An easy way to do dips in a power rack

[PuliMorgan]

I fabricated a power rack based on the design given in SSBBT. I got the idea of doing dips in it from Rip's SS Rack video in which Chase uses two barbells. Since I can't afford two barbells, and because the working depth in my rack is 30 inches instead of 22 inches in Rip's original design, I made two parallel bars out of two 30 mm diameter solid rods. 50 x 50 mm L-angles are welded on either end of these rods for locating them on the safety rods without rolling. Thin adhesive rubber strips, the kind used under furniture legs, are pasted on the inner sides of the L-angle to prevent lateral slippage - these can easily slide when unloaded, but are super sticky due to friction under load.

Some slack is given so that we can safely use them as parallel bars or at an angle as we wish.

The rods are powder coated black.

Here is a demo video:
YouTube

As you can see, it is super cheap to make and super easy to use.

Other uses of these bars (which I found out after using them for a while):

1) You can use them for neutral grip pull ups by placing them over the safety pins inserted in the topmost holes of the power rack.

2) Height of the bar can be adjusted by adjusting the safety bar height and hence these bars double up as a chin up bar for my 9 year old and a swinging bar for my 3 year old. These bars can occupy them for hours and my wife is happy to see that my 'expensive' power rack has some "real use".

[VNV]

Super neato.

Really, Excellent!

[PuliMorgan]

2) Height of the bar can be adjusted by adjusting the safety bar height and hence these bars double up as a chin up bar for my 9 year old and a swinging bar for my 3 year old. These bars can occupy them for hours and my wife is happy to see that my 'expensive' power rack has some "real use".

Here is what I meant. These make excellent pull up bar for the kids:

YouTube

[SteelerFan86]

Your design for the dip bars and the bolted in chinup bars look terrific! I'm looking to have a power rack fabricated as well. Do you have plans or photos you could share? I put my email address in my profile's about me page.

Thanks! - Steve

[PuliMorgan]

Thank you very much. I will forward the as-constructed-plans tomorrow. Do you use AutoCAD? I can forward the PDF files, but you can easily customise the rack to your needs if you know how to use AutoCAD. Please be warned that the dimensions are in metric units. I have chosen the sections like rods, C-channels and L-angles as per Indian Standards. Also, I had to make some sub-optimal design choices because of the unavailability of the right kind of raw materials during the lockdown.

Did you notice that I have two types of pull up bars? A normal bar with 30 mm diameter and and another strong man type bar with 50 mm diameter (2 numbers)? That is another hack. These three bars also serve as the connecting strength members between left and right frames. Bolted connections are provided so that I could get the parts through my apartment door.

I am planning to make a video on the rack with all these details very soon.

[PuliMorgan]

Your design for the dip bars and the bolted in chinup bars look terrific! I'm looking to have a power rack fabricated as well. Do you have plans or photos you could share? I put my email address in my profile's about me page.

Thanks! - Steve

I have sent the PDF and AutoCAD files along with some tips and instructions to your e-mail. Please don't hesitate to contact me for any other info.