Titan HD Power Rack Review – Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press

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The Titan HD Power Rack offers a number of advantages over the standard rack design, such as an increased weight capacity of 1000 lbs, and the optional dip bar attachment. This is a great way to increase the number of upper body exercises available.

In our review, we take a look at more differences between the two designs, as well as the overall design benefits, sample exercises for upper and lower body workouts. This is to help you decide if the Titan HD is the best power rack for home gym workouts.

Design features

With a power rack being one of the larger items of weightlifting equipment you can buy, it’s a good idea to weigh up your options to decide if it’s really going to be the best use of space.

In our experience the benefits of a power rack like the Titan HD far outweigh the negatives, and with a weight capacity of over 1,000 lbs, the value for money aspect certainly adds to the attraction.

For many people looking to train with heavy free weights at home, a solid rack is a must have, even if you train with a spotter on every workout.

Although they do tend to need a fair amount of space, you have to bear in mind that the strength of the frame, size of the internal floor space, and safety offered by the rails allow you to perform the vast majority of compound exercises.

Flat steel feet have been added to each corner of the frame at the base, to help improve stability and prevent any damage to the flooring.

Having the feet facing outwards like this also maximises the space you have inside the rack, preventing the risk of catching your feet on anything as you rack and unrack the weight.

The front of the frame also provides you with a pull up bar, set back a short distance to help position yourself closer to the center of the frame for a more even weight distribution. This can be an issue on cheaper racks and cages, where heavy pull ups on the front of the cage can cause sections to lift off the ground.

4 Convenient weight plate storage pegs

Another way that Titan Fitness have tried to prevent this is by adding weight plate storage pegs on either side, as far away as possible from the pull up bar. While their main purpose is to offer convenient weight plate adjustment on a barbell, they also do an excellent job of weighing the frame down and preventing it from moving.

A large number of guide holes have been pre-drilled through the frame supports on either side of the rack to secure the safety rails. This adds a much needed element of safety to your home workouts, which can also boost confidence in your own inability, which in itself can help you lift more and develop faster strength gains.

This hole pattern offers you greater choice when it comes to deciding the positioning of the weight plate pegs. You can either attach all 4 at the back of the cage to counteract any weight during the pull up, or maintain an equal weight distribution with two at the front and two at the back.

Having the freedom to store the weight plates at various levels also has the benefit of not getting in the way of a fully loaded bar, whether the exercise is squats or the bench press.

The strong 11-gauge steel frame, free shipping, and low price compared to similar frames with this spec makes it a real competitor to the popular Rogue R3.

Upper body workouts

If you’re unsure about whether you need a full power rack or if a squat rack will be enough for your workouts, it’s worth considering the amount of low-rep sets you’re going to be doing, and whether overhead presses feature heavily in your routine.

With a traditional free-standing squat rack, you can adjust the height of two supports, and usually slide a bench between the two uprights to create a stable platform for your overhead presses.

There are two main issues with this. Firstly, you may not be able to find a position for the bench that lets you comfortably push the weight off the supports, then complete the required number of reps.

Leaning too far back to unrack and return the bar with a heavy weight can lead to serious back injuries, but there’s also the issue of safety.

Unless the squat rack offers a second set of bar supports, there will be nothing to catch the bar if it becomes too heavy and you are unable to complete your set.

Aside from military presses, there’s plenty of space between the uprights to position an adjustable FID bench, which will allow you to take advantage of flat, incline, and decline bench presses.

Upper body exercise options:

Lower body workouts

With the option to attach the J-hook bar supports internally and externally on the frame, this does make it easier to perform exercises like the stiff-legged deadlift, and even barbell lunges if necessary.

Together with the traditional back squat and front squat exercises, this makes up 4 of the most effective options for lower body workouts.

Although you can buy a leg press / hack squat combination machine to extend the number of compound leg exercises you have access to in your home gym, you can expect them to cost anywhere between $1000 and $3000.

Isolation cable machines such as a hip adductor, leg extension, and hamstring curl could also be useful, but the Titan HD Power Rack does still support squats, lunges, stiff-legged deadlifts, and calf raises quite comfortably.

Important safety features for home workouts

Although we’ve touched on a few of the more obvious safety features already in our review, we wanted to look at these in a little more detail, as well as mention a few more that are much more subtle, yet equally as important.

The first is the design of the barbell support J-hooks. The high back, and wide base give you plenty of room to rack the bar safely, without needing to worry about it rolling off the front lip.

Each of these hooks can be quickly removed and switched between the wide range of positions drilled into the frame, including to the front of the frame itself if you want to perform a barbell exercise outside of the rack.

Improvements over Titan’s Fitness Power Rack

If you’re unfamiliar with the strength line of weightlifting equipment from Titan Fitness, it’s also worth mentioning that this HD model is an upgrade over an earlier design.

In making a comparison, we found that the HD version has seen a significant increase in its weight capacity, from 700 lbs to over 1000 lbs.

You’re also losing a cross-brace steel beam that had previously joined the two sides of the rack together at the base. This was a little more restrictive in that it meant you could only comfortably walk into the rack from one side.

However, being their heavy duty rack also means that there is an increase in the weight, from 107 lbs for the standard version, up to 230 lbs for the HD rack. HD Dip bars are also available as an optional attachment, adding an extra calisthenics exercise to your workouts.

If you were to start doing more free-weight exercises outside the rack, specially designed Spotter Arms are available for the HD Power Rack, adding an extra element of safety and taking the place of the steel rails.

Note: If you’re looking at buying the dip bar attachment, just be sure that it’s the HD version. The standard version won’t fit to this rack.