HELP - Building Squat Rack

Hi all,

As a rank amateur, I'm no doubt biting off more than I can chew, but here goes.

I've recently started weight lifting at home and to do it safely I really need a squat rack. Commercial versions are a bit expensive so I got to thinking about building one. Its main function is to catch falling weights if the lifter gets stuck halfway through an exercise (mainly squats, but coudl be others too. (See this)

I drew up the design based on a couple I saw online. The high vertical bar is 5 planks wide at the base, the angled ends are where the weight lifting bar would go for myself (highest point) and my wife. If we get stuck in the middle of the squat, or fall, or drop the bar, the horizontal bars are supposed to catch the weight. All wood I am thinking of using is 70 x 35 mm structural pine. I am going to use some solid steel right angle pieces to anchor the main vertical planks to the base, and put bolts through the whole vertical stack all the way up to ensure the stack acts as one piece. The rest will be screwed together using just standard wood screws, maybe some smaller right angle brace pieces for the vertical supports to attach to the base and the catching bar.

I guess the two main concerns I have is whether the vertical stack would support the weight of the resting bar (lets assume up 200 kg), and will the horizontal bars support the weight if it was falling?

More than happy to hear any suggestions for improvements, or suggestions I stop before I kill myself.

Thanks in advance, Clinton

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Not that I know the weight bearing capability of framing pine, I would consider taking the horizontal pieces and turning on their edge (like a joist), and checking into the studs. The timber will bear more across its 75mm thickness than its 35mm.

If you are worried about looks, you could then have another piece laid flat across the top (as currently) which might dress things up a little.. and add more strength too.

Laminating two studs is a good idea.

You will need to consider diagonal bracing too to ensure it doesn't collapse. Could be as simple as straps. Or a couple of ply sheets.

I am by no means a builder, but I would consider these options as "belts and braces".

Squatting 200kg! Im impressed. Ive looked at this problem as well and there are a couple of factors to consider.

If you squat deep the rails will need to be 600-700mm off the ground. This implies that if you are going to toss the bar mid squat that the loads will be considerable and that structure will need to be very strong indeed. It will also need to be able to hold the bar and not have it roll. You can angle the catching rail to do this but these are big bangs and the timber will split.

Front Squats are different to back squats are different to overhead squats. Each needs its own height to pick the bar off. This is normally done by hanging pins out of the main rails. This is where my designs have come unstuck. I have looked at 25mm iron which is strong enough but never got confident that I could keep the pin in a wooden bar, with the repeated banging of loading and unloading.

My solution has been to join a gym with a good squat rack and get trained in safely unloading mid lift by an Olympic lifting coach. Timber isnt the material for this application. Of course if you can weld then that is a different matter. Mild steel tube is ideal for this job and not that expensive.

Thanks both for your thoughts, what do you mean by straps Glenn and where would they attach / run between? (sorry very new to this) I'm not too worried about the aesthetics, this is all function over form.

Sebastiaan - Nowhere near 200KG! but just figured if I build to that tolerance, it'll be a long time before I get worried about the structure collapsing. I have young kids so its hard to find enough time in the week for both of us to get in 3 sessions a week, so doing it home allows us to exercise together and do it at the same time.

Yeah I am planning to have the catching bar at 670mm (600mm supports + 2 x 35mm), or with Glenns suggestion maybe I could laminate two bars standing on the vertical edge giving about 705mm off the ground. So a full drop would be about 1 meter failing, which I think makes it about 5 times the force of the resting weight so about 250kg on each side. (edit - its actually 500kg on each side, if that calc is right well then I guess I am up the creek with wood)

Maybe I could use a steel bar just in that catching position? attached to the vertical support somehow.

Thanks again for indulging me!

Clinton

Well lets hope you never have to use the catching bar :) Steel would be much better IMO. I still would angle it backwards though. I assume you are planning to face the outside world (ie away from the bar) when picking up the bar for a back squat? I would also think about some checkerplate or the like for all of the surfaces where the bar rests on the timber. 2 be sure 2 be sure....

That video is funny but a bloke lost his mobility at the Crossfit games last year when he unloaded a failed snatch on to his back. As far as I know he is in a wheelchair now. The lesson is not to lift over your capacity and to learn how to unload properly. Not everyone has a mum who can spot.....

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Originally Posted by Sebastiaan56

Well lets hope you never have to use the catching bar :) Steel would be much better IMO. I still would angle it backwards though. I assume you are planning to face the outside world (ie away from the bar) when picking up the bar for a back squat? I would also think about some checkerplate or the like for all of the surfaces where the bar rests on the timber. 2 be sure 2 be sure....

That video is funny but a bloke lost his mobility at the Crossfit games last year when he unloaded a failed snatch on to his back. As far as I know he is in a wheelchair now. The lesson is not to lift over your capacity and to learn how to unload properly. Not everyone has a mum who can spot.....

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Yeah, checkerplate is a good idea, I think I am going to put a 1m steel bar on top of the catching bar (like this), should give it considerable more strength across the span. If I ever did a big drop, I would no doubt have to replace the entire catching proportion.

My brother is an electrical engineer and is going to dust off his uni knowledge and try to help out with some load capacity calculations.

I'll post some pictures.

Hi Clinton

In my younger footballing days (tighthead rugby prop) I did a lot of weight training with the competitive weightlifters in my local gym. They did lots of heavy squats of 200kg plus and encouraged me to do the same. They had a squat cage made from 75 x 50 x 5mm RHS with 25mm diameter rod as the 'catcher' for dropped lifts. From time to time the 'catchers' had to be replaced as they had bowed due to the impact from falling loaded bars. Fortunately one of the weightlifters worked in an engineering business and made the squat rack to their own specifications. The squat rack was also used for heavy bench presses with the height of the catcher rod adjusted to suit.

My advice is do not build this out of timber, it will not withstand the concentrated shock load of 200+kg falling onto it. Build it out of steel. Find a commercial design and make a copy to suit yourself. This is a real safety issue, not just for you but I assume there will be friends training with you as well.

Regards
Twosheds