Power Rack Plywood Platform

[Module]

Good evening,

I'd like some input on my Power Rack platform idea. I will be purchasing a Rogue R3 rack which needs to be bolted down for stability. The workout space that I am dealing with is carpeted which means I do not have the option (nor the desire) to bolt the power rack to the floor. I have taken some measurements and came up with the following plan:

1. The rack is 7 feet tall, 49 inches wide, and 30 inches in depth. I have 89 inches to play with between my carpet and the ceiling. I'd like to save as much room as possible in terms of overall height for the sake of using the pull-up bar.

2. I am envisioning two layers of 3/4" plywood glued and screwed together to form a 6ft x 6ft square. This is the maximum size I can afford to build considering the space I have to work with and maintaining the ability to move the platform through my 6'8" door frames when/if the time comes.

3. The top of the platform will have a layer of stall matts with square holes cut out to accommodate the feet of the power rack which will be bolted directly to the plywood (not through the matts and plywood).

4. I will bolt the rack to the plywood platform using T-nuts on the bottom of the rack and appropriate-length screws on all four corners of the rack. I am envisioning bolting the rack 8 inches away from one edge of the platform to allow for some real estate outside the front of the rack to accommodate the bench during bench press exercises. I am also imagining that this will be enough room for deadlifts. The space in front of the rack would be 34 inches in depth.

My questions:

1. Are two layers of 3/4" plywood going to be enough to stabilize the rack?

2. Is bolting the rack 8 inches away from the edge of the platform not enough space to prevent the rack from tipping into the wall when racking? I can't imagine that the rack would tip the entire platform specially with me standing on it...

3. Am I missing something? Am I going about this the wrong way? Am...I...a completely hopeless idiot.

All opinions are welcome. Thanks very much.

[Seatard]

1. Yes.

2. No. Before you cut/drill holes you might test out the location though.

3. 6' seems kind of narrow. I would try to make it wider. It can be assembled/disassembled in place without glue to take the door constraint out of play. No. Probably.

[Tourbillon]

Good evening,

I'd like some input on my Power Rack platform idea. I will be purchasing a Rogue R3 rack which needs to be bolted down for stability. The workout space that I am dealing with is carpeted which means I do not have the option (nor the desire) to bolt the power rack to the floor. I have taken some measurements and came up with the following plan:

1. The rack is 7 feet tall, 49 inches wide, and 30 inches in depth. I have 89 inches to play with between my carpet and the ceiling. I'd like to save as much room as possible in terms of overall height for the sake of using the pull-up bar.

2. I am envisioning two layers of 3/4" plywood glued and screwed together to form a 6ft x 6ft square. This is the maximum size I can afford to build considering the space I have to work with and maintaining the ability to move the platform through my 6'8" door frames when/if the time comes.

3. The top of the platform will have a layer of stall matts with square holes cut out to accommodate the feet of the power rack which will be bolted directly to the plywood (not through the matts and plywood).

4. I will bolt the rack to the plywood platform using T-nuts on the bottom of the rack and appropriate-length screws on all four corners of the rack. I am envisioning bolting the rack 8 inches away from one edge of the platform to allow for some real estate outside the front of the rack to accommodate the bench during bench press exercises. I am also imagining that this will be enough room for deadlifts. The space in front of the rack would be 34 inches in depth.

My questions:

1. Are two layers of 3/4" plywood going to be enough to stabilize the rack?

2. Is bolting the rack 8 inches away from the edge of the platform not enough space to prevent the rack from tipping into the wall when racking? I can't imagine that the rack would tip the entire platform specially with me standing on it...

3. Am I missing something? Am I going about this the wrong way? Am...I...a completely hopeless idiot.

All opinions are welcome. Thanks very much.

You'll save yourself a lot of trouble if you make the platform 8x8. The wood and the mats are readily available in 4x8 and you avoid having to go through the pain of cutting stall mats. You are far better just screwing it down and avoiding glue.

[KeithTheSnake]

What I did with my power rack is to buy a 4x8 of 3/4 nominal ply. I cut it into two 4 foot pieces. Then, I glued and screwed them together. I installed t nuts on the bottom as you described, and I bolted the rack to the plywood base.

Then, I took a 4x6 horse stall mat from the farm store, and I cut it with a razor knife into quarters. I stacked two pieces of stall mat on each side and butted them up to the sides of the plywood base to provide protection for my floor. The stall mat and the wood decking come to the same height off the floor, the stall mats are four feet deep just like the floor decking, the mats don't move, and the measuring and cutting were easy.

[FNG37]

Do NOT glue it. Screws are plenty.

Because when you inevitable want to move it, change up the configuration, etc., you won't have to destroy it.

[Module]

You'll save yourself a lot of trouble if you make the platform 4x8. The wood and the mats are readily available in those sizes and you avoid having to go through the pain of cutting stall mats. You are far better just screwing it down and avoiding glue.

I'm having a hard time picturing how the rack would be positioned on a 4x8 platform.I cannot find any pictures of any rack on a 4x8 platform.

[matchsprint]

You really want 8 feet wide so that when you drop your bar (controlled or otherwise) any plates will land on the platform. You can cheat and go 7 feet, but a bad drop and one end of the bar can end up off the platform. For depth, front to back, it depends on your rack. If it's a half rack, you will be lifting (and dropping) in front of the rack, and need at least 3 feet from the front of the rack. If you are using a trap bar for deadlifts, you really need four feet because it takes up more depth on the platform.

The 8 feet wide isn't necessarily critical with a half rack behind the front upright, but it's nice so you have a place to put plates on the ground. If you are lifting inside the rack, you definitely need that width.

Depending on whether you have a sumo base on your rack, you may not want to take up part of that clearance with stall mats. Also, stall mats are harder to shuffle around on with weight on your shoulders or overhead. So here's a slightly better solution: Lay down your two layers of 3/4" ply. Don't glue them, but do put a piece of tarred roofing paper in between the two layers. That avoids noise from the sheets bouncing on each other. Next, put down some inexpensive tongue-and-groove oak flooring, running sideways, from the back of the rack to the very front edge of the platform. You don't even need to sand it. As long as it goes down relatively even, you can leave it unfinished or put a couple coats of varnish on it. The oak should extend under the feet of the rack. This way the rack is sitting on three layers of wood (oak plus two layers of plywood) and you don't lose clearance under the edges of the rack. From the outer edge of the rack to the edges of the platform, lay down your stall mats. This creates an oak floor down the middle to stand on, and two aisles of stall mat on either side to absorb the load of plates.

You can trim the edges of the platform if you want, with a block of wood or with pieces of angle iron. If you expect to be using bands for graduated resistance in your lifts, install a couple cane bolts on each side of the space where you'll be lifting. These are good ones: http://www.gatelatchusa.com/cane_bolts.html.

And that's all there is.

[Tourbillon]

I'm having a hard time picturing how the rack would be positioned on a 4x8 platform.I cannot find any pictures of any rack on a 4x8 platform.

I meant 8x8 with 4x8 pieces of wood and stall mats.