The squat rack is the centrepiece of most home gyms. It is where work gets done. One of the biggest strengths of a squat rack is its versatility. The many shapes and sizes of squat racks and the countless attachments available for them mean that squat racks are used for much more than just squatting. Here, we’ll breakdown why you need accessories for your squat rack, the types (safety, performance, storage), and will help you determine which attachments you need for your rack.
What Are Power Rack Attachments?
Power rack attachments and accessories are add-ons for your rack that provide increased usability of the rack. Attachments allow you to perform more exercises than the basic barbell movements typically associated with squat racks (i.e., squat, bench press, overhead press).
Squat rack accessories attach to your rack via the holes in the tubing that make up the frame of the rack. Some accessories attach via one hole, while others utilize multiple holes. The attachments can be switched in and out of your rack relatively easily, allowing you to continuously alter and customize your rack between, and within workouts.
Why You Need Accessories for Your Squat Rack
You have a squat rack and it looks perfect. Why would you need to add anything to it? Accessories and attachments for your squat rack allow for increased exercise variety, difference progression streams, and allow you to maximize your space and home gym efficiency.
Versatility and Variety:
Quite simply, squat rack accessories increase the number of exercises, and variety of exercises, that you can perform with your squat rack. Simple attachments, such as a landmine, multi-grip pull up bar and a roller can be cheap options that dramatically increase the number of exercises you can perform.
Further, these accessories all you to change the way you bias certain muscle groups. For instance, a roller attachment may allow you to perform rear leg elevated split squats (Bulgarians), which changes the feel and recruitment pattern compared to a regular split squat. A landmine can change the line of pull on a bent over row, allowing different body positions and back recruitment.
Progression:
Progressive overload is the key component to increasing your fitness and strength. This requires pushing yourself to levels you haven’t been to before. A simple attachment like safety arms can provide you with the confidence needed to push yourself.
Plus, band pegs can allow you to introduce accommodating resistance (external link). This method allows you to increase loading at certain ranges of motion of a lift and can help you overcome sticking points.
You can also progress your exercises – from a bench press to a jammer arm press, for instance. Progressing your lifts can alter the stimulus provided, which can lead to increased strength gains and overcoming plateaus.
Maximizing Space and Efficiency:
Squat racks can take up a lot of space in your home gym. Luckily, rack attachments and accessories can lead to an overall space saving. The squat rack becomes the central piece that everything is built off.
Plate and barbell storage can easily be built into a rack using extra uprights or special attachments. This saves you from purpose-built floor-based storage.
Attachments can also replace the need for stand alone equipment. Jammer arms can easily replace a row or chest press machine or an isolator attachment, like the Bells of Steel knee extension/flexion attachment, can replace the need for a knee extension or hamstring curl machine.
Plus, many power rack come with cable machines built in. This provides a functional trainer within the base of a power rack. Products like the Rep Athena allow you to have an all-in-one rack in just over 11 square feet of space.
The number of accessories and attachment options available means that you can essentially customize your rack so that nearly any exercise is performed utilizing your rack. This is a huge space saver, and the reason why a squat rack is likely the most important purchase you make for your home gym.
Types of Power Rack Attachments
Rack attachments are broken down into 3 main categories – safety, performance, and storage. Most home gym owners will utilize a combination of the 3 categories to ensure they are getting the most out of their power rack.
Safety Attachments:
Your squat rack may come with some safety attachments – notably J-hooks and safety spotters. These two are a part of the basic components of a squat rack, but they are key to your rack’s performance and your ability to progress.
J-hooks come in many varieties, from basic pegs to monolifts that move out of the way as you un-rack your bar.
Similarly, safety spotters are extensions off your rack that catch the bar if you fail a lift. These can be pin and pipe or strap versions between the uprights of a power rack, or spotter arms that extend off the front of your rack. In any case, they provide the confidence for you to push yourself near (or to) max.
Safety attachments are likely a buy once and be set type of attachment.
Performance Attachments:
The real fun of squat rack customization comes from performance attachments. A quick browse of equipment manufacturer websites can make me drool as I think of the possibilities. These attachments are the ones that add variety and progression to your training.
Squat rack performance accessories can be loosely broken down into a few categories: cable and pulley attachments, purpose-built, and modifiable attachments.
Cable and pulley attachments are unique in that they can replace machines like low rows, lat pull downs and entire functional trainers. These add a huge amount of versatility to your home gym and come in super budget options, like this from Amazon, to high-priced rack add-ons from Rep and Rogue.
Purpose-built attachments are ones that are typically used as they are intended. Examples include landmines, dip bars and cross-rack platforms. These attachments are commonplace in home and commercial gyms because they serve a direct purpose and are easy to set up and use.
Modifiable accessories, on the other hand, may initially look like basic attachments but are typically used for many exercise variations beyond their ‘defined role’. Jammer arms, for instance, may be used for traditional presses off the upright of a rack. They may also be configured for a row, belt squat or leg press. These types of accessories are favourites among the DIY and creative-minded home gym owners – and their hacks often go viral on social media.
Storage Attachments:
I love seeing the creative storage options that how gym owners come up with. Thankfully, equipment companies are starting to offer more storage options, and creating modular attachments that allow full customization.
Side facing pegs on rack uprights are the most common storage attachments. This is an easy way to keep your weight plates close to where you use your barbell. Vertical barbell holders are also often added to rack uprights to keep your bar close by. Horizontal bar storage solutions include things like the Barbell Anchor, and gun rack style attachments, which allow for multiple bars to be stored on the same attachment.
Alternative storage solutions include shelving between uprights, for things like bumper plates, dumbbells, kettlebells or medicine balls. I’m a huge fan of this style of storage, especially for small space gyms. Other storage accessories allow you to hang bands, chains or other miscellaneous gym ‘extras’ so they aren’t piled in a corner somewhere.
Rep, Rogue and also offer ‘bat-wing’ style modular storage solutions that extend off the sides of racks. These are great for larger areas that need to house a lot of equipment.
The Power Rack Attachments that You Need
The exact power rack attachments that you need for your home gym is dependent on your available space, the equipment you already have and what your training goals are.
First, you will want to choose rack attachments that will either save you space, or allow you to use it more efficiently. As mentioned previously, adding cable stacks to your power rack can allow you to essentially add a functional trainer and cable row/lat pull down machine to your gym without increasing your squat rack’s footprint. This would be a great space efficient investment. Similarly, a dip attachment would save you from needing a stand-alone dip station, again saving space.
The equipment that you already have will also impact your decisions. If you have a few types of barbells but nowhere to store them, then a Barbell Anchor could be your solution. Similarly, if you already have a freestanding knee extension machine then an isolator attachment is probably unnecessary.
If you’re primarily strength training then your attachments will likely be focused on either increasing the loads that you can lift, adding lift variations or safely training close to failure …or some combination of the three. An endurance focused gym may opt for attachments for battle ropes, or more bodyweight training adaptations – like multi-grip pull up bars or TRX attachments.
Power racks attachments are personal preference, but you do want attachments that are multi-functional and will get a lot of use. For those reasons, our favourite rack attachments are a landmine, roller, and dip bar. These could, and likely should, be the first 3 attachments you buy for your squat rack, assuming you have J-hooks and safety arms already.
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