The dream of every crossfitter is to have a gym to call their own. It might be to own their own affiliate, it might be to just have a box to go to, or it might just to convert their garage into a gym; most likely the latter two. While you might not get the same experience as going to an affiliate, a garage gym might be one of the more economical ways to get a workout in. Sure, it might seem like it costs a lot upfront, but just think about how much you’ll be saving in comparison to a couple years dues of going to an affiliate. Now let’s get this straight: I recommend going to an affiliate over just doing your own thing at home. Why? The community, the coaching, and the competition. You’re just not going to get the three “C’s” working out at home by yourself. If an affiliate is just inaccessible, you just can’t afford it, you’re socially inept, or you just don’t like people, then maybe a garage gym is the way to go for you. Personally, I do the majority of my WOD’s at affiliates and most of my supplemental work at home when I’m just too lazy to drive back to the gym. There’s also nothing like turning the music up loud, slamming weights down and grunting as much as you want, all in the comfort of your very own home.
Being a somewhat budget minded consumer, putting together a home gym required a little bit of patience and homework. Also keeping in mind the fact that I wouldn’t be primarily working out at home, I sought out for things that would just get me by, and not necessarily be top of the line. If I really had it my way I would have a garage full of Rogue equipment, that SML-2 though. Unfortunately, that rack was way out of my budget, while the asking price isn’t all that bad, shipping and tax for California residents kills that deal. Shipping on just about EVERY squat/pull-up rack killed every deal, and trust me when I tell you that I looked at ALL of them. The one rack that stood out and fit my budget was the OneFitWonder squat/pull-up rack sold by Fringe Sport. What made this one stand out was that Fringe offers FREE shipping to the contiguous 48 states! That alone saves you about $100 compared to the rest of the racks out there. I had my hesitations, obviously. I know the people at Fringe are great and stand behind their products 100%, but I wasn’t so sure about the craftsmanship of this rack, being that it’s made in China and there aren’t any specifications on the gauge and dimensions of steel used. There were some insane deals on Black Friday/Cyber Monday and I just couldn’t pass up the deal on this rack, and I ended up being one of the lucky ones that was able to get it on Cyber Monday.
Hell, I didn’t even know if it was going to fit but I’m glad that I took that leap of faith.
The OneFitWonder squat/pull-up rack is mainly what you’d expect from a quality squat rack. The steel is very sturdy and seems to be just as well put together as a Rogue rack. Despite the price tag, nothing here feels like it’s cheap or indicates that they cut corners to put it together. All the hardware to assemble the rack fit just fine, nothing was loose or too tight fitting. Speaking of assembly, I spent more time clearing the space to put it in than I did actually putting the rack together. It’s an easy job for one person to do alone. It stands at 99″ tall, so it is on the taller end of things; it just barely fits into the space that I have it in only because my garage is older and there’s nothing above it. The footprint is also a little larger than most comparable racks at 4’x6′. The longer base aids in stability for when you’re doing kipping or butterfly pull-ups; which I’ve had absolutely no problems with especially with my hard kip (see my Instagram video). It comes with UHMW lined j-cups like most other racks would, but they also throw in spotter arms (lined too) for no extra charge, adding to the enormous value already. Welded on to the frame are weight horns for storage of plates or just to get a little added stability for when you’re doing pull-ups/muscle-ups.
As stated before, I’ve had no issues with stability with body weight movements. The powder coated finish looks great, holds chalk well and doesn’t really destroy my hands, definite plus. As a squat rack, it performs just as admirably. It has a claimed 600lb weight capacity, which even at my heaviest, I’m still 200lbs away from squatting. No worries there. One thing I did wish they had more of here were holes to put the j-hooks or spotter arms into. I just fit into the spot where one notch up is a little too high, and if I go one lower, it’s a tad bit too low. I can adjust to the lower setting, nothing to really cry over. Same goes with the mounting holes for the pull-up bar. I had to flip it upside down, sacrificing a little bit of my grip space so that I could mount it to a level that I could do pull-ups and not hit my head on the rafters in my garage. YMMV, you might be using the rack outside or in a garage with a higher ceiling than mine and it would probably work just fine for you. As small a detail as it is, I really like that the j-cups and spotter arms are lined to protect my bar’s knurling. I had to rig pads onto my old York squat rack so that it wouldn’t destroy the knurling on my barbells.
Considering the price I paid, even the price that it normally sells for, there aren’t many negatives that you can say about the OFW squat/pull-up rack. Despite not being manufactured in the U.S.A., the value is just amazing for what you’re getting. I had a lot of hesitations before purchasing this rack, even though it is one of the lower priced racks on the market, $430 is not chump change to me and I wanted to make sure that I got something that performed well and was built to last. Sure, you could spend more money on a better rack, and maybe one day I’ll get that Rogue SML-2, but do you really need it?
I guess if you’ve got it, spend it…but I can rest easy knowing that my money was well spent on the OneFitWonder squat/pull-up rack.
