How to Set Up Your Safeties for Heavy Squats | Ray Gillenwater

[stef]

Starting Strength Coach Ray Gillenwater demonstrates how to set up your power rack so that your safeties are not too high or too low.

[AndrewLewis]

Nice video, Ray. Have you found that hip height works for basically everyone or does it vary quite a bit?

[Guan Cheng Lin]

Very clear demo, Ray. I remember Rip made a video about setting safety pin, and emphasize that the correct height should be decided with some weight on your back.
What's your thought?

[Ray Gillenwater]

Nice video, Ray. Have you found that hip height works for basically everyone or does it vary quite a bit?

It seems to be a better-than-random starting point. Fewer adjustment cycles this way.

Very clear demo, Ray. I remember Rip made a video about setting safety pin, and emphasize that the correct height should be decided with some weight on your back.
What's your thought?

Correct, if this method has you clashing with the pins at any point during your warm-ups, adjust the pins down a notch. Squatting too deep with the empty bar will give you extra clearance to accommodate for things like the bar settling lower on your back as weight gets added, but watch things closely the first couple of times you attempt this.

[Ericw]

I just built a Starting Strength rack and there’s nothing about it I don’t like. The 1 1/4” safeties and 2” spacing are a huge selling point.