There is a word we us a lot around the Fringe Sport office, that is not often used in the "normal" world.
What is it?
A secret agent? Stringer, John Stringer. License to kill.
Nope.
Something to do a with a rope, a battle rope perhaps?
Nope.
Some advanced Olympic Weightlifting movement?
Nope.
For example, stringers are used in home construction to provide more support or strength for stair installation, or bathtub installation.
Here's an example of a stringer used to support a bathtub. You can see the studs that the stringer is screwed to, since the drywall is removed in this pic:
In our strength and conditioning world, a stringer is used to mount a rig, squat rack, or pull-up bar to a wall or ceiling.
Here you can see a stringer used in my garage to mount a wall-mounted pull-up rig to the wall:
In the above image, the stringer is mounted outside the drywall- this is normally how stringers are used when they are used to mount wall mounted rigs and racks.
Here you can see two stringers used to mount a retractable squat rack to a concrete wall in the Fringe Sport retail location:
Stringers increase structural strength in many cases- for example, spanning studs with a stringer, then mounting a rig into the stringer makes for a more secure installation
In other cases, stringers allow you to mount into wood instead of concrete or masonry. When you screw a pull-up bar directly into concrete, the stress and vibration of the pull-up bar can pull out the mounts over time. Installing a stringer first, and then screwing into the stringer minimizes this problem.
Finally, stringers can also help you install into studs when your studs are installed in non-standard spacing. Studs are generally installed in 16 or 24 inch intervals, but some older construction does not adhere to this spacing paradigm. In this case, you would install your stringers into the studs, then your pullup rig into the stringer.
For installing pull-up rigs and wall-mount squat racks, you want to screw into at least 2 studs, and 3-4 is better. If I am installing a 2x4" stringer, I usually use one lag screw per stud. For a 2x6" or wider, I usually use 2 lag screws per stud.
Hopefully this was helpful. For more information on installing pull-up rigs, check this link out.
Check our our full selection of pull-up rigs, retractable racks, and pullup bars.
Did this help? Hit us in the comments below, email us at team@fringesport.com, or call us 512.201.4404.