Cage/Rack/Bench or none?

Cage/Rack/Bench or none?

The first decision I faced was what equipment would I base my gym around.  I like to think that I am an experienced weight lifter albeit I am no bodybuilder or power lifter I can shift enough weight to make the use of a cheap weights set useless.  The immediate thought was I want an Olympic set of weights in a power cage.  The benefits of this being versatility and safety.  The cage having the ability to set spotter bars at numerous heights to protect you should the weights drop. 

The issue with a cage is the space it takes up.in a limited area such as a single garage this can shrink the room dramatically as any other movement outside of the cage is restricted by the uprights.  The other option was for a half rack.  This has only one set of uprights but doesn’t actually take up less floor space than a power cage and sometimes can have a larger footing.  The importance of measuring becomes paramount at this point for obvious reasons. 

The last option I came across was the use of a heavy bench capable of taking Olympic weights.  The key point for this was that I needed a bench that separated from the body of the rack/stand that it was attached to.  This allowed the bench to be used for other exercises and for it to be stored away when needed.  I found that a number of the heavy benches did not offer this option.  Some did though and then it was just a matter of deciding on which one.

Before I say what I chose I suppose that I should mention I considered using squat stands for a long time due to the flexibility they offer and the fact that they can be purchased cheaply.  Whilst I can’t say that I have ever known or heard of a person getting badly injured using squat stands for say bench pressing ect.  I don’t have a lot of confidence in them as when heavy weights are set down on them in a strange angle due to exhaustion they can wobble and come out of line and this can only be a recipe for disaster.  So for that reason alone I wouldn't recommend them.

So finally I chose a Weider 490 bench.  This is a metal powder coated frame that has spotter bar to catch the weights if you drop them.  Both racking bars and spotting bars can be adjusted to a number of different settings which are suitable for a 6ft 2 man to squat off and also allows me to do decline and incline presses.  The bench itself is not attached to the rack which is good for storage and allows the bench to be used for other exercises, such as step ups and dips and anything else you can think of.