Available on iOS and Android

Busy equipment swaps

Squat rack taken? Here's what to do instead

Short answer

Ask how many sets they have left. If they agree, work in between their sets. If you would rather not wait: goblet squat, leg press, or Bulgarian split squat. Do not carry the barbell number across. In Handler, mark the rack “Busy right now”: at a saved location, it automatically replaces exercises you haven't started with ones that keep the same movement pattern. It goes on what you tell it.

See how it works

Updated October 31, 2026

Illustration

Squat Rack at your gym

Is it absent from this location, or only unavailable right now?

Not at this locationSaved until you change it
Busy right nowSkipped this workout, up to 4 hours
Broken right nowSkipped this workout, up to 4 hours

Illustration, not a screenshot. The question and the three choices are the app's wording. In the app the title names your saved location; the notes under the choices are ours.

Step by step

How it works in Handler

01
Open the exercise options
Tap Equipment missing. It reads “Equipment missing at” your gym's name, because busy kit is saved to a named location.
02
Choose Busy right now
If the exercise needs more than one piece of kit, pick the one that's taken, then Busy right now. Not at this location and Broken right now are there too.
03
Handler swaps what you haven't started
Marking equipment busy automatically replaces compatible exercises with no logged sets; started exercises remain unchanged. It only picks exercises with the same movement pattern, from equipment you marked available, and ranks them by shared main muscles, then difficulty.
04
Read the summary
Handler tells you how many untouched exercises it replaced and that completed work was kept. If nothing compatible fits, it says so and leaves the exercise as it was.
05
Half-done? Tap Move Remaining Sets
Logged sets stay; the rest move to another exercise.
06
Or choose yourself
Tap Replace and pick from the list. Or ask Coach to move the exercise to the end of the workout and come back when the rack is free.

Step by step in the help center: marking equipment busy

Mark the next taken rack busy in Handler. New on iPhone? 7 days free, then $79.99/year in the US. No free version. Get Handler

Worked examples

Typical swaps when the gym is packed

These are the kinds of options a same-pattern swap points to. They're examples, not a promise of what Handler will pick.

Squat rack taken

Goblet squat with one dumbbell, a Bulgarian split squat if a bench and dumbbells are free, or the leg press. Handler's library files all three under the squat pattern, so any of them can be its swap, but none of them is back-squat practice, and the leg press takes balance out of it. No rack and only light dumbbells? Try the Smith machine, if it isn't queued too.

Goblet squat Leg press Bulgarian split squat Smith machine squat Barbell back squat

Every rack taken? The RDL detour

Some lifters switch to a Romanian deadlift when every rack is taken. That is a hinge, not a squat, so it is a different exercise, not a same-pattern swap. Handler files the RDL under the hinge pattern, so a busy-equipment swap won't pick one for a squat; add it yourself from the Replace list if that's your plan for the day.

Romanian deadlift

Bench press taken

Dumbbell bench press on any free flat bench. No bench free? Dumbbell floor press, lying on the floor. Dumbbells gone too? Push-ups, with your hands on a box if you need them easier. A chest press machine is another option if it's open.

Dumbbell bench press Dumbbell floor press Push-up Machine chest press

Cable station taken

Seated cable row taken? Use a dumbbell row on a bench, a chest-supported dumbbell row on an incline bench, or a band row if you carry one: the same pull toward your torso, no cable needed. Other cable moves need their own swap. A fly goes to a dumbbell fly; a pushdown to a skull crusher, a dip or a kickback.

Seated cable row Dumbbell row Chest-supported dumbbell row Band row Dumbbell skull crusher Bench dip

Leg press taken

Goblet squat, or a Bulgarian split squat if a bench is free. A free rack means back squats, but start light: leg-press numbers don't carry over to the bar. In Handler, mark the leg press Busy right now and it swaps in another squat-pattern exercise from the equipment you marked available, if one fits.

Leg press Goblet squat

Illustration: the planned barbell back squat needs a squat rack marked busy for this workout; typical options Handler's library files under the squat pattern are a goblet squat, a leg press or a split squat — Illustration of typical options, not guaranteed app output.

Don't carry the barbell number across. Start the swap lighter than you think and find the weight on the first set.

Limits

What Handler can't do here

Handler does not detect which stations are free, and it can't see the gym floor. Equipment status is whatever you report.
It can't promise the replacement is free either. If the dumbbells are taken too, mark them as well or pick another option.
Busy equipment is saved to a named workout location, so you need one set up to use Equipment missing.
Busy right now and Broken right now apply to the current workout, for up to four hours. Not at this location stays until you change it.
Automatic swaps only touch exercises with no logged sets. For a half-done exercise, use Move Remaining Sets. Replacing a started exercise by hand asks first: Keep Current Exercise or Replace & Reset. Replace & Reset removes that exercise's logged sets from the workout, and they can't be restored.
If your gym's equipment list is incomplete, Handler works from broad equipment types, so a suggestion can need kit your gym doesn't have.

Other ways to do this

Other ways to handle a taken rack

Plenty of apps let you replace an exercise, and you can sort it without any app.

Boostcamp

Boostcamp's free Swap Exercise lets you swap for just this workout or for future weeks too, and it names a busy rack or missing machine as a common reason to swap.

Boostcamp: Swap Exercise

Fitbod

Fitbod's FAQ says you can substitute any exercise, and it builds workouts around the equipment you list.

Fitbod FAQ

Work in, or reorder

Ask how many sets they have left and whether you can work in between their sets, or do your other exercises first and come back. It's free, and often quicker than a swap.

Frequently asked questions

What should I do if the squat rack is taken?

Ask how many sets they have left; if they agree, work in between their sets. If you'd rather not wait, do a squat that doesn't need the rack, like a goblet squat or a Bulgarian split squat, or use the leg press for your quads. You can also do the rest of your workout first and come back. Don't copy the barbell weight onto the swap.

Is there a gym app that changes my workout when equipment is taken?

Yes. In Handler you mark the item Busy right now. At a saved location, Handler automatically replaces exercises you haven't started with ones that keep the same movement pattern, from the equipment you marked available; started exercises stay as they are. Boostcamp's free Swap Exercise and Fitbod's exercise substitution also let you swap an exercise by hand.

Does Handler know which equipment is free?

No. Handler goes on what you mark: Busy right now, Broken right now or Not at this location. If the swap it picks is taken too, mark that as well, or choose another exercise from the Replace list.

What happens to sets I already logged?

Marking equipment busy leaves exercises you've started alone. For a half-done exercise, Move Remaining Sets moves the unfinished working sets to another movement and keeps the completed ones. Replacing a started exercise by hand resets it, and Handler asks before it does.

What can I do instead of cable pushdowns when the cables are taken?

A taken pushdown is closer to a skull crusher, a dip or a kickback than to anything on the row station. A taken cable fly is closer to a dumbbell fly. Cables are where queues form most often, so it helps to have the dumbbell version ready. Start lighter than your cable numbers and find the weight on the first set.

Available on iOS and Android

Next time the rack's taken, mark it busy.

Mark it busy and Handler swaps what you haven't started. New on iPhone? 7 days free, then $79.99/year in the US. No free version.

Download on the App Store

Related features and guides

Quick GymShort on time as well as kit? 7, 10 or 15-minute workouts.Effort CheckAdjust your remaining sets by how the last one felt.Goblet squatThe one-dumbbell squat for when the rack is taken.Exercise databaseDemos and cues for the exercises Handler swaps between.