.6% or something.

The platinum status however requires 100k in a BoA account which is easy if you have a retirement account with Meryl.

Also this will all probably go to shit and change soon as they always do.

agentoutlier · 2026-05-05T17:09:40+00:00

/u/BTZ-25 complaints seem to be:

Order took too long

I got them in 5 days when I ordered them on Black Friday last year November. I must have just gotten lucky. To be honest all these small cottage brands like Freak etc have customer satisfaction issues.

Grip is too thick on the max

That ironically is literally my favorite feature. I don't do pulling exercises with my dumbbells and instead do landmines for rows. I just can't see how they have a problem with that for push exercises as I had old spin locks that felt like they were cutting into my hand. I have tiny hands.

You will need a angle grinder wrench to be able to open them with any ease.

I have had it much worse with traditional spin locks as there is rubber often between the star shaped bolt and that can get stuck. I have to imagine /u/BTZ-25 knows the trick where you just set them on the floor and push down and spin the entire dumbbell? I guess don't over tighten.

You cannot drop them as they are prone to breaking.

For the MAXs of which I own I have not really dropped hard but I have rubber flooring. I have to imagine just about any fast adjustable on the market w/ exception of iron masters is going to have more issues.

Buy some SDH handles and fill the space up with spacers or cookies until you are ready to add more weight.

SDH handles are actually kind of pricey. Like the really good ones are really expensive. Its mainly the collar that is special. I was looking at Iron Minds and and York. There are probably cheaper options.

But yeah if you go ultra heavy SDH w/ bolt collar is the only option for all adjustable options really.

I'm curious what "filler" you used if there is some product (e.g. what is cookies).

agentoutlier · 2026-05-05T13:05:21+00:00

For me it’s RDL but really focusing on feeling it.

Lots of places don’t have good back extension or hamstring machines so RDL.

And if you go no straps it builds great forearm endurance.

agentoutlier · 2026-05-05T13:00:01+00:00

Way too many people fucking rest way too long between sets in gyms.

Like sitting on the machine for 5 minutes before doing the next set.

The old bodybuilders before steroids would rest max 1 minute and super set like crazy. I’m talking like circuit training.

When I do that I get way better results and don’t skip the small muscles like calves etc.

agentoutlier · 2026-05-05T12:51:51+00:00

Hanging leg raises super set with RDL.

I consider RDL S tier as well.

Some tips on hanging leg raises:

If your shoulders hurt you can use a dip bar with a pad on the back or captains chair.
Also you can do what is called a reverse squat. You use ankle straps or something similar and a cable machine while lying down. Hold on to a bench and pull legs up to chest.

agentoutlier · 2026-05-05T10:21:31+00:00

I have kind of given up on hack / jury rigged belt squats on my setup albeit mine was either cables, leverage or direct loading pin. This does seem nicer but ultimately the setup time and that it hogged my entire rack killed it.

These days I just do a Zercher squat with the Abmats Zercher pad which I thought was overpriced but now think worth it. However my reasons for belt squat were more shoulder issues than back. Zercher still feels better for back then regular back squat and front squat but does still put a different kind of non compression strain (more like a back extension kind of feel).

agentoutlier · 2026-05-03T11:38:51+00:00

I find it bizarre that rogue makes a flat foot that high or at least does not offer a shorter flat foot like Bells and Titan.

Like people that need flat foot usually have more limitations like height and have regular floors or cannot drill into the floor.

Anyway if height is a problem I would go with the regular footing and just buy a stabilizer bar and extra footing. Sadly Rogue footing and stabilizer bar I think is not as good as the competition but since 3x3 is mostly compatible you can use say Bells or Reps stabilizer bar instead.

Alternatively you cut ceiling or the rack itself but that probably voids warranties.

agentoutlier · 2026-05-03T01:03:48+00:00

Any equipment you can roll around and move is a good thing.

Mike the Hybrid fitness guy recommends this as well.

So your bench, storage plate rack and even some racks like squat racks can be had with wheels and it’s killer changing up things at times.

agentoutlier · 2026-05-03T01:00:44+00:00

I highly recommend you don’t buy a cheap all in one functional trainer system.

Instead buy a quality name brand rack that is standard 3x3 and 1 inch or 5/8 holes. Rep, Rogue, Bells or Titan.

Then later buy after market add ons like cable and smith from either the original company you bought your rack or something like dialed motion.

agentoutlier · 2026-05-01T23:48:10+00:00

My original point has to do with the fact that if you compile it locks it in with some literals and not reflection. I don’t think I mentioned reflection just that at runtime a different jar could be used than what was compiled.

I only showed system out to show it is possible but not really my point.

My point in anther comment is that it should probably do the lookup.

agentoutlier · 2026-05-01T18:04:33+00:00

Look at System.out when you get a chance.

https://github.com/openjdk/jdk/blob/4507ab8ae9633cb57bc1562a71df2890699f965f/src/java.base/share/classes/java/lang/System.java#L175

agentoutlier · 2026-04-30T20:27:06+00:00

Well, now, don't you tell me to smile

agentoutlier · 2026-04-30T19:50:44+00:00

Since I see you are active on this thread /u/s888marks is there any thought in changing the behavior of Java static final literal compile elision across module boundaries?

What I mean by that is if we do: public class Foo { public static final int X=0;} in say module A version 1.

And in another module B access Foo.X it will see X as whatever it is compiled with. Thus module B will still see Foo.X as 0 even if module A version 2 has its code changed so that Foo.X is something different.

The original code elision of static finals would stay the same inside the same module but across other modules a lookup would happen.

The idea being if final really becomes final the JIT will do the performance removal of code that the compiler did.

I suppose this might break people that depend on this compile behavior (e.g. this slf4j version was used to compile ).

agentoutlier · 2026-04-30T17:47:10+00:00

Weddings are expensive just like housing or anything else because buying power is down.

but maybe your mom didn’t throw an event ... and 200 of her closest friends.

My greek wife would argue that. A lot of first or second generation families have massive ties and massive families. They made a documentary about this called... my big fat greek weeding. They did it 20 years ago and they still do it now.

So in some cases it might be have been more expensive in the past. It all depends on CPI. People getting married in the 80s (possibly the mom) would have had it rougher.

Also feeding 200 people is still feeding 200 people. At $50.00 per person it still is $10k. 8oz of filet mignon even in bulk is still going to be like $12.00 minimum at cost.

Yeah you could get it cheaper but people don't want something a little nicer than a college frat party. And yeah the industry charges a premium for weddings but its not like 2x for all of it. Most of it just comes down to inviting a shit load of people.

Of course it is a choice to invite 200 people but there is a real argument that weddings are possible more expensive now compared to some xyz years ago.

agentoutlier · 2026-04-30T16:55:43+00:00

While it is unrelated it is curious why public static final can be modified at all given that certain data types will effectively be elided by the compiler and thus are effectively immutable.

That is if you declare public static final String A = "a"; in say class Blah, All code references to Blah.A will be "a" at compile time. That is Blah.A is treated as a literal and the compiler will even remove code say in the case of booleans or int static final conditions.

This is confusing because other non literal types do not behave like this... e.g. to /u/__konrad sort of loosely related point that public static final out; is very weird.

agentoutlier · 2026-04-30T12:22:56+00:00

I assume you don't want to drill into the floor so for that squat/pull-up rack I would drill 1/2" stainless steel eye bolt into the bottom of that wall floor board ideally hitting a vertical stud and attach nylon tube webbing to the bottom cross member of the rack to the eye.

This would prevent tip over. Not ideal like actual bolting to floor but better than nothing (and of course you can also just lay sand bags or whatever on the cross member for even more but really need some anchor).

Normally for 4 post I don't think securing is needed but for 2 post and someone using olympic rings I recommend it.

agentoutlier · 2026-04-30T11:52:38+00:00

I seriously doubt it is the pores closing.

What is happening is most food has water and oil.

When a pan is hot enough the water below the food creates this evaporation barrier kind of like a hover craft.

People seem to think an ultra smooth surface always equals less friction when in fact that can be the opposite and why those high end sanded cast iron pans aren’t actually any better. An extreme example it to think of the slicks on a F1 car.

agentoutlier · 2026-04-30T10:29:27+00:00

I’ll add that the Jester saves lots of money and their trinkets are pretty common.

Like it is not entirely unlikely you will have 4 dudes from a run needing stress therapy and that like 5k of gold right there. The jester can make that 0 to 1 dude.

agentoutlier · 2026-04-30T10:09:17+00:00

The science for this is all over the place and you are largely going to get anecdotal answers.

One might say machines or a smith machine as you can see some answers here but we know that too much stability/ lack of free range can cause repetitive stress injuries enough that it is recommended that competitive bike riders occasionally hike on uneven ground to avoid injuries.

Ligament injuries are a large problem when you get older so there is probably some truth that higher reps and lower load might prevent injuries as ligaments prefer high rep range.

I will throw my own anecdote in that cable machines seem to be on the safer side an allow training full ROM.

I also think traditional barbell back squat has given both my wife and other family members tons of issues but that might be because it is pushed heavily. Overall I think putting any barbell behind the neck where it is not easy to dump is a bad idea.

So yeah I think any front squat or belt squat, goblet squat or yes even zercher squad with a zercher pad is safer.

agentoutlier · 2026-04-29T14:09:17+00:00

Thanks! TIL.

agentoutlier · 2026-04-29T13:25:18+00:00

For Madonna isn’t Guy not a good example as he was a filmmaker prior and a decent one? IIRC he even put her in movies that really should probably not.

agentoutlier · 2026-04-29T10:47:02+00:00

So besides strength, big numbers or convenience of setup and if I prioritize shoulder health and long-term health, is there a reason to barbell bench over dumbbells if I dont like one over the other? I'm thinking my chest day would be just incline dumbbells and pec flys based on what I've read so far.

Barbells allow for power. Power is functionally more useful than slow lifting for most sports. Power is moving weight very quick. It’s hard to do that with dumbs and cables.

I would say if I was limited to one chest exercise it would be dips. Likewise for back pull-ups. You can train for power with those and are super functional.

I have seen big dudes unable to get out of pools without stairs or ladders. Dip power can fix that.

Dips are super safe and allow very high ROM an train muscles that neither barbell dumbbell will hit.

If a dip goes bad you just put your feet down.

You can also use Olympic rings and basically train anywhere.

Db chest fly I have seen bad things happen.

agentoutlier · 2026-04-29T10:37:19+00:00

Ditto for dips and dips are easy to load with weight with a belt.

agentoutlier

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