Valor Athletics Inc. BD – 7 Power Rack with Lat Pull

Valor Athletics, Inc. BD – 7 Power Rack with Lat Pull for intense strength training. Step into this “cage” to complete a myriad of exercises… lat pull downs, squats, military press, pull-ups and more! You want to bulk up? You want to tone up? Here’s your ticket… a Power Rack that’s built to support you on your quest to sculpting a “ripped” physique.

More:

Has a 2 x 2″ steel main frame;

4 weight plate storage pegs;

4 solid steel, chrome adjustable weight bar supports;

2 solid steel squat safety bars;

17 variable positions for bar supports ranging in from 1-68″;

Foam-covered utility bar used for curls or other accessories;

Solid steel chrome pull-up bar with grips;

Low pulley station for seated and upright rows;

Lat pull-down station with plae-loading carriage;

Measures 53 x 44 x 64″ and weighs 135 lbs.;

Max weight on lat pull is 250 lbs.;

max weighs for each bar holder is 500 lbs.

Great for a fitness club or your home gym! Order Now! Valor Athletics, Inc. BD-7 Power Rack with Lat Pull

 

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Reviews of Valor Fitness BD-7 Power Rack

Review 1: Cheapest SOLID Rack for New and Intermediate Lifters

My wife and I purchased the Valor BD-7 because we wanted to do a 3×5 or 5×5 program to lose weight and build muscle. You can’t do those programs safely without a power rack or squat rack. I spent over a month debating whether I should get this rack or the PowerLine PPR200X Power Rack. I ultimately went with this rack because of the lat and low row cables thrown in for less price than if I had purchased the Power Line Rack plus the Lat add-on.

I have to applaud the reviews existing on this rack. They helped me to get all of the accessories I needed to make this rack useful from the moment I finished putting it together. A careful read of other reviews also allowed me to prevent problems before they might occur.

Valor must be reading these reviews, because as of September 2013 when I received this model, the instructions started with several pages of diagrams, but also included 4-5 pages of step by step suggestions to make the installation easier. The printed instructions helped make this a pretty simple experience. Just pay attention to where the various holes should face on the main beams and almost anyone can out this thing together. I am not exactly gifted in the common sense department, and I was able to put this together with my wife over about an hour and a half. It might help you to pull everything out, slap a small piece of tape on each piece, and label it. My wife did this and it made the job easier.

In addition to the above, here are some hints gathered from other reviews here and put to use by me on how to make installation and use a pleasant experience:

1. This rack has six plate holders, two on the lat pulldown and four total along the sides. However, they are STANDARD size plates holders. I would recommend getting 6 Body-Solid 8 Inch Olympic Adapter Sleeve w Hex Nut Locks. These are inserted over the plate holders and convert them to Olympic plate holders. I am impressed with the quality.

2. There are small balls with tiny metal cups on either side on the cables just before you attach bar attachments like tricep ropes or a lat pulldown bar. These exist both on the top cable and the bottom cable. Take some duct tape or electric tape and tape the cups to the balls on both sides so they don’t accidentally strip your cable. Do this BEFORE attempting to use the cables.

3. You might want to purchase some kind of teflon spray or graphite to coat the pulley system with. Some reviews complained about the lack of smooth operation on the cables, but I did not seem to have this problem, even before I sprayed some lubricant on the pulleys and cables.

4. Use duct tape on the lat pulldown foam pad. It apparently flakes off. I purchased some black duct tape and wrapped it immediately upon installation.

5. Depending on your needs, you will probably want to purchase some more attachments for the lat pulldown and row. A really good one on Amazon is the Champion Cable Attachment Package Pack. You get a better quality straight bar, a triceps rope, and a v-bar. If you go heavier on the lat pulldown, I’d pick out a new lat pulldown bar too.

6. You will need to purchase weights and a barbell to go with this power rack. I’d suggest shopping locally, because the cost of shipping a 300 lb Olympic Weight set usually drives the price up online.

7. If you are planning on deadlifting off the floor, make sure you make yourself a solid platform to cushion the weight as it hits the ground. I used some 7/8 inch thick matting and I also hope to make a platform out of several pieces of 4 x 8 plywood in the near future.

8. Purchase shoes with flat soles or lift barefoot. You DO NOT want to try to squat or deadlift heavy with cushioned soles, the type found in running shoes and cross trainers. If you don’t want to buy expensive weightlifting shoes, get some Chuck Taylor’s. They’ll do the trick on the cheap.

That’s about it. I have myself an extremely solid power rack which should allow my wife and I to do heavy olympic lifts as safely as possible. Compared to doing heavy squats, this installation was a piece of cake!

Review 2: The Man Cave Open for Business

I haven’t had this much testosterone pumping through my system since riding on back of my girlfriend’s Harley. In fact, there is nothing more manly I have done than put together this power rack. Manliness was oozing from my pores. Building a shrine dedicated toward making my body a bastion of sexiness. Roar.

But for real this was an enjoyable experience because it was the first addition to my man cave. I took my time building it and had a good time. It is well made as everyone mentions and they did not cut corners. I’m very happy with this purchase.

There are a few bullet points I would recommend taking note of before starting the build:

You may think all the large bolts are the same size, they’re not, some of them are like 1/8 shorter than the other ones. Keep that in mind.

Before you build everything make sure you position this in the right place. Just put together the base and account for the rear foot that protrudes from the back. You need space for the pulley AND the weights you will put on it. For me it was like an additional 5″ to accommodate 45lb plates. The pulley system slides the weight assembly up and down the pole, not “out”. I also give 32 inches clearance on each side of the cage. This gave me plenty of room for the bar when doing squats, and I don’t “worry” whether there’s enough room either.

All you need is two wrenches to build the entire thing. No screwdrivers, mallets, drills, allen wrenches, etc. One wrench is to hold the bolt still while the other wrench is to tighten the nut. They should be 17mm. I actually used a ratchet for one and a crescent wrench for the other.

I would not tighten anything down until the very end. There’s no need to and there are a couple places to get caught up.

The buffer washers are black plastic and are in the bag with the pulleys.

I ended up with one additional bolt, nut, and like 4 washers. At least I hope they are additional 🙂

Yes, it is easy to build. That is all. Enjoy.

Review 3: cant beat the rack

I purchased the rack the end of september 2011. Just been too busy to write a review. first and foremost, every one else’s reviews are all true. The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars was that sometimes I feel that the rack could have been made a little deeper for allowing room to maneuver during different exercises. I had problems deciding on what brand of bench to buy and ended up going with the Fitness Gear adjustable (vertical down to decline) from Dick’s sporting goods. So far so good.

The bench has supported 375 pounds plus a 215 pound lifter, you do the math. (that’s one thing to look for is how much the bench will actually support. Most only went to 350, Dicks version didn’t say and it hasn’t broken yet so we will see). The rack has had 585 in it and dropped on the safety catch pins and the thing didnt even budge. I was really surprised. I know they had to put a maximum number on the weight capacity of the equipment, but it will definately hold over 600!

I would like to think I’m a little stronger than the average “home gym rat” and believe me this rack has been put to the test time and time again since the day I bought it and it has withstood the punishment unbelievably well. The lat tower is fantastic, other than one small thing. the pulleys are fixed and do not swivel and there is also a sharp metal edge in front of the top pulley.

I tell you this because I was doing an overhead tri ext. and scraped all the coating off the top cable (nothing some electrical tape won’t fix) but just beware of that. the lat tower is rated at 250 pounds and I have had 210 doing cable rows and once again, no problems (also, 210 on this thing is not 210 on a weight stack pulley system in a commercial gym—would be more like the full stack plus a couple 45’s nailed to it to even come close to being the same). Sorry for the lengthy review, just wanted to let whoever may be interested I’ve thrown some pretty good numbers at this thing and it will hold it.