You get to your commercial gym, and all you want to do is squat. But — lo and behold — there’s someone already using the squat rack. And to make matters worse, they’re not even using it to do back squats or overhead presses. No. They’re using the squat rack to do…barbell curls.
In moments like these, working out from your very own home gym is extremely attractive. Not to mention, garage gyms and home gyms eliminate commute time and let you spend more time with your family, at your job, or wherever it is that you want and need to be. And when you’re training to master the squat, bench, and deadlift, you’ll need all the energy you can to focus on your powerlifting workouts.
Where better to focus on you and the big three than the sanctity of your own space? Here’s everything you need to know about building a powerlifting home gym that can fulfill your wildest fitness dreams.
- What Is Powerlifting?
- Meet Our Expert
- Powerlifting Home Gym Must-Haves
- Powerlifting Home Gym Nice-to-Haves
- Powerlifting Home Gym Fun (But Unnecessary) Equipment
What Is Powerlifting?
If you want to be a powerlifter, you’re going to center your workouts around your big three lifts — that is, the ones you’ll do in competition. The back squat, bench press, and deadlift are the powerlifting competition lifts, and you’ll have one goal: to lift as heavy as you can on all three movements.
In a powerlifting meet, you will attempt a total of nine lifts. First, you’ll get three attempts to complete the heaviest back squat you can to a satisfactory depth. You’ll follow that with three attempts to establish your one-rep max bench press. Finally, you’ll finish off your competition with three attempts to heft your heaviest deadlift.
Because your competition is solely focused on three lifts, your training will also centralize these core barbell exercises. Many powerlifters will have a squat day, bench day, and deadlift day to organize their training around.
The squat, bench, and deadlift will be your main lifts, and pretty much everything else will serve as accessory exercises — that is, supplemental exercises meant to help you improve your big three. This might include different dumbbell exercises, kettlebell workouts, and training with bands and chains to help give yourself different training stimuli. This is all in service of increasing strength when you get back to the platform.
Powerlifting Home Gym Must-Haves
Here are the powerlifting home gym essentials you’re going to need. If you’re just starting out with your powerlifting gym, the following equipment is arguably non-negotiable.
Power Rack
If you’re going to squat heavy, you’re going to need a power rack — plain and simple. If you’re looking for a smaller physical footprint or a less substantial impact on your wallet, you can certainly opt for a squat rack, too. However, if you’re already a very experienced lifter and can heft around significant weight, you may want to consider investing in a power rack since these have a sturdier footprint and can typically handle more weight.
Whichever you choose, having either a power rack or a squat rack is an absolute must for powerlifters aiming to perfect their back squat. And unless you’re going to buy a separate bench pressing station, this rack will likely also be where you train your bench press. That’s two lifts in one piece of essential equipment.
Squat racks or squat stands are relatively simple, with just two steel uprights and J-hooks to hold your bar. The base of the uprights will often be welded to increase overall stability, but there are freestanding models available. These may be more budget-friendly, but power racks are a solid investment for powerlifters if you can make it.
A power rack will have four uprights (instead of two), making a functional enclosure for you and all your squats. The horizontal frame in power racks enhances spotter-free squat safety because it can catch the bar in the event of a missed lift. You can also attach a wide variety of attachments to a power rack, including dip bars, so the functionality is extremely versatile.
It’s essential to find the right centerpiece for your gym, and a power rack is typically the way to go. They offer more safety than a squat rack, and the luxury of adding attachments adds to the versatility.
Jake Herod, Reviews Writer and Product Expert
So while both a squat rack and power rack will do their job for a powerlifter, a power rack may well be the best asset for you.
Spotter Arms
Spotter arms may not be the sexiest piece of equipment out there, but you’ll need them to do the types of serious lifting you’re about to get up to. Especially when you’re working out at home without a spotter, you need a pair of safety spotter arms to attach to your power rack or squat rack. These will be essential when you’re going heavy with squats and bench presses.
You’ll never be able to accurately gauge your max if you’re not confident that if you miss the lift, you can do so safely. Spotter arms allow you to do exactly that.
- How to (Safely) Miss Your Lifts as a Strength Athlete
- Here’s How to Properly Spot Someone in the Gym
Weight Bench
As a powerlifter, one-third of your competition occurs on a bench. So, you’re going to need a sturdy, reliable weight bench. Your competition lift will be a flat bench press, so it will give you the most competition-specific experience to train your lift on a flat bench.
Simply a must-have for any great home gym.
Jake Herod, Reviews Writer and Product Expert
However, if you’re extra budget-conscious and it’s important to you to be able to get chest workouts from different angles, you may want to purchase an adjustable bench right away. That way, you get more versatility from your purchase. Just be aware that it may not feel exactly the same as the type of bench you’ll be lying on during a competition.
If you have it in your budget, you may also want to consider a competition bench instead of the type of flat bench you’ll find in an average commercial gym. Competition benches will have a tripod design (three legs instead of four) so that your legs won’t compete with the bench’s legs during your meet. They also typically have a thicker pad and higher weight capacity.
Barbell
Powerlifters need barbells like kettlebell sport athletes need kettlebells. Plain and simple. If you’re going to lift, you need a barbell — perhaps two.
While there is a wide selection of barbells you can choose from that will allow you to lift and get the job done, competitive powerlifters are going to benefit most from bars that have knurling options that fit the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) standards. That way, you’ll always be practicing with hand placements guaranteed to match the dimensions of what will be available to you at meets.
Even if you have a rough understanding of where your hands need to go in competition, you’ll still want to log a lot of hours and poundage under an actual powerlifting bar. These bars are fairly rigid and generally have center knurling to help keep the bar glued to your upper back during your squats.
While you certainly can do your powerlifts with an Olympic bar, they are generally a bit thinner and have a lot more spin to facilitate optimal Olympic lifts. They also don’t have knurling in the middle, which you might sorely miss next time you’re settling in for a heavy squat session.
- The Best Barbells
- The Ultimate Guide on How to Choose a Barbell
- Different Types of Barbells & How to Use Them
- How to Clean and Care for a Barbell
Weight Plates
You’re not going to win many powerlifting competitions if you can’t add any weight to your barbells. Weight plates are essential in any powerlifter’s gym.
If you can’t afford to purchase as many plates as you need for your max at once, don’t fret — you can program your training to do certain lifts at higher volumes but lower weights and/or use tempo training to your advantage while you save up the money to get more plates.
You can opt for bumper plates, too. They may be a little more clunky to slide on for benching and squatting, but using a single set of consistent plates may simply be more economical for you. Bumper plates also tend to be quieter than clanking iron (especially when you’re not dropping them), which can be especially friendly for home gyms.
Consider what your needs and preferences are, especially depending on what type of deadlift platform and gym floor you have available to you.
The other thing you’ll need to consider when you’re aiming to compete is…math. Competition plates do two main things for you as a competitive powerlifter: they’re typically calibrated to make sure that they actually weigh what they say they weigh, and they come in kilos, not pounds.
While this might seem like a nightmare to Americans, the extra math will be well worth it when you roll up to your competition and you need to not only ask for your weights in kilos, but have to use the increments available in competition plates to make your jumps between attempts. If you’ve only trained in pounds, those adjustments can be devastating on the platform.
Can’t afford competition plates? See if you can get any used, and simply weigh them on a scale to get an accurate gauge of how much you’re actually lifting.
Finally, don’t forget change plates. Those are the fractional plates that come in tiny, tiny weight increments. While the difference of one or two kilos may not seem significant when you’re first starting out, they’re going to make a tremendous difference down the line when you’re really fine-tuning your one-rep maxes and pushing yourself to the limit.
Barbell Collars
When you’re loading up for an intense squat attempt, you’ll want to be sure that your weights are safely secured to your barbell. Getting a strong pair of barbell collars will do the job of keeping your lifts safe and stable.
Without using collars, you run a strong risk of your weight plates shifting and even slipping off the bar during your lifts. Even a tiny shift with each rep can add up to a catastrophic tilt during a set of squats. This not only risks spilling your plates out onto the floor (and your feet) but also can create disproportionate forces on your spine that can lead to serious injury.
By securing your plates with collars, you’ll be keeping each lift even and steady on both sides of the barbell.
Deadlift Platform/Floor Mat
In an ideal gym, you can build or install the deadlift platform of your dreams. If that’s accessible to the space you’re working with and your budget, a deadlift platform is likely the best option. But if you can’t buy or build your own lifting platform, make sure you have — at the very, very least — a strong, stable set of floor mats that can safely absorb weight from your deadlifts.
Powerlifting Home Gym Nice-to-Haves
To maximize your lifting potential on the platform, you’ll ideally want to outfit your powerlifting home gym with equipment to round out your training. Since they aren’t technically required to train your competition lifts, these pieces of equipment can be a secondary priority that you accumulate to flesh out your gym over time. No need to buy them right away.
Weight Rack
You can technically get by without weight racks if necessary — but you’re probably not going to want to for long. Having a safe, reliable, organized storage system for your weight plates won’t just help you have more enjoyable, accessible workouts. It will also help keep your weights in good shape for a much longer period than stacking them on the floor.
Dumbbells
No, you won’t be hoisting dumbbells in powerlifting competitions — it’s not CrossFit, after all — but you may well want to get a few dumbbell sets for your powerlifting home gym.
These versatile pieces of equipment can boost your hypertrophy potential and help you perform unilateral training to combat any strength and muscle imbalances that can come with a diet solely composed of barbell moves.
Whether you opt for a full set of traditional dumbbells, or an adjustable dumbbell system, every good home gym needs some trusty dumbbells, as they’re arguably the most versatile strength-building tool you could have.
Jake Herod, Reviews Writer and Product Expert
Especially if you’re working with a small space, you don’t have to stick to traditional dumbbells. You’ll generally need several different weights to satisfy your various lifting needs, which can take up a lot of space and a hefty chunk of your budget. In that case, Herod says that adjustable dumbbells can come in especially handy.
Lifting Chains
Want to increase your time under tension while giving yourself a different training stimulus and upping the challenge to your muscles at different ranges of motion? Lifting chains will do the trick.
There’s a reason you see so many powerlifters with chains seeming to drip off the ends of their bars. It’s not just to look cool (though it does). It also helps lifters work past tough sticking points and use the principles of progressive overload to get stronger without slapping on more weight plates.
Without chains, there are certain parts of lifts that are just easier than others (think: standing at the top of your squat versus coming out of the hole). But with chains, you’re forced to keep applying that pressure throughout your entire range of motion. No rest for the wicked at the generally easier parts of a lift. This stands to boost your training quite a bit.
Imagine benching 225 without chains. Once you get past your sticking points, the bar can “rest” at lockout before going down again for another rep.
Now imagine you slap chains onto the ends of the bar. Suddenly the top end of your range of motion is progressively heavier than your bottom range (because the more of the chain is lifted off the ground, the more weight you’re hefting).
One more round of imagining: after practicing 225 with chains, imagine taking the chains off again. Like sprinting uphill and then suddenly sprinting on a flat surface, your movements will feel much faster, more fluid, and more powerful.
Resistance Bands
There are few pieces of equipment as versatile as resistance bands. You can use these easily-storable training tools just like you do chains, adding them to increase the resistance on barbell or dumbbell lifts. Or, you can use resistance bands to help you with your dynamic warm-ups, stretching, and activating muscle groups that you’ll need to use during training.
Adding some resistance bands to your arsenal is a great way to reduce the stress on your joints from free weights, they can be used to increase the resistance with a barbell, assist you with pull-ups, and help you get a solid warm-up in before your lift.
Jake Herod, Reviews Writer and Product Expert
Cable Machine
If you have the space and budget to add a cable machine to your powerlifting home gym, it’ll be well worth it. Cables allow lifters to take advantage of accommodating resistance, which applies more consistent tension throughout a given exercise’s range of motion. This means that you’ll be able to get stronger in different areas, target your body from different customizable angles, and treat yourself to a wide variety of training stimuli — all with one machine.
While they’re a luxury product, the constant tension from cable machines is excellent for hypertrophy and for increasing strength.
Jake Herod, Reviews Writer and Product Expert
Powerlifting Home Gym Fun (But Unnecessary) Equipment
Okay, so you don’t need a rower or a slew of kettlebells. But those conditioning benefits can be pretty sweet.
Rowing Machine
Yes, the stereotype of a powerlifter is that cardio is their worst enemy. And sure, powerlifters tend to have long rest periods between low-volume, heavy lifts. That’s not exactly a recipe for prime cardio conditioning.
But if you want to excel as a powerlifter, building your work capacity with some warm-ups, cool-downs, some low-intensity steady-state cardio (LISS cardio), and even strategically programmed high-intensity interval training can help a lot.
By giving yourself a stronger set of lungs and adding some extra low-impact pulling into your routine, you stand to greatly improve your powerlifting prowess with a rowing machine in your home gym. Even if you’re not ready to dive off the deep end completely, even a budget rowing machine can help get your conditioning into a better place (elevating your lifts in the process).
Rowing machines might be the most superior cardio tool, as any given workout requires 85% of your body to be involved, increasing your strength and endurance.
Jake Herod, Reviews Writer and Product Expert
Treadmill
The last thing you think of when you think “powerlifter” might be “treadmill,” but this versatile cardio machine is still an asset to a well-stocked powerlifting gym. You can choose your own intensity and easily get in all that supplemental cardio that you’ve been avoiding.
If you have the space for one, a treadmill is a no-brainer for those who want to save their joints from the punishment that occurs when running on pavement.
Jake Herod, Reviews Writer and Product Expert
Light jogs on the treadmill can become an integral part of your dynamic warm-ups and your cool-downs. You can also use your treadmill for active recovery days when you need to move your body while promoting recovery from that last grueling leg day.
With a treadmill, you don’t have to worry about weather, banging your joints around on punishing pavement, or finding a convenient running route. You’ll just have to lace up your running shoes and get moving in the comfort of your own gym.
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Kettlebells
While you may not technically need kettlebells to complete your powerlifting home gym, you can become much stronger with kettlebells than you might be without them. That’s because they open up a wide world of unilateral exercises that also enhance conditioning, build stamina, and improve grip strength.
Kettlebells are one of the most underrated muscle-building tools. Most kettlebell workouts have a direct correlation to everyday life, they double as cardio equipment, and you can easily take them outside on a pretty day.
Jake Herod, Reviews Writer and Product Expert
He goes on to advise adjustable kettlebells for those with smaller spaces. Like adjustable dumbbells, these allow you to move the most versatile weights in a minimal amount of space.
Get Lifting
Once you’ve figured out how to build a powerlifting home gym, you’ll never have to worry about commuting to a crowded gym again. No more “How many more sets do you have?” plaguing your workouts. It’ll just be you, your own music, and your favorite equipment. Three-plated squats and 500-pound deadlifts, here you come.
