Signature Fitness SF-SS1 1,000 Pound Capacity 3” x 3” Power Rack Squat Stand, Includes J-Hooks and Safety Spotter Arms, Optional Conversion Kits

The best value squat stand? MaybeI apologize for the length of a quick read is what you are looking for, but as someone who has bought a lot of equipment for both personal and commercial uses I like to be thorough and cover all the things a buyer might consider or want to know. While some products might be "better," I doubt you'd find a package new that is a better bang for your buck.This squat stand might be the best value piece for those wanting to do the major barbell movements at home. Don't get this confused with a premium rack as there are definitely some concessions that were made to get it to this price point, but they are few and small enough that those that aren't familiar with a variety of equipment might not even notice.The big pros on these squat stands are the laser cut numbers (which are pretty much unheard of at this price point), included safety arms, and a curved cross member to give a higher pull up bar for the height of the rack. First, laser cut numbers are for sure a premium feature as remembering where to put rack attachments or getting hooks and safeties even on the rack is made easy. Including safety arms means you don't have to pay extra for a pair which would normally set you back a couple hundred dollars on their own (although there are some concessions made on the provided attachments we'll discuss a little later). While it may be a negative for someone with high ceilings and or taller lifters, the uprights are shorter than a typical rack, but the curved cross member and bolt on pull up handles mean that the pull up bar can be placed at a similar height of other racks (pretty much the same as my X-3 rack and previous RML rack) while saving a little on material and shipping costs with shorter uprights. This cross member also has a hook attachment in the middle that could easily attach a suspension trainer or basic pulley system if you wanted. The uprights also have enough holes so you can move the pull up lower if needed for your ceiling height. Possible downsides to this are: in order to make room for assembly of this style cross member smaller bolts are used than the 5/8th in this area of the rack so you cannot Frankenstein these uprights with another brand's hardware if that's something you were planning on doing (not that many people do); the cross member does not have extra holes for attachments other than the provided pull up handles (however their other cross member for their full size racks may be compatible if you wanted to change this in the future).Cost cutting measures:While there is UHMW or similar plastic protecting the outside of the J-hooks and top of the safety arms the lining on the rack side is a felt type of material which seems to work well, but I can see not quite being as durable in the long run as the protective plastic usually used.The safety arms are quite short compared to others I have used, but still large enough for what they are designed to do. This makes them less beefy, but easier to move and cheaper to make/ship which is a fair trade off for a budget minded buyer.The welds in general on this rack and attachments are not great. They look messy compared to other weight equipment I own and have owned, but should still hold up easily to normal use. I assume this is likely due to cheaper manufacturing processes such as automated production or unskilled labor. Also, as a mostly bolt together rack there are not a large amount of welds so this is only a mild aesthetic issue.These J-hooks are narrow front to back so if you use any thicker specialty bars such as axles or most safety squat bars you will need to buy a different set as they will not fit these hooks. Luckily the hole spacing is standard to many other brands so you can go with a set Signature fitness offers or one of many brands on the market.General considerations/information.The dimensions pictured include hardware so the outer diameter of the rack will be less than that of the rack plus bolts and mounting plates. This is important to consider as wider racks can sometimes be a little tougher to rack and unrack given the rack-able width of the bar, so it is a benefit for me that the upright outer width was not as wide as the overall width.This packaging was almost overkill. With parts rubbing together there were still some scuffs, but this was double packaged and wrapped with little worry of any meaningfully shipping damage, but a lot of material to dispose of. While a socket or torque wrench will make assembly faster, wrenches were provided if lack of tools are a barrier of purchase.I could not tell if this rack was able to be bolted to the floor or platform from the pictures, but there is a cutout behind each upright where it can be bolted to the floor if you want added stability or plan to use band pegs with enough tension to risk lifting the front of the rack off the ground. I do believe this hole is also meant to be where the guide bars for the smith machine conversion kit would go so it may not be there for this purpose, but will work for it.Edit:. Since using the squat stands a little more I have noticed that there is a little play back and forth. Is something that's not super noticeable if I wasn't used to putting together a lot of equipment but this is actually my first set of just squat stands and not a full squat rack or a wall mounted rack that I have put together and thinking through the way most squat stands are designed I imagine a little play is common and almost unavoidable but a little tighter tolerances would cut it down and expanding to a half rack would cut it out completely. In the future I will probably upgrade it to the half rack for this reason and the extra weight storage or the Smith machine option if that is ever available.

I don’t normally do reviews but I’ve had this squat rack for about a week now and im happy enough that I felt it was worthwhile sharing my experience.This rack is very heavy duty with 3x3 uprights and 11 gauge steel. I haven’t bought the half rack attachment yet and even so it feels very sturdy when I bench, squat or even do pull-ups. (Im 6’ and weigh 200 lbs)I would say this mimics commercial quality gym equipment with 2 notable exceptions. It is only 83” tall and it uses 5/8” holes (as opposed to 1.”) Keep this in mind when you go to buy attachments. I prefer a taller rack but this height is better for basements.I also do wish they had other color options but at $300 I’ll happily take the fire-engine red.The squat rack arrived quickly and was well packaged in a layer of 1/4” plywood, cardboard and a ton of plastic wrap. I only noticed one very small scratch on the pull- up bar. I assembled it myself in 30 minutes.If I had one complaint for Signature Fitness, it would be that I tried to buy the full rack which was listed on Amazon for $400. I had it in my shopping cart but at checkout it jumped to nearly $700. This was out of my budget and I was incredibly disappointed, having gotten excited for the full rack. I ended up having to settle for just the squat rack. Although I plan on saving up and buying the half-rack attachment, it kills me to know it will end up costing more than I almost got the full rack for. I’d love to hear from the company as to why this happened.I’m assuming that no one else will have that same experience as me, so I’m giving this 5 stars. If you are looking for a rack that is actually 3x3 and 11 gauge steel, then you won’t find a better prices option than this. Don’t be fooled by other racks in 13 or 14 gauge steel. This one is the real deal.

So I had an issue with my rack that took some time to get resolved. The rack showed up with one of the posts unfinished from the factory. I ended up getting a replacement sent out and it was all good.The rack itself is solid, I don't have the added half rack attachment and it is still sturdy. I'm not the strongest person in the world but I do move some weight, the safety arms have had 315 on them so far and all held together fine. I'm curious how they'd work for overhead pin presses but have yet to test them that high up.The minus one star isn't because of the manufacture defect on my first order, it's because the J-Hooks are just not it man. It's the only thing holding this back from a 5 star product. I understand a lot of people will likely to buy their own j hooks anyway but the ones that come on there stock are just too small to be confident racking heavy weights on certain movements - making an aftermarket J hook a mandatory purchase.