I upgraded to this after having a rack I got off Amazon and its been a great investment. Ive been going back and forward on the Athena for some time now, just dont know that Id use it enough to justify the money.
@@MyBoyLJ yeah it’s definitely a lot of money. I’ve also been considering keeping my cheap rack and getting the Center 2 functional trainer from Costco. I would use cables a lot!
Man thanks for this video. I’ve been shopping for a bit. And I’d love to stay with the slim setup like this. But I would not be opposed to getting spotter arms for the outside. You got a nice setup for sure!
Thank you! I almost got spotter arms but once I realized I could actually squeeze incline and decline in the rack, I opted not to buy them. Would still come in hand for military press outside the rack but I'll manage and use the money for other things haha.
I have had my pr4000 for a while now too [3+ yrs]... And I agree with much of what you shared. That said, if I had to do it all over again, I would go with pr5000 to leverage the 1" holes.. There are *so many* attachments from other companies and 1" way has a bigger ecosystem all the way around. Great review
I havent looked at the attachment ecosystem differences between 5/8" and 1" holes mainly because I feel like I have everything I need (for now 😅) with this set up. Probably dont need any more reasons to be spending more money on the gym...even though I have plenty already haha
I picked up the PR-4000 during the Black Friday sales this year (your earlier reviews helped sell me on it, so thank you for that) and I am loving it so far. That said, I have the updated RBS and the footplate basically won't move without someone putting pressure upwards on the rack (which isn't bolted down). It was a pain in the ass just to get the thing installed. Thankfully it hasn't really been an issue for me as I haven't wanted to move the footplate as of yet, but it is a little annoying knowing that things aren't working the way they should be. I thought it had something to do with how I put the rack together as I didn't get it perfectly square, but hearing you say that others have mentioned the same problem, has me thinking the issue is with the RBS rather than something I did. Guess I should email email REP and see what they say.
I'm glad the earlier review helped! That stinks though, I do wonder how many people are having this issue and if it is only with the updated RBS. I also wonder if there's any chance it's the plastic liner that may be the issue, the one that allows the footplate to slide. Hopefully they can help you out or suggest a fix, especially if others have reached out with similar issues.
I have the PR 4000 also and around the same length of time and I agree about the straps and J-cups. I'm thinking about getting the Monolift arms, what are your thoughts about that.
I thought about monolift arms myself when I started to incorporate box squats and really that was the only reason why. I think someone told me to work on my walk out instead of buying those arms. Havent really given them much thought since.
Thanks for the update! Encouraged me to buy this very rack! I have a question. when I look at the lat pulldown I’m cross shopping the Ares. Thoughts on the Ares vs the lat pulldown?
At the time it came out I had just updated to the selectorized weight stack (was using the plate loaded before). Personally, not sure that I would get enough use out of it to justify dropping that kind of cash, however, the wife gave me a list of things she would do on it that I typically dont include for my workouts so 🤷🏽♂️. If you do a lot of cable workouts and dont want another machine for it seems like a decent route to go. I believe REP is dropping an updated version of the Ares today, and it seems they changed a good amount of things on it like pushing the weight stack back so you can still incline bench inside the rack (guess this was a big one) and a few other things. Maybe keep an eye out for an Ares 2.0 review from one of these bigger channels before making the call.
I have the same setup as you, except you upgraded the lat pull down. I still have the plate loaded one. I do not think I could have said anything different than you did from the J Cup differences, to the spotter arm choice. I am thinking about getting the Athena added to mine however its a big cost jump for just a few exercises. Great review and I would buy the PR-4000 again the same as you with the exact same setup. Nothing I bought for it seems like a wasted purchase.
Thank you, it's been a great purchase. I still find myself considering the Athena but I don't think my wife or I would use it enough to justify the cost.
I remember seeing someone mention sticking something in there but not felt pad. We have some of those felt circles for furniture 🤔 bout to give it a try next time I use it. Great call out!
Thanks for the updates. A rack without battle scars is usually indicate a rack gone unused
🙌🏽 thank and 💯
Thanks for the thorough review brother 🤘
Great to see a long term review! Thanks!
You're welcome!
Thanks for the update! I have a cheap squat rack and am considering upgrading to this and the Athena cables.
I upgraded to this after having a rack I got off Amazon and its been a great investment. Ive been going back and forward on the Athena for some time now, just dont know that Id use it enough to justify the money.
@@MyBoyLJ yeah it’s definitely a lot of money. I’ve also been considering keeping my cheap rack and getting the Center 2 functional trainer from Costco. I would use cables a lot!
Man thanks for this video. I’ve been shopping for a bit. And I’d love to stay with the slim setup like this. But I would not be opposed to getting spotter arms for the outside. You got a nice setup for sure!
Thank you! I almost got spotter arms but once I realized I could actually squeeze incline and decline in the rack, I opted not to buy them. Would still come in hand for military press outside the rack but I'll manage and use the money for other things haha.
I have had my pr4000 for a while now too [3+ yrs]... And I agree with much of what you shared.
That said, if I had to do it all over again, I would go with pr5000 to leverage the 1" holes.. There are *so many* attachments from other companies and 1" way has a bigger ecosystem all the way around. Great review
I havent looked at the attachment ecosystem differences between 5/8" and 1" holes mainly because I feel like I have everything I need (for now 😅) with this set up. Probably dont need any more reasons to be spending more money on the gym...even though I have plenty already haha
What kind of things are only available in 1"? Like, Oak Club is 1" only but that's more fashion than function. Not sure what else.
I picked up the PR-4000 during the Black Friday sales this year (your earlier reviews helped sell me on it, so thank you for that) and I am loving it so far.
That said, I have the updated RBS and the footplate basically won't move without someone putting pressure upwards on the rack (which isn't bolted down). It was a pain in the ass just to get the thing installed. Thankfully it hasn't really been an issue for me as I haven't wanted to move the footplate as of yet, but it is a little annoying knowing that things aren't working the way they should be.
I thought it had something to do with how I put the rack together as I didn't get it perfectly square, but hearing you say that others have mentioned the same problem, has me thinking the issue is with the RBS rather than something I did. Guess I should email email REP and see what they say.
I'm glad the earlier review helped! That stinks though, I do wonder how many people are having this issue and if it is only with the updated RBS. I also wonder if there's any chance it's the plastic liner that may be the issue, the one that allows the footplate to slide. Hopefully they can help you out or suggest a fix, especially if others have reached out with similar issues.
That's an awesome set-up. I would pick something closer to that rack now, after having a bare bones set up
It has served me well!
I have the PR 4000 also and around the same length of time and I agree about the straps and J-cups. I'm thinking about getting the Monolift arms, what are your thoughts about that.
I thought about monolift arms myself when I started to incorporate box squats and really that was the only reason why. I think someone told me to work on my walk out instead of buying those arms. Havent really given them much thought since.
I have the pr4000 myself and I think if I had to do it all over from what I know now I probably would have gone with the pr5000
Really? Why is that? For my needs, the PR-4000 has been solid.
@@MyBoyLJ I like the hole spacing better on the pr5000, instead of the west side spacing. I also prefer all the holes numbered.
Thanks for the update!
Encouraged me to buy this very rack!
I have a question. when I look at the lat pulldown I’m cross shopping the Ares.
Thoughts on the Ares vs the lat pulldown?
At the time it came out I had just updated to the selectorized weight stack (was using the plate loaded before). Personally, not sure that I would get enough use out of it to justify dropping that kind of cash, however, the wife gave me a list of things she would do on it that I typically dont include for my workouts so 🤷🏽♂️. If you do a lot of cable workouts and dont want another machine for it seems like a decent route to go.
I believe REP is dropping an updated version of the Ares today, and it seems they changed a good amount of things on it like pushing the weight stack back so you can still incline bench inside the rack (guess this was a big one) and a few other things. Maybe keep an eye out for an Ares 2.0 review from one of these bigger channels before making the call.
@@MyBoyLJ I appreciate the response!!
I think the selectorized lat pulldown will be enough for me!
I have the same setup as you, except you upgraded the lat pull down. I still have the plate loaded one.
I do not think I could have said anything different than you did from the J Cup differences, to the spotter arm choice. I am thinking about getting the Athena added to mine however its a big cost jump for just a few exercises.
Great review and I would buy the PR-4000 again the same as you with the exact same setup. Nothing I bought for it seems like a wasted purchase.
Thank you, it's been a great purchase. I still find myself considering the Athena but I don't think my wife or I would use it enough to justify the cost.
do you do the felt pad hack for the dip bar?
I remember seeing someone mention sticking something in there but not felt pad. We have some of those felt circles for furniture 🤔 bout to give it a try next time I use it. Great call out!
@@MyBoyLJ that's exactly what I use and there is no more wobble; I stuck maybe 5 or 6 along the length of it. Never looked back.