I have the Powertec Power Rack, and I was wondering if anyone else has purchased the High/Low pulley system add-on? I'm seriously considering buying the add-on, but am curious as to how other people like it.

I really have concerns doing the bent over barbell row and if I had a pulley system, I would be able to really hit the Back/Lats with little concern for injury.

I wasn't aware that bent over rows are dangerous. Are there any safe exercises you can do for the back/lats without a pulley system?

I have the Powertec Power Rack, and I was wondering if anyone else has purchased the High/Low pulley system add-on? I'm seriously considering buying the add-on, but am curious as to how other people like it.

I asked the same question and here was the reply that John posted regarding why he did NOT purchase the add-on:

I highly recommend the Powertec rack that I have, but be sure to get it without the lat attachment. I almost sprung for it, but now I'm really glad that I didn't. The reason you don't want the lat attachment is because when doing incline bench presses the only way to get the bench into the correct position is to have the back leg of the bench straddle the back lower bar of the power rack. With the lat attachment, this is impossible. Why did they design it this way? I dunno. Other than that one shortcoming, I think this rack is perfect in every way.

So, I think it would be best to get the Powertec rack/bench and a free-standing lat attachment. As you noted, there is not much of a price difference. I'm planning to buy one soon.


I really have concerns doing the bent over barbell row and if I had a pulley system, I would be able to really hit the Back/Lats with little concern for injury.

An alternative is to do one-arm DB Bent-over Rows as seen here:
DB Bent-Over Row (http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/DBBentOverRow.html)

I really have concerns doing the bent over barbell row and if I had a pulley system, I would be able to really hit the Back/Lats with little concern for injury.

Frankly, I think it's awesome. I'm too heavy to do pullups as a part of a work out, and so I bought the pulley. I'm really happy with it. Just make sure ou don't have low ceilings (like some basements do), as it adds some height to your rack.

Oh, I should mention that the way I do incline presses is with a pair of dumbbells. My cap is at 140 lb presses, because my dumbbells only go to 70 lbs.

There are olympic plate dumbbells - I'm not sure how high those can go.

It's not real dangerous in my opinion, however you body is in a position that when lifting heavy weight you put a lot of strain on the lower back. I find myself being more reserved when doing this because even though I do my absolute best in trying to maintain proper form, I could easily twist a little a hurt myself.

As HobbesAB point out with the link, you can do one-arm dumbbell rows as well. Currently I do both the Bent Over Barbell rows and the single bench rows. However to Skipernicus's point, getting dumbbells that weigh enough can be costly. I bought a set of Olympic plate Dumbbells (at Sports Authority for about $50 dollars I think) that allows me to put whatever weight I want on the dumbbells. The only problem with those is that you have to load it with your smaller weights for a lot of exercises because if you put 45lb plates on there it gets rather bulky and cumbersome.

Bummer about John’s bench having to straddle the rack. I guess I got lucky there. Fortunately I don’t have that problem.

Skipernicus, how far from the back of the rack does the pulley system come out? In other words, how thick is the system? When I do my incline bench, I have about 3-4 inches before I would hit the back of the frame. I guess it also depends on which side of the rack the system goes. Meaning does it go inside the rack, or on the outside?

Thanks for your feedback guys. It’s a rather expensive piece of equipment to just buy blindly. Your help is appreciated

Regards,

Gregg

Bummer about John’s bench having to straddle the rack. I guess I got lucky there. Fortunately I don’t have that problem.

Gregg,

What bench do you have? Is it the new model Powertec Bench or something else?

Thanks

Adam

Gregg,

What bench do you have? Is it the new model Powertec Bench or something else?

Thanks

Adam

Adam,

It's an adjustable bench I bought at Sports Authority. TSA(Total Sports America) is the brand. A little less pricey that some of the other brands, but has a max load of something like 650 lbs. I was looking at it though, and the feet by the head don't extend beyond the pad when in the flat position. I'm curious if that is what happens with the Power Tec bench.