Which Power Rack is better between these two?

[crazymofo01]

first one ships from within canada(easier for me) comes to 398 total. no name generic brand from china. 6'7 in height, no chin up bar but comes with extra lift offs which is good.

http://fitnessavenue.ca/item.php?id=26

second one made by powerline PPR200X. will come to around 350 total shipped within the u.s. and ill have to drive across to pick it up as i live in canada. slightly taller, has a chin up bar but no extra lift offs(extra 70)

http://www.meijer.com/s/powerline-power-rack/_/R-173260

which one and why?

TIA!

[KBKB]

These racks are very similar. I'd base my decision either on price or on the features that you mentioned. E.g. if having a pull up bar is important to you, then get the Powerline rack.

Something I noticed which may influence your decision is the capacity. The AmStaff rack lists a 700lb capacity, but the Powerline only lists a 600lb capacity. I don't know if these numbers are accurate or are deliberately listed that low for legal reasons. Or, even if they are accurate, the testing methodology could be different for each rack.

[crazymofo01]

These racks are very similar. I'd base my decision either on price or on the features that you mentioned. E.g. if having a pull up bar is important to you, then get the Powerline rack.

Something I noticed which may influence your decision is the capacity. The AmStaff rack lists a 700lb capacity, but the Powerline only lists a 600lb capacity. I don't know if these numbers are accurate or are deliberately listed that low for legal reasons. Or, even if they are accurate, the testing methodology could be different for each rack.

well the amstaff is only 6'7 so not sure if i can overhead press in the rack but i guess i can always do it outside, especially since it does come with extra lifts. the lack of a chin up bar doesn't bug me as i already have door way one. the biggest plus is it ships direct to my house.

the powerline i can press inside the rack since it is taller. overall it is cheaper as well but the inconvenience is driving to pick it up across the border and lugging 3 boxes back myself.

quality wise they both seem on par as entry level racks. powerline may be slightly better simply because it has the powerline name behind it. toss up i guess... anyone else chime in?

i did also go on ebay and ask previous buyers who bought the amstaff rack if they were happy and how it held up so far, 2 guys replied and said they love the rack and it has held up great. the powerline has a ton of positive reviews here on the forum already.

[JFByers]

first one ships from within canada(easier for me) comes to 398 total. no name generic brand from china. 6'7 in height, no chin up bar

On the picture, I can see a chin up bar on the AmStaff DF-1164.

On the picture, I can see that the AmStaff DF-1164 has only 16 holes.
The Powerline power rack has 18 holes. That means that hole spacing is slightly better for the powerline power rack.

[crazymofo01]

On the picture, I can see a chin up bar on the AmStaff DF-1164.

On the picture, I can see that the AmStaff DF-1164 has only 16 holes.
The Powerline power rack has 18 holes. That means that hole spacing is slightly better for the powerline power rack.

i can't make out the chin up bar on that and it doesn't list it either. i did count the 16 holes though, even tho the description lists 18, think they just copied that from the powerline rack they also sell though.

[KBKB]

Something else I just noticed about the Powerline rack is that it has bracing in the corners which might improve stability somewhat.

With regard to overhead press, there is only a three inch difference height between the two racks. If that extra three inches means that you can do the OHP inside the rack, I think that's pretty significant.

For my own training, I've found that if it takes too long to set something up, I often just won't do it. My perception of "too long" changes, however, depending upon the importance of the movement and whether or not I have another movement which'll work in its place. For something like overhead press, if I had only one bar and I'm able to keep it within the rack for all of the other movements that I want to do for the day, I might not be bothered to take it out just so that I can do standing overhead press. Instead, I might substitute a seated version or a version which uses dumbbells instead.

[ProtienandIron]

For my own training, I've found that if it takes too long to set something up, I often just won't do it. My perception of "too long" changes, however, depending upon the importance of the movement and whether or not I have another movement which'll work in its place. For something like overhead press, if I had only one bar and I'm able to keep it within the rack for all of the other movements that I want to do for the day, I might not be bothered to take it out just so that I can do standing overhead press. Instead, I might substitute a seated version or a version which uses dumbbells instead.

I thought it was just me that was lazy like that. Convenience and time saving is exactly why I have multiple bars set up.

[KBKB]

I thought it was just me that was lazy like that. Convenience and time saving is exactly why I have multiple bars set up.

I spent a few weeks building and then finishing (w/ polyurethane) some platforms for doing belt squats. They work great, but it takes five to ten minutes to set everything up and then perhaps another five minutes at the end to break it all down and put it away. It works great and, if I had the floor space, I could just leave it set up for the next time I want to use it. I find that it is far easier to grab the trap bar leaning up against the wall, lay it on the floor, and start doing trap bar deadlifts with it. Total set up and break down time is perhaps one minute total. I still have to add and remove plates as I progress through my warm up sets to my work sets, but I had to do that with a loading pin when doing belt squats too. I think that trap bar deadlifts are a better exercise anyway as it works the upper body too. (I don't have space for a rack, but needed a squat-like exercise to put into my routine.)

I don't regret building the platforms though. I still use one of them on an almost daily basis. We sometimes use it for step ups. I use it to attach a resistance band to a high attachment. It's also the perfect height for sitting on while working on my lower leg with a trigger point massage tool.

Another example: I have the older version of the Ironmaster Cable Tower. From a storage standpoint, it's great for a home gym with limited space because it doesn't take up much space when not in use. When you want to use it though, you need an area that's nearly twice as large as a dedicated unit. (This is due to the fact that lat pulldowns and rows are performed on opposite ends of the machine.) When I need it, I have to roll it out from where I have it stored, attach the bench, fiddle with the cables - pulldowns and rows use separate cables on the one that I have - and then attach the handle that I want to use. Plus, due to it's footprint, I may need to move some stuff around just to be able comfortably do rows. It's more time efficient to just do some pull ups and some other type of row. I like dumbbell bench rows. Lately, however, I've been doing renegade rows too.

[richr85]

which one and why?

TIA!

I'd go with the powerline. I have an old Body Solid one just like it and it's been great!
Notice the extra support(vertical bars) on the Powerline compared to AmStaff?

[crazymofo01]

I'd go with the powerline. I have an old Body Solid one just like it and it's been great!
Notice the extra support(vertical bars) on the Powerline compared to AmStaff?

thanks for the input.

overall the powerline seems like the better buy and it is actually cheaper. the small hassle of picking it up and bring the boxes home is probably worth it. apparently it is boxed into 3 different boxes so it shouldn't be too bad to transport.