The Best Workouts You Can Do With a Squat Rack

Squat racks are pieces of workout equipment that you can use to perform squats. It is a metal stand that carries a barbell and weights at varying levels. As the name implies, you use a squat rack to squat. However, there are several other exercises that you can perform with one, and this article will go through the best workouts you can do with a squat rack.

Squat rack workouts

Here are some of the best workouts you can do with a squat rack:

Squats

As you may have guessed from the name, the barbell squat is a workout you can do with a squat rack. Squats primarily work the leg muscles. Nevertheless, your squat may also hit your core and lower back muscles. In addition to these benefits, squats also considerably assist in burning fat. 

Most squat racks have holes where you can attach the barbells. Likewise, the rack also acts as a spotter especially if you are using a home gym. To use it, you pick the barbell up with your shoulder and push your knees forward as your hips descend, keeping your back straight. You can imagine sitting in a chair to understand this motion. 

Use your feet to push back up and straighten the legs as soon as the knees reach a 90-degree angle or lower. When you stand back up, the rack is designed such that you can easily drop the barbell on it before coming out of the rack. You can purchase the Rogue sml-2c squat stand for your home gym squat stand as it is very comfortable and easy to use. 

Pullups

Pullups are excellent exercises that help develop your triceps and general upper body strength. They also target different back and shoulder muscles including the lats, traps, and rhomboid muscles. The exercise also develops the core as it is necessary to stabilize the body during the rep. 

Pullups are easy and flexible to do, and it is a workout that you can do with a squat rack. Simply grasp the overhead bar, placing your palms forward, about shoulder-width apart. If the bar is not high enough to hang from, you can bend your legs at the knees. Once hanging, pull yourself up towards the bar. Your goal is to get your chin above the bar, then descend until you are hanging from the bar. 

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Overhead press

The overhead press is another essential upper body workout that you can do with a squat rack. The exercise primarily targets your triceps, biceps, deltoids, and upper pectoralis muscles. To do the overhead press with the squat rack, you need to position yourself behind the barbell on your rack – the barbell should be at chest height, whether you are seated or standing.

Place your palms on the barbell at shoulder width and lift it up, fully extending your arms. Slowly bring it down to your chest level after that to complete the rep. You need comfortable barbells to perform the overhead press, and we recommend the Rogue 45lb Ohio power bar – black zinc for your squat rack overhead press. 

Deadlifts

Because of the squat rack’s flexible setup, it is physically possible to perform deadlifts in it. Deadlifts are excellent lower body developers as they target your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves. The workout also recruits your core muscles for stabilization when completing a rep.

Deadlifts are relatively easy to perform on a squat rack. You start by loading the bar in the rack’s lowest position. Grab the bar while keeping your feet shoulder-width apart and pick it up with a minor knee bend. After picking the bar, lift yourself with the bar, standing upright while holding the bar, before you lower the barbell back to its start position. 

Lat pulldown

This exercise requires some tweaking to your squat rack if it does not come with the functionality. Adding the lat pulldown to your squat rack routine is advisable as it helps develop your upper body. It targets several back and upper body muscles, including your traps, lats, and rhomboids. 

Benefits of working out in a squat rack 

Here are some of the benefits of using a squat rack to workout:

Squat racks offer safety

Squat racks originally started as a means to offer spotting and general support while performing barbell exercises such as squats and presses. The squat racks’ uprights have a wide variety of holes that enable you to modify the barbell and hook’s height to your choice.

As a result, lifting more safely is possible, and you do not have to worry about injuring yourself or dropping a loaded barbell as you try to free yourself of the weight during a failed rep. 

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Squat racks are flexible

Despite its misleading name, you can use your squat rack for more than squats. As discussed above, you can use your squat racks to hold your barbell at height for exercises like overhead presses, deadlifts, pull-ups, and more.

The exercises you can perform with your squat rack also increase if you decide to include the various attachments you can use your rack with. 

Convenience

Another benefit the squat rack offers is unrivaled convenience. Because of this convenience, many people use their squat racks as the foundation of their home gym, simply adding accessories to fashion out different exercise stations. This convenience is aided by the squat rack’s portability, as you can store it in a dedicated room or garage without hassle.