RML-390F Flat Foot Monster Lite Rack Review

After 8 months of research and debating the various pros and cons of the different brands of power racks I decided to purchase the Rogue RML-390F flat foot Monster Lite rack on Black Friday in November 2019.

You will find the best deals on black friday for home gym equipment. By purchasing at this time of year I was able to take advantge of Rogue’s “hundo pricing” and save a ton of money on shipping costs.

In my review below I will go over why I bought the monster lite flat foot power rack and hopefully answer questions you may have when deciding which power rack to purchase.

Gear Specs for Rogue RML-390F Monster Lite Flat Foot Power Rack

Accessories that Come Standard

7 Reasons I Purchased the Rogue RML-390F Monster Lite Flat Foot Power Rack

1. Quality Control and Wow Factor

Rogue has a reputation for making a top-notch sturdy, quality power rack. They are well known for making excellent equipment in Columbus, OH USA.

This Monster Lite rack was going to be the centerpiece of my gym so I didn’t want to skimp on quality. By once cry once as they say.

Did I need this heavy-duty of a rack? No of course not and I considered other cheaper racks for many months.

However, in the end, I wanted a rack that stood out, with a signature black powder coat and a relatively small footprint.

A full-height rack that would be enjoyable working out on for me and my friends for years to come was important to me. 

Also, there are many stories on Reddit of people buying similar racks from other manufacturers and having tons of issues with quality, paint chipping, and missing parts during shipping.

2.  Freestanding Power Rack

My basement floor is concrete and I didn’t want a bolt-down rack that would require drilling into my home foundation. This was a big reason I decided to purchase the flat foot rack made of 11 gauge steel. I didn’t have to bolt it to the floor.

The freestanding rack currently sits on top of rubber horse stall mats and has a self-stabilizing base that has little to no movement perfectly completing the ceiling height in my basement

Having the flat foot design also has a major benefit of being able to move the rack with ease to another part of my house or to my garage in the future for a new workout space.

3. Westside Hole Spacing 

I wanted to have the barbell as close to my chest as possible when benching.

The Westside hole spacing gives you 1″ inch spacing through the bench area with 2″ inch spacing between the lower and upper upright portions.

4. Safety was Important

The Rogue RML-390F is made of 3×3 11 inch gauge steel square tubing uprights with 5/8 bolts. It feels very solid and safe.

The rack comes standard with a pin/pipe safety system making it much safer than a Squat stand with spotter arms. You can also swap out the pin/pipe safeties with the monster light safety straps system.

Just call rogue support and you can have the difference in price deducted from your cart so you don’t have to pay for both safety systems.

4. Durability

This rack is not going to break it is a 3X3 power rack with 11 gauge uprights and 11 gauge bases. This rack will still be around long after I am gone.

I have had the rack for one year and the powder coat is still in great shape with just a few scuff marks.

There has not been any chipping of the paint compared to some other cheaper racks on the market.

5. Fit My Space

My basement space is small and the 48″ x 49″ footprint depth of the rogue flat foot rack fits in with my basement space nicely. 

I’m 6’1 and the 30″ inch depth of the rack and 92.375 height of the rack fit perfectly with my size. I have had no headroom issues with any of the exercises I do.

My ceiling is 100″ inches and the tall rack works just fine with my ceiling height having few inches to spare.

6. Compatability with Other Manufacturers

5/8″ Hardware is common with several manufacturers so having the ability to buy accessories from other compatible brands that would fit on my rack was important.

No, it is not as compatible as the Monster racks with 1″ hardware but it doesn’t cost as much either. 

7. Resale Value 

Rogue is the most well-known fitness equipment manufacturer in the United States and used Rogue power racks consistently sell for more money than other branded racks with similar specs.

How do I know this? I searched over 6 months for power racks on Facebook marketplace, craigslist, and other used equipment sites.

I found all types of Rogue equipment consistently solid quicker and for more money.

Other Attachments I bought for the RML-390F

• Rogue Monster Lite Matador
• Monster lite Sandwich J Cup Pair
• Monster Lite Plate Storage Channel 4 Pack
• One pair of SP3358 Plate Storage Pair – Long

Rogue Monster Lite Installation and Setup

As I mentioned I do not have a large space for the rack but I had no issues with Installation and everything came in 12 boxes each with their own tracking number via UPS.

RML 390F Flat Foot Monster Lite Rack Assembly

Use a 15/16″ wrench to hold the nut/bolt head on one side while you tighten with an adjustable wrench on the other side.  You can buy the 15/16″ wrench from Home Depot if you don’t have one already for about $9 dollars.

How Long did it take to put the Flat Foot Power Rack together?

It took me about 2 hours to set up and install the rack by myself. If I had some help I imagine it would have taken about half the time.

How was the packaging for the RML-390F?

Everything came well packaged but the instructions were limited. However, you can just look at a few pictures of the rack listed on Rogue’s website and put it together easily.

Does the RML-390F Flat Foot Move When You Rerack?

The Rogue flat foot rack does not move when I rerack during benching and the flat feet don’t wobble.

I should note that I max out at about 230lbs on my bench and 350 pounds on my squat.

I also have Rogue’s storage weight horns on all four corners of the rack with each having 45-pound weight plates on them for added stability.

If you are going to buy a flat foot rack I would get the plate storage pegs. I would suggest purchasing specifically the rogue plate storage pegs with cotter pins.

This way if you want to adjust the storage weight horns you can just pop out the pin instead of unbolting them. 

The weight horns have not gotten in the way of any exercises I perform in the rack. Which is one thing I was worried about when I purchased them.

These plate storage holders will also help with the stability of the rack especially if you are benching or squatting a heavy amount of weight.

Does the RML-390f Flat Foot Move When Doing Dips?

I weigh between 185 to 200 pounds depending on the month and workout phase I’m in.

The rack does shake some when using the Rogue Monster Lite Matador for dips but I have absolutely no concern about it tipping over or anything like that.

I will say having weight on the storage pegs helps a lot.

Monster Lite J-Cups VS  Monster Lite Sandwich J-Cups which should I buy?

I have one pair of each type of Monster Lite J-cups. I use the sandwich j-cups for my bench pressing and the regular J-cups for my squats and overhead presses.

I like the sandwich j-cups for benching because of the 3.5″ depth compared to the 3.25″ depth of the standard j-cups when I’m reracking the barbell.

The difference is minimal but I like the extra length and the fact that the sandwich j-cup is beefer and weighs 14 lbs compared to the standard 10.25 lbs. 

The sandwich j-cups also have more UHMW plastic which will protect your barbell better than the standard j-cups.

In reality, both will work fine and are rated for 1000 lbs weight capacity so if you want to save some cash for other equipment purchases just go with monster lite standard j-cups.

You can also check out the PR-4000 j cups from Rep Fitness which are even cheaper and fit monster light racks.

Here’s another view of the monster lite j-cups side by side.

Should I Buy a Weight Tree instead of the Rogue Storage Weight Pegs?

In my opinion, you should not buy a weight plate tree even to save money if you are going to buy this rack. I could not imagine having to go to a single weight tree each time I wanted to add weight to the barbell.

It would get annoying really fast when working out alone.

Having the weight on both sides of the rack is a must and helps add extra stability to the flat foot rack.

I can’t stress this enough if you are going to buy the power rack, get the adjustable plate holders from Rogue.

Monster Lite Pin/Pipe Safety System vs Monster Lite Strap Safety System 2.0

I read a lot about pin/pipe safety bars versus a strap safety system. I debated which to purchase right until the last minute.

In the end, I just went with the standard pin/pipe safeties to save some cash for other purchases.

I know some people complain about adjusting the pin/pipe safeties but if you number the holes it will be a non-issue. The pin/pipe safeties work just fine with Fringe Sport WonderBar Barbell I use.

However, if you have expensive barbells the safety straps will cause much less wear to your bar. Also if you want to do certain exercises the safety straps could be a better option.

Don’t want to spend the money on the Rogue Safety Strap System? Then check out the REP Fitness PR-4000 Strap Safeties and you will save about $100 bucks not counting shipping.

Can you do butterfly Pull-ups With the RML-390F?

You can do butterfly pull-ups but the rack will shake some when doing this efficient kipping pull-up exercise. This will of course depend on your weight.

Minor things the RML-390f Flat foot Power Rack Lacks

Other Power Racks and Squat Stands I Considered

I debated buying all the racks below at one point or another with the REP PR-4000 Power Rack coming in a very close second place to Rogue RML-390F.

I think any of the options below are also solid choices depending on your space,  budget, and other needs. 

What to Consider Before Buying a Power Rack

8 Best Places to Research Home Gym Equipment

I read every single piece of information I could find on power racks and fitness equipment for a home gym.

Below are the best places I have found for getting hard-to-find information on various pieces of gym fitness equipment.

1. Bodybuilding.com Equipment discussion forum
2. Reddit Home Gym discussion section forum
3. Starting Strength equipment discussion forum
4. Facebook Group for Garage Gym Reviews
5. Garage Gym Reviews Youtube Channel
6. Basement Brandon Youtube Channel
7. Matt Tolbers Youtube Channel
8. Two Rep Cave ( great site if you are mixing pieces from different manufactures)

Well if you’ve made it this far I hope you found the information useful. Get strong and stay healthy.