Using the rack for calf lifts

I'm still adjusting the power rack configuration for my calf exercise. Here's what I'm doing now.

The basic idea of the lift is to have the bar on my shoulders with my toes supported on the top of of a 4 x 4 inch block with my heels unsupported. I then raise and lower my heels using calves alone.

The rack is setup so the bar rests on the crossbeam below the bottom of the lift. The bar slides up and down the side of two 2 x 4 inch pine blocks located on each crossbeam as shown in the figure. Using the block avoids irritiating bumps that would otherwise be caused when the bar hits the top of the beam slider.

Homemade power rack drawing

This drawing of the rack neglects most dimensions because they are governed by variable factors such as available ceiling height and the span of the lifting bar. The desire for a large working footprint area on the mat is traded off against the bar return re-seating tolerance. I have a 1-1/2 inch allowance now which is a bit tight. Two or three inches would be better. On the other hand, having it tight forces me to be more deliberate with my lifts.

Power Rack - Base

This view of the rack base shows the nice open area available for a bench or even a section of wooden post that I use for my calf exercises.

(Hmmm. I should post some pictures of the rack being used for some typical exercises.)

Those small wooden blocks under ends of the base compensate for the small slope in the sun room floor.

I have more power rack information. I'll try to get it out soon. I'm also thinking I should make a separate power rack outline post filled with links to the various components.

Power Rack - Crossbar

My power rack design uses a crossbar shown here. The combination of a 3" separation between the holes on the vertical columns with 2" for the crossbar lets the pin control the crossbar height to a resolution of 1".

Other design notes:
1. Hard nylon trim on the edges help it slide a little better and some heavy leather on the top of the bars serves to tone down the clanging.
2. The purpose of 1" steel pins to support the crossbeam was originally to allow using an steel bar instead of the crossbeam. I never used that and if I were to make another rack, the holes and pins would be much smaller. Machining large holes is a bit of a bear without special equipment. On the other hand I'm real happy with it the way it is.
3. I make no claims to the strength of this design. It seems fine to me but if you lift a lot of weight you should get an engineering analysis including the effects of the welding, and steel tube wall thickness.