Two of the most useful pieces of equipment in strength training are the squat rack and the weight bench. Although you can perform a strength training routine without them, the availability of these greatly increase your options. Understanding their function in the weight room will help you train safely and effectively.
Features
A weight bench is a padded bench that may be used in conjunction with free weights or a barbell to perform a myriad of exercises. Although some weight benches simply lie flat, most adjust so that you can also work at an incline, decline or military press position. Some weight benches, designed specifically for chest exercises, have vertical bars attached to support an Olympic barbell. Most weight benches come with wheels for easy re-positioning.
Squat racks, also known as cages, are formed with four vertical metal posts that hold two horizontal bar "catchers" on each side to support a barbell. These catchers or spotter rods can be adjusted to your needs.
Function
Use a flat, inclined or declined weight bench to perform barbell or dumbbell chest presses. Lie supine on a flat weight bench to perform skull crushers and chest flies. Lie prone on a flat or inclined bench to perform reverse deltoid flies. A weight bench also helps to support one arm and knee in single arm dumbbell rows. Sit upright on the weight bench, with the back adjusted to military press position to do shoulder presses, triceps extensions and biceps curls. Wheeling the bench under the squat rack may help support the bar if you are using a free-form bench in these exercises. The squat rack allows you to duck under a weighted bar to perform squats. You may also adjust the spotters to a low height to bend over a barbell for dead lifts.
Benefits
A weight bench is elevated off the ground so it gives you better range of motion than would the floor in exercises like the chest press. A weight bench adjusted to military press position supports the back and helps you perform exercises like the shoulder press with heavier weight than you might be able to perform without support.
A squat rack, because of the spotter bars, allows you to lift heavy weights without the fear of dropping the bar due to muscle failure. This is particularly important in exercises like the chest press where sudden failure could cause a heavy bar to fall and crush the chest or throat. The squat rack helps those with low back problems execute a dead lift as you can position the spotter bars above the knees and reach the barbell without bending too far forward, which causes back strain.
Misconceptions
You do not have to be a body builder to make use of the weight bench and squat rack. A novice can use an un-weighted Olympic barbell, which still weighs 45 lbs., for squats and chest presses. Ask a fellow weight lifter or floor staff for specifics on how to adjust the pins on a rack or the height of a weight bench. If you are lifting quite heavily and risk muscle failure, enlist the help of a spotter and do not rely solely on the squat rack or weight bench to assist you.
Potential
The squat rack and weight bench provide the opportunity to perform exercises without weights as well. Use weight benches to perform step ups, elevated lunges, crunches, v-sits, spine extensions and triceps dips. Position a barbell on a squat rack a few feet above the floor and use it to do pull-ups or incline push ups.
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