In this Titan X-3 Squat Stand and Half Rack review, I’ll discuss all of the Titan Fitness squat stands and racks listed below:
- X-3 Short Squat Stand
- X-3 Tall Squat Stand
- X-3 Half Rack (must buy the X-3 Series Half Rack Conversion Kit + either the short or tall X-3 Squat Stand)
Use the table of contents below to easily navigate this review:
Titan X-3 Power Rack vs X-3 Squat Stand vs X-3 Half Rack
The X-3 Squat Stands and X-3 Half Racks are in the same “family” as the X-3 power racks. As I discuss in my X-3 Flat Foot Power Rack review, all these different X-3 racks and stands have a few things in common:
- 3″ x 3″ uprights and 11 gauge steel construction
- Flat foot design that doesn’t need to be bolted down (Update: Titan recently introduced a sumo-base power rack to the X-3 line — other than this, all other X-3 racks and stands have flat foot bases)
- A footprint measuring 49″ in external width x 47″ in external depth (the Titan site lists the external depth as 49″, but I have measured my X-3 power rack and it is 47″)
- Same internal width of 42″
The main differences between the X-3 power racks and the X-3 Squat Stand and X-3 Half Rack are as follows:
- All X-3 Squat Stands and X-3 Half Rack are rated for a 1000 lbs weight capacity; whereas all X-3 power racks are rated for 1500 lbs.
- X-3 power racks have four uprights of the same height, connected at the top by steel tubing. Whereas, the X-3 Stands have just two uprights. The X-3 Half Rack does have four uprights, but they connect to the rest of the rack with just two metal strips and there is much less space (i.e. 17″ vs 30″) to move around in between the half rack uprights vs. the power rack uprights.
Below, I’ll discuss each of the different variations of the X-3 Squat Stand and X-3 Half Rack.
Titan X-3 Short Squat Stand
The Titan X-3 Short Squat Stand is the smallest and most minimalist rack in the X-3 lineup.
It stands at just 72 inches, or 6 feet tall when fully assembled. This is a full 10.375″ inches shorter than the X-3 short power rack, which has a height of 82.375″ (or 6 ft 10.375 in). The X-3 short power rack will be short enough to fit in most people’s home gym areas. However, I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who want the X-3 short power rack, but their ceiling is just a little too short.
As I mentioned in my Titan X-3 Short Power Rack review, if my basement’s ceiling was just half an inch shorter, I wouldn’t have been able to fit it in my basement. In such a case, I would’ve seriously considered the X-3 Short Squat Stand as an alternative.
So the fact that there’s a 72″ short squat stand variation of the X-3 is very good news if your ceilings are too low to accommodate the X-3 short power rack.
When you buy this, you get just the stands (including the base connecting them) and a pair of j-hooks for racking your barbell. That’s it.
There’s no pull up bar, so you can’t connect the stands at the top. Titan used to sell a separate X-3 straight pull up bar that you could buy separately to attach, but they no longer offer that. Even if they did, it wouldn’t be practical because a lot of people would hit their head into when unracking the bar on squats. Not to mention, it’s hard to do pull ups from a 6 foot high bar. You have to keep your knees fully bent.
It doesn’t come with spotter arms either. You can buy a pair of X-3 spotter arms separately. I recommend doing so if you plan on using this squat stand to bench or squat on using weight or reps that you may fail on. The only time I’d say spotter arms are optional is if you do Olympic-style lifting and squat with bumper plates so you can easily dump the bar if needed.
The Titan X-3 Short Squat Stand is the least expensive of all the different X-3 rack configurations. As such, this may be the best choice if you’re really on a tight budget. It even beats out the plain version of the Titan X-3 Tall Squat Stand by nearly $50.
If you decide that you want to upgrade your X-3 Short Squat Stand in the future, you can do so by buying the X-3 Squat Stand to Half Rack Conversion Kit to turn it into a half rack. This adds two uprights that are the same height as the short squat stand: 72″. You can use the second pair of uprights as a dedicated plate storage area by getting the optional storage pegs. Plus, converting it to half rack makes it stronger and more stable overall.
You can further expand the utility of your short squat stand (or converted short half rack) by purchasing any of a number of different X-3 accessories. Please see my X-3 Accessory Compatibility Chart below for more details.
Titan X-3 Tall Squat Stand
The Titan X-3 Tall Squat Stand consists of 2 full-height uprights (connected by the flat foot base at the bottom) and a 1.25″ diameter skinny pull up bar at the top. A pair of j-hooks are also included standard.
It is a tall squat stand with a height of 92″.
There are no spotter arms included. However, you can buy a pair spotter arms separately, just as you can with the X-3 Short Squat Stand.
The spotter arms are a must-have add-on if you’ll be benching or squatting heavy. If you’re only doing Oly lifting where you’ll dump the bar off your back if you fail, then maybe you can skip out on this attachment.
I recommend buying this squat stand instead of the short version if you have tall enough ceilings. It gives you the ability to do pull ups, which is a huge advantage that you don’t get on the short version of the squat stand.
Plus, the pull up bar acts as an upper crossmember, which gives the rack more stability. It also gives you a place to hang other accessories such as a DIY cable pulley system.
You can buy certain X-3 attachments to expand the number and variety of exercises you can do on the X-3 Tall Rack. Just know that some X-3 attachments only work with the X-3 power racks.
One of the most impactful X-3 attachments that you can put on the X-3 Tall Rack is the X-3 Squat Stand to Half Rack Conversion Kit. This turns it into a the Titan X-3 Tall Half Rack. It includes two 72″ uprights, which are behind the squat stand’s uprights and connected to them. This gives you the perfect place to store your weights. Plus, it makes for a much more stable rack.
The kit also comes with 8 weight storage pegs meant for use on this second pair of uprights. This way, you can store all your weights on the back section, away from the front of the rack, where you’ll be doing the majority of your work.
Titan X-3 Half Rack
To get the Titan X-3 Half Rack (formerly called the Titan X-3 Squat Rack), you need to buy either the X-3 Short Squat Stand or the X-3 Tall Squat Stand plus the X-3 Half Rack Conversion Kit.
This conversion kit adds a second pair of uprights to your squat stand, for a total of four uprights. The conversion kit uprights are 72″ tall and connect to the main uprights as shown in the photo above. They also attach at the base of the squat stands, which creates a fully enclosed 17″ deep section back of the squat stand.
You have the option to buy it with plate holders or without. If you go with that option, you’ll receive a total of 4 weight plate storage pegs for use on the rear uprights. The storage pegs are 12″ long, which gives you a lot of room to store your Olympic plates. As a reference, the typical cast-iron 45 lb Olympic plate is 1.5″ thick, meaning you could hold up to eight 45 lb plates on one peg. Obviously, you won’t have all 45s on all pegs, but you get the idea. (In case you care, the typical thicknesses of 35 lb, 25 lb, 10 lb, 5 lb and 2.5 plates are 1.3″, 1.4″, 0.9″, 0.6″ and 0.5″, respectively.)
The kit used to come with 8 total plate holder pegs with the kit (as shown in the photos above and below), but that number was cut in half at some point. You can always buy additional X-3 plate holder pegs if you need them.
I highly recommend getting the kit with the weight holders option, since weight storage is the biggest benefit of the half rack in my opinion.
One nice thing about having the conversion kit is that you don’t have to get it right away. You can start with just a squat stand. Then you can decide later if you want to convert it into a half rack. This is also a good strategy if you’re on a tight budget and can’t afford the conversion kit at first.
Overall, the X-3 Half Rack is decent. It certainly beats out the squat stands in terms of stability and functionality.
However, the Titan X-3 power racks are superior in my opinion. This is because the power racks have even greater weight capacity (1500 lbs vs 1000 lbs weight capacity) and have a 30″ space inside the rack to do exercises with greater safety and comfort. Plus, there are more accessories available for the X-3 power racks than for the X-3 Half Rack and X-3 Squat Stands.
From my perspective, the only reasons to get the X-3 Half Rack over one of the X-3 Power Racks would be:
- If you wanted a more compact setup to conserve space. NOTE: the footprints of both types of racks are the same, but the half rack takes up significantly less physical space.
- If the X-3 Half Rack meets your needs and you don’t want to spend any more money than necessary. You’ll save about $55 (vs the X-3 Short Power Rack) or $75 (vs the full-height X-3 Flat Foot Power Rack). That said, don’t forget to factor in the cost of any accessories you may want.
Titan X-3 Squat Stand & Half Rack Attachments
Not all X-3 attachments are compatible with the X-3 Squat Stands and Half Racks. Some only work with the X-3 Power Racks. Whereas, others work for only the X-3 Squat Stands and/or Half Racks, but not the X-3 Power Racks.
NOTE: Some accessories may technically fit on one type of rack, yet may not be recommended for safety or practical reasons (e.g. band pegs don’t make sense on a squat stand).
Below are all the attachments currently offered by Titan that could potentially work on the X-3 Squat Stands or Half Racks. I have excluded ones that obviously are only for the power racks (e.g. lever arms, lat pulldown/low row attachment).
- Roller J-Hooks
- Sandwich J-Hooks
- Plate Holders
- Spotter Arms
- Rack-Mounted Youth Pull-Up Bar
- Rack-Mounted Muscle Roller
- Rack-Mounted Wrist Roller
- Squat Handles
- Y-Dip Attachment
- Dip Bar (separate handles)
- Band Pegs
- Horizontal Mount Barbell Holder
- Vertical Mount Barbell Holder
- Rack-Mounted Landmine
- Wall Ball Target
- Leg Roller
- Extended Arm
- Rack-Mounted Neck Machine
- Rack-Mounted Chalk Bowl
Note that Titan regularly adds and removes attachments, so you can see all current X-3 attachments here.
Ready to Buy a Titan X-3 Squat Stand or Half Rack?
I hope I was able to help you figure out which TitanX-3 setup is best for you. Below, I’ll list out the product page links to all of the different squat stand and half rack configurations.
The best place to buy Titan Fitness equipment is on the Titan Fitness website, of course! Here’s why:
- You won’t find better prices anywhere else
- Free US shipping
Where to Buy an X-3 Squat Stand or Half Rack Conversion Kit
Here are the links to all the different squat stand configurations.
Want to Get the X-3 Flat Foot Power Rack Instead?
If you think a more robust and versatile power rack might be a better solution for you, then you’ll probably prefer the X-3 Flat Foot Power Rack (see my review):
Do you know if they plan on adding a lat/row attachment for the X-3 flat foot?
They already have this lat / triceps pulldown attachment that works with the X-3 flat foot rack. There’s also a low row attachment for the sumo base X-3 racks, but it’s not compatible with the flat foot version.
Lastly, there’s the option of rack-mounted / wall-mounted pulley system that’s compatible with the X-3 flat foot rack (see also the short version). These give you access to high pulley exercises, low pulley and anything in between — the price is quite competitive, too.
Best,
Alex