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DIY Yoke Squat Stand

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DIY Yoke Squat Stand

Time to highlight an awesome piece of DIY equipment.

After seeing the Car Rims Squat Stand post reader Rolf  shared his DIY Yoke Squat Stand construction with me. This thing can replace your entire gym.

Below is Rolf’s explanation.

DIY Yoke Squat Stand disassembled

Stats

  • Total Weight of the Yoke (w/o the dip attachment): 60kg
  • Cost for Material: around 150 EUR

I didn’t want to just buy a squat rack, because none of the commercial ones would fit into my tiny storage room.

A disassembled Yoke on the other hand would fits much better.

The problem was that none of the commercially available ones were easy to get to europe. So I decided to build my own.

The design originated from the commercial yokes (Sorinex and Rogue) with the difference that the legs are not as high.

So – in theory – I can still transport it  in my car.

In addition to that, I also made the middle part a bit higher, so I achieve a total height of 2.2 meters.

Yoke Squat Stand AssembleYou have to tip the yoke on the side to assemble and disassemble it.

But you get used to it very quick and the whole procedure only takes me 2 minutes.

Sketch

DIY Yoke Squat Stand Construction Plan Blueprint Notes on the Sketch

  • All the measurements are in millimeters.
  • * 48mm pipe to add some support. I’ve made sure that this part is lower than 20cm so that a dropped bar can not hit it.
  • ** I used some leftover pipe to create the hook that holds the bar. This is just a 48mm pipe cut at a 45 degree angle. Turned out to be a very small hook and you can miss it very easy.

Detailed Photos

Rack made from pipes cut at 45 degrees. Yoke Squat Stand Hooks Detail Dip Bars Attachment DIY Yoke Squat Stand as Dip Station All Assembled DIY Yoke Squat Stand Full

Exercises you can do with it

  • Squats
  • Press
  • Bench Press ( with my DIY Bench that is made from a German bierbank)
  • Yoke Walk
  • Overhead Walk
  • Zercher Walk
  • Dips (attachment is missing in the sketch)
  • Pull Ups from the fat bar and from the dip bars

Plans for the Future

  • with some slight modifications, one could use it as a prowler
  • height adjustable ‘box jump’ box, by adding a board on top of the dip bars
  • improve the hook for holding the bar
  • find some paint that holds longer than 2 years.

Do you have also have a cool DIY project you want show here? Contact me.

About Gregor Winter

Hi, I run ATG.

Follow me on instagram @gregorwinter (and ATG @atginsta).

Comments

  1. HomemadeGymStuff says

    Beautiful piece of kit! Only things I would change are – base tubes to 90×90 to allow the dip attachment to tie them together when squatting for added rigidity/safety. Mod the dip crossbar by making the handles ‘loose’ and drilling a couple more holes for them to slot in to.

  3. AtheistPowerlifter says

    That rack is awesome…looks as good as the ones that are sold by IronMind.
    And your back yard/deck is fantastic.

      • Rolf Meissner says

        I am currently working on an update for the yoke. In that process, I hope to find the time to also add the sketch for the dip bar. In the meantime: the dip bar is basically a shorter version of the middle section of the yoke with an 70mm x 70mm crossbar. The handles are 500mm long with an 48mm diameter. The space between the two handles is the distance from my elbow to my fingertips.

    • Rolf Meissner says

      I’ve tested the Yoke with up to 210kg (including the 60 Yoke) and 160kg on the squat stand setup.

  6. Nils says

    Hi, whats the diameter of the drilled holes (M10?) and can you say something about their positions?
    I’am 2m tall should I make part 2 higher to do pullups properly?

    sorry for my english

    • Rolf Meissner says

      Hi Nils,

      M10 for the diameter is correct. The distance between the center of the holes is 50mm.

      I am 180cm tall, so i would suggest you increase both, the length of the sides and of the middle part by 10cm. This way you can increase the current maximum height of the pullup bar from 230cm to 250cm.

      Let me know how it goes.
      Cheers,
      Rolf

  7. robocoppi says

    This is great, congratulations. Sorry for my ignorance, I have one question. The 4 vertically protruding bars depicted with #3 on the figure. What is their purpose? What is the exercise you do with them. I can only see the safety hazard of stepping on them or tripping over them. Thank you for your answer in advance.

  8. robocoppi says

    Excuse me, just one more question. I am abtout to build a slight modification of this wonderful thing. However I planned to hook a TRX-like strap over the top tube and do own weight exercises as well. Now that the vertical tubes are in the middle of the 1200 mm base, the question is if it will tip over when pulled heavily? With other words, I am tempted to double the verticals on both ends of the 1200 mm instead of having one only in the middle. But then it would look like more like a power rack…
    So my dilemma is if a power rack like construction is needed for strap exercises or this one is fine as it is. I understand you can do dips and pullups so your own weight will not tip it over when applied close to the vertical bars and vertically. But this is not the case with TRX exercises, then I will pull it in say 45 degrees with own weight.
    What do you think? Thank you in advance for your time and answer.

    • Gregor says

      You could run into the same problem with power cages.

      Depends how high you want the straps to be and how much weight you put in the yoke (the #3s) to act as a counterweight.

  9. (Not-yet) Adonis says

    Hi pal, you wouldn’t happen to have a link to the assembly instructions for the prowler would you? Have you attempted that yet? Cheers

  10. Steve Dumaine says

    Hey Rolf! nice job! im a welding crossfitter here in DC and i may construct one of these with some of the mods you mention. any tips? did you weld that yourself?