Rogue S-3 Squat Stand

Every piece of fitness gear has its uses, advantages, and disadvantages, but at the end of the day, it has to give you a better life or it’s not worth the time and money. A better life, for you, could mean lifting heavy and competing in exhibitions. Or it could be keeping your joints and bones resilient as you age. You may want to lose weight, gain muscle, or train for a specific sport like soccer or basketball. Any decent squat stand will make your chosen goals possible through consistent use and a healthy respect for safety.

Rogue, of course, provides more than just a “decent” squat stand, rack, barbell, or rack attachment. The S-3 will last forever with minimal to zero signs of wear. It will hold virtually any working weight in place and is compatible with any Olympic bar and iron or bumper plate. With the Westside hole spacing and easy-to-move J-Cups, you can customize your lifting position in the safest manner possible.

And the extra height, while it may cause problems in some spaces, means a consistently challenging pull up or chin up with no folding of the legs.

You can even do hanging leg raises or reverse crunches, no moon boots or inversion table required. The S-3 is up to the challenge. We do insist that you have a thick landing pad and a human spotter in place for reverse crunches! Some of us are even known to wear our bike helmets, grateful there aren’t other lifters to make fun of us at our private home gym.

Nearly anyone, from teens to elderly lifters, can make the S-3 part of their regular routine with a bit of safety training and instruction. With the safety spotter arms especially, barbell squats are safe and controlled. A dropped barbell won’t become a runaway barbell. 11-gauge steel, provided by Rogue from their Ohio facility, resists corrosion, denting, and rust thanks to a sleek powder-coated finish and laser cut joints. The triangle plates provide a measure of stability lacking in cheaper, competitor uprights. J-Cups are standard, though we think pin and pipe safeties would be a nice touch.

With its solid construction, 1,000-pound capacity, Westside hole spacing, and thick-walled steel tubing, the S-3 squat stand will keep you safe and comfortable while you push your body and get the results you are after.

The maximum weight capacity for the stand is 1000 pounds. It weighs 165 pounds fully assembled, and does not need floor or wall bolting. Assembly is straightforward, with Rogue-made .625” steel and black zinc coated bolts. The only color selection is solid black. The stand is versatile enough that some gyms order them in bulk packages for cost savings.

We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: The S-3 is a squat stand and upright, not a squat rack. Squat and power racks have four corners and a partial or complete cage, which encloses the bench, provides greater working depth, and opens uplifts and pulls that are not possible with a stand. It’s a bit of a tradeoff for those of us with less space, a tighter budget, and no desire to pursue powerlifting as a sport. You can, of course, pair the stand with a bench and use it as a set of uprights. There is room for a human spotter when you bench past your comfort weight.

The stand status also means no options for plate storage with the S-3 or any typical squat stand. Options on the Rogue product page include the fat/skinny bars, Olympic barbell, free locking plate collars, a few benches, and Rogue plates in a 230 or 260 pound bundle.

We wouldn’t say the extra options are lackluster, but they are noticeably sparse compared to many other Rogue stand or rack offerings. Here is a quick and dirty rundown.

Pull up bars: fat, skinny, or one of each. The fat bars hammer down on grip strength which is necessary for certain athletes. Rogue also offers the Dirty South pull up bar, a welded unit with a frame and three different starting grip heights.

Olympic Barbells: you can add the black zinc or black oxide Ohio bar, the Bella 2.0 for women, or the Cadillac-priced Rogue B&R bar. The B&R features expanded knurling, bare steel finish, 16.25 inches of plate space, bronze bushings, and a 205K tensile strength rating which makes it virtually indestructible.

Infinity Safety Spotter Arms: these make it possible for you to do heavy squats without a human spotter because the stands will catch and hold a dropped barbell no matter how many plates are on it.

Optional floor mounting feet and a caster set for easier transport round out the additional extras available for the S-3. The feet are Rogue’s S-Base pair, and they allow you to bolt the stand to the floor if you are looking for extra stability.

The Rogue S-3 squat stand is a solid steel frame with safety and customization features. It will provide a stable, long-lasting platform for many of your Olympic lifts, and also lets you do pull-ups for your arms, chest, shoulders, and trunk muscles. The only maintenance required will be a light wipe down with a microfiber cloth to protect the finish. If you encounter any problems, Rogue stands by their products and will take ownership of your issue with a speedy resolution.

As long as you understand the limitations inherent in a squat stand, versus a power rack, you will find that this product meets or exceeds your expectations. It will prove invaluable in your lifting and overall fitness practice and will help you make steady strength gains as part of a holistic program with cross-training, stretching, rest days, sleep hygiene, and a healthy eating plan with plenty of protein to spur muscle growth and microtear healing. All Rogue products are backed by one of the most comprehensive warranties in the industry.

At the time of this writing, the S-3 retails for $455 USD on the Rogue website. This includes your choice of pull up bar/bars, though the Dirty South Bar, Matador, Landmine, barbell, and safety spotter racks all cost extra. The price tag is greater than the scaled-down S-2, but not by much. The extra investment opens up more upgrade potential than the S-2 can offer.

Though most of our readers are home gym enthusiasts, we’ll remind you that gym owners can take advantage of bulk pricing, by purchasing several stands at once. That scheme opens up available stations for more gymgoers, instead of there being a line of people waiting on a single bench or squat stand. We can’t imagine a commercial gym having several of these without adding benches to at least a couple of them.

So how does the S-2 stack up against its closest competitors? We looked at two CAP Barbell and Valor Fitness stands to get an idea. Both products had lower aggregate Amazon reviews. The CAP Barbell product calls itself a power rack, though it is clearly a stand/upright set, lacking the four corners and enclosure of a power rack. The weight capacity is lower for both models. They both have J-Cups for safety. Neither CAP nor Valor offers the range of attachments and upgrades that Rogue does. Though the competing products are cheaper, you may find yourself more limited in use than you would like to be if you go the competitor route.

Though it has advanced safety features and a generous weight capacity, the sheer simplicity of the S-2 is what will keep you coming back for hassle-free workouts and options for different lifts as well as pull-ups. If you can accommodate the extra height, this stand will keep your interest and stand up to your toughest sweat sessions for many years.

This rack occupies a middle ground between the more basic S-2 squat stand and the Monster Lite series of budget/compact power racks offered by Rogue. We have complete confidence in the S-3 and its ability to do its job, consistently, over time, making it a welcome addition to anyone’s lifting or functional fitness routine.