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Thread: Home gym power rack footprint

  1. #1
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    Default Home gym power rack footprint

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    I have very limited space at my small home and garage for a gym. I am hoping to find room for a power rack and platform. What do you think is the minimum square footage I need for a rack, platform, and some sort of weight rack? Rip's recommendation for the platform seems to be 8'x8' - but I wonder how much space I need around that to be able to load the weights, etc. Considering a shed in the backyard, e.g.

  2. #2
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    You'll need more width than depth. 11' wide will give you just under 2' on each side to load the barbell. You could shrink that down to 10' but that's pretty tight.

    Depth could be as little as 6' with half of that for the rack and half for a deadlift platform. You could also deadlift inside the rack and make it really compact. The back uprights on the rack can be used for plate storage so you could do without a plate tree.

    Get out the tape measure.

  3. #3
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    Thank you, Steve.

  4. #4
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    Don't go for too shallow rack. I have made a 30" depth between the front and back posts. 27" may be just enough. 22", as in Rip's original design may not be enough.

    Width, yes 11 ft, as Steve mentioned.

  5. #5
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    One other dimension not to forget is overhead clearance. When I converted my one car garage to a workout room, I discovered the garage door opener and the tracks was an issue, as they didn't give enough clearance for overhead presses or moves. I decided I need 8 feet overhead clearance to be safe.

  6. #6
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    Thank you, PuliMorgan.

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Cox View Post
    One other dimension not to forget is overhead clearance. When I converted my one car garage to a workout room, I discovered the garage door opener and the tracks was an issue, as they didn't give enough clearance for overhead presses or moves. I decided I need 8 feet overhead clearance to be safe.
    Good point. Thanks

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by PuliMorgan View Post
    Don't go for too shallow rack. I have made a 30" depth between the front and back posts. 27" may be just enough. 22", as in Rip's original design may not be enough.

    Width, yes 11 ft, as Steve mentioned.
    Respectfully disagree. I have a parabody rack. It’s 22” deep. Absolutely nothing wrong with that depth. To me more important is the rack width. My rack is 44-1/2” outside to outside. Again no problems. Lots of people complain about hitting uprights if the outside to outside is 49”

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Oldandfat View Post
    Respectfully disagree. I have a parabody rack. It’s 22” deep. Absolutely nothing wrong with that depth. To me more important is the rack width. My rack is 44-1/2” outside to outside. Again no problems. Lots of people complain about hitting uprights if the outside to outside is 49”
    You are right. 22 inch depth may be okay if the width is 44.5 inches outside to outside. Mine is 48.5+ inches and and I occasionally hit the uprights while stepping backwards for squats.

    Details of my rack here: How I built a Complete Home Gym during the COVID-19 Lockdown - YouTube

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by PuliMorgan View Post
    You are right. 22 inch depth may be okay if the width is 44.5 inches outside to outside. Mine is 48.5+ inches and and I occasionally hit the uprights while stepping backwards for squats.

    Details of my rack here: How I built a Complete Home Gym during the COVID-19 Lockdown - YouTube
    Yikes. I need to correct this.

    My rack is 44-1/2” inside to inside. The rack is 2 x 2 so the outside is 48-1/2”. Basically it’s 49” outside. It’s not an,issue. 22” depth still also not an issue

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve R View Post
    You'll need more width than depth. 11' wide will give you just under 2' on each side to load the barbell. You could shrink that down to 10' but that's pretty tight.

    Depth could be as little as 6' with half of that for the rack and half for a deadlift platform. You could also deadlift inside the rack and make it really compact. The back uprights on the rack can be used for plate storage so you could do without a plate tree.

    Get out the tape measure.
    This is good advice. However, during the pandemic I had the gym setup in my one car garage that's only about nine feet wide. It was not super-easy to load the barbell. But I also never hit it against the wall lifting. I have since seen the error of my ways and turned the rack so that it's along the long side of the garage. Of course now I can never park there again. But it's way more convenient.

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