Sunny Health and Fitness isn’t as popular a brand as Titan or CAP but this almost-two decade old company manufactures good quality home gym and light-commercial gym equipment at pretty genuine prices. We highly recommend their under-desk elliptical and mini stepper for busy people who cannot spare an hour or half for working out their muscles. Recently, we ordered their SF-XF9931 squat rack and we are happy to acknowledge that we are very satisfied with our purchase. It is a bargain buy for people who want a durable and stable full rack below $250.
The SF-XF9931 Sunny Health & Fitness power zone squat cage is meant for intermediate and advanced trainers. Although being a very basic full squat rack, its heavy-duty frame and powerful weight-bearing capacity give it an edge over the other popular squat cages in its price range. After using it for about 8 weeks, we are confident that stability won’t be an issue if you use it within its weight limit.
In this blog, we will provide you with a detailed review of Sunny Health & Fitness SF-XF9931 Power Zone squat cage. We have strived hard to provide you with all the necessary details that you may require to make an informed buying decision. We hope you find it helpful.
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Quick Review Video
Click to View Transcription of Video
Quick Review Summary
Suitable for intermediate and advanced trainers who are used to practicing with heavy weights. It is a basic rack and the hole size is non-standard, so you may not find suitable accessories such as dip bars.
Pros
- 805 lbs weight-bearing capacity, which is decent enough for this price range
- Angled pullbar up
- Comes with spotter arms and j-hooks
- Good stability with options of weighing it or anchoring it to the floor
- Easy assembly
Cons
- Poor customer support team
- Poor shipping and handling
- Non-standard hole size
Rating
We are giving this a rating of 4.0 out of 5.0.
Full Review
Now on to our full review.
Features and Specifications of Sunny Health & Fitness Power Zone Squat Cage
- Dimensions: 38 x 53 x 87 inches
- Weight-bearing capacity: 805lbs
- Material: steel (the manufacturer hasn’t mentioned the steel gauge but we guess it is 11 gauge)
- The pullup bar is angled for narrow grip and wide grip. It has 8 grip different positions and can be reversed to provide you with a comfortable position for pull ups.
- Sunny Health & Fitness power cage comes with a pair of spotter arms and a pair of j-hooks.
- There are weight storage pegs on both sides of the frame.
- There are six resistance band pins; 3 on each side.
- There are 18 height adjustment holes. The spacing between them is 3”.
- The frame is powder-coated to prevent rusting and damage.
- Fits 7 feet olympic bars.
Detailed Review of Sunny Health & Fitness Power Zone Squat Cage
Built quality
It is a well-built squat rack. As you can watch in the above video, the steel is thick and the welds are well done. We don’t know the exact steel gauge but it wouldn’t be more than 11 gauge.
FYI: The higher the steel gauge, the fragile the steel will be. So, something made of 11 gauge steel is stronger than the one made of 14 gauge steel.
The frame is held together with the help of big bolts. The j-hooks and spotter arms are well-padded, so your barbell’s knurling won’t get damaged.
Making height adjustments for the spotter arms and j-hooks is quick and easy. The spotter arms have safety latches, so you can trust them with heavy weights. In case you miss, they are going to catch the barbell and maintain the stability of the frame, keeping you and your home gym safe from injuries and damage.
The weight pegs too have safety clips, so the plates won’t slip out accidentally. Some buyers have suggested that these posts should have had a slight upward tilt but we have been using it for weeks and we don’t really see an issue with the current design.
Hole spacing
As mentioned above, the space between two holes is 3”. The westside hole spacing (which is the industry standard) is 1”. While most buyers haven’t mentioned any issue with the 3” spacing, we would like to tell you that it could become too much if you are lifting heavy weights. Imagine how challenging it can be to balance yourself and go 3” down or up with about 700lbs on your shoulder.
If you are not planning to lift a lot of weight or if you are confident and comfortable with your weights, this shouldn’t be a problem. A very few products adhere to westside hole spacing patterns. Most products usually have 2” and 3” hole spacing. For example; the CAP Barbell Full Cage Power Rack has 4” hole spacing and has a weight-bearing capacity of 750lbs. The TDS power rack has a weight capacity of 1000lbs and has a hole spacing of 2”. Both of them are suitable for powerlifters.
You don’t really need a power rack with 1” hole spacing unless you are lifting heavy. Yet, you must understand that the Sunny Health & Fitness power cage has 3” spacing and you would have to go slow with heavy weights.
Stability
Sunny Health & Fitness rack weighs 83lbs, which is decent enough to make it stay in place on its own. But, if you are using heavy weights or if you are kipping, it will wobble a bit. The wobbling won’t be too much to make you feel unsafe but it will still divert your attention a bit until you get used to it. This is a fairly common issue with every rack, no matter how expensive it is. All racks wobble but they don’t really fall off unless you use them very roughly. You need to be gentle when re-racking; that’s it. Moreover, you can bolt the rack to the floor or weigh it down with weight plates or sandbags.
Overall, stability isn’t an issue with Sunny Health & Fitness power cage.
Assembly
Assembly is easy but we suggest you use your own tools instead of the ones provided. Sunny Health & Fitness has done an amazing job in writing detailed assembling instructions. They are pretty easy to follow. Even people who hate DIYing would be able to put this together alone in less than 2 hours (depending on your skills). All the holes line up properly, so assembly is even easier.
Packaging, shipping, and delivery
Buyers have confirmed that each piece of Sunny Health and Fitness Power cage comes wrapped thoroughly in plastic and cardboard to avoid any damage that could happen due to poor shipping and handling. And yet, many buyers have complained about bent pieces and broken parts which are mostly due to poor handling. Many of them had to return the product. They have left low ratings even though, in their reviews, they have admitted that this power cage is ‘built like a best’. The seller needs to seriously consider using another shipping partner.
Pros:
- Sunny Health & Fitness SF-XF9931 power cage comes with its own spotter arms. You don’t have to buy them separately. Most other racks do not come with spotter arms.
- The pullup bar can be reversed i.e. dropped down, so even short people would be able to grab it easily instead of using a bench or stepper.
- The powder coating on the frame is very well done and no buyer had complained about the paint chipping issue.
- It is impossible to find such a well-built and well-equipped power cage in the price range in which this product is available. It's a bargain buy.
Cons:
- Some buyers have stated that Sunny Health & Fitness has an almost non-existent customer support team. Buyers didn’t get any reply after sending multiple emails over a month. If you received a package with missing parts or if you have any query, it could be frustrating to contact the company. The only hassle-free option will be to return it within its return period.
- The holes of this power cage are not of standard size. They are a bit smaller, which is why it is almost impossible to find accessories such as dip bars. If you don’t care about accessories and need this only for pushups, benches, and squats, this shouldn’t be an issue.
- As mentioned above, shipping issues are severe with this brand and chances are that you may receive a bent or damaged part. Such issues are mostly cosmetic but if a specific part is severely damaged, you may have to return it.
- Some buyers have stated that the pullup bar is not knurled. It can get slippery if you have sweaty hands. This isn’t a deal-breaker issue though.
Rating
We are giving this a rating of 4.0 out of 5.0.
Wrap Up
When we ordered Sunny Health & Fitness squat rack, we didn’t expect much from it. To our surprise, it turned out to be an exceptionally good product for its price. No wonder why more than 90% of buyers have rated it 5 stars and above.
Honestly, we would have rated it a bit more (and the rack truly deserves it). But, bad shipping and handling is a serious issue that the manufacturer needs to address on a priority basis. Thankfully, our package arrived in a good condition, but many buyers had to return their order because the parts were severely bent.
Well, don’t let the shipping issue affect your buying decision. You can anyway return it.