Viavito ST1000 Adjustable Squat Stands with Barbell Spotter Catchers

There are two elements to this review - quality control and customer service.

Quality control is poor. The first set I received had weld blocking the inside of one of the supports so the weight bar didn’t fit and was unusable and had to be replaced. The replacement set, although usable, the spotter bars were an extremely tight fit on the supports.

Customer service was excellent. My email about the fault on the first set was answered immediately and a replacement set was delivered the next day.

In summary, it is a solid piece of kit, albeit in my experience it is let down by poor quality control.

Purchased from Sweatband for just under £100 including delivery and received them promptly within 3 days. I’ve no experience with this sort of kit so the stands are probably a little larger than I expected which is good as they also appear much more robust than I thought they might have been. Being separate stands they store a little easier than if they were joined but they do take up a fair bit of space.

Assembly required two adjustable spanners or sockets but the instructions are clear and all sections lined up properly and easily.

I’ve used them a few times so far for a bench chest press - which was my main aim anyway - and found them straightforward to line up and to adjust. They’ve been stable in use and I’ve felt safe enough exercising alone with the spotter catchers. If it was feasible to leave them set up permanently the weight storage pegs would be useful and would give even more stability.

I’m a senior who exercises at home for fitness rather than massive muscle building so I won’t be pressing very heavy weights at all but the stands have allowed me to increase the weight I do press. I’m really very pleased with these which I think are pretty good quality for the price. I’ve had a few things from Sweatband and it’s been a positive experience each time.