We’re going to talk about the monolift today. When you’re benching by yourself, you need to be safe. The monolift and a good power rack is a good combination to stay safe while still lifting the heaviest amounts of weights as you can. So we’re going to talk about how to set it up, and then talk about a few things that you need to think about when you are setting up a monolift.

Again, safety is number one concern when you’re benching by yourself. Starting Strength coach Rusty at Wichita Falls Athletic Club takes the following guidelines into account when setting up the monolift. On a normal bench press, the hooks are normally right at his hip. That’s where he likes to set the monolift. So, whenever he unracks the bar, it’s just maybe an inch to clear and then he’s free. So, he’s not doing like a half rep. The only problem with that is when you go to rack the bar. The monolift lifts the hook up about 1-1.5 inch, which can be a problem if you’re benching really heavy because whenever you lock the bar out, you have to actually push your shoulders forward and rack it. That’s generally how coach Rusty has to do it. But if you start benching 315 lb and up, that can be a little bit challenging and especially if you’re by yourself, you don’t want to get stuck underneath a hook and then lose a bunch of plates on the ground. So you might want to consider lowering the monolift down one peg. You’re going to have to push the bar a little further to unrackck it. However, racking it will be easier. You can keep your shoulders back while you rack it with straight arms.

Setting the pins is real important because this is the thing that will save your life if you miss a rep. Whenever you are benching, you want to have your good big arch, big chest, and shoulders back. You want to be able to touch your chest, but still have wiggle room where you’re not going to hit the pins. So, you can touch your chest and you know you have plenty of clearance to do a full rep without hitting the pins. But you want the pin set to where if you do miss a rep and the bar rolls back, your neck is protected. It’s more advantageous to have this setup. If you miss, you can lay the bar on the pins versus not having pins and you’re by yourself with a bar on your neck. People every year die from that very thing. So, it is important to stay safe with it.

To recap, we´ve talked about the hook height and racking the bar, and how that changes because the monolift swings back. You must look for a real comfortable place for you to unrack the bar. You do your rep and you go to rack the bar. If it’s real heavy and pressing you down, you’re going to have to push your shoulders forward a little bit to get the bar in the hooks. If you’re benching very heavy and that becomes a problem, lower it down one. It might save your shoulders a little bit, especially if you have creaky shoulders. If you have creaky shoulders, that’s the reason why the monolift is real good for you, because unracking is the part that hurts the most for you. Racking it isn’t a big problem.

There’s lots of companies that make monolift equipment. If you have your own home gym, this could also be a super valuable tool for you. So you don’t have to worry about someone handing you off heavy weights. The machine can do it for you. Just make sure you’re being safe and benching inside the power rack with safety bars. That is imperative if you are benching heavy by yourself. I hope this helps if you have access to this kind of equipment to help you figure out how to set it up, play with it a little bit and find out what settings works best for you.

Bibliographic references:

• Starting Strength. (2026). Setting up the Monolift in the Rack for a Safe Bench Press [Video file]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/eC7Lon_kEFc?si=W-kNsag3FG_yJ8ee