Beyond Power VOLTRA Review – 2+ Years Of Testing

Last updated on April 30th, 2026 at 05:27 pm

The Beyond Power VOLTRA I is a rack attached cable system, up to 200lbs of resistance, with unique features like adjusting the eccentric and concentric portions all crammed into a box the size of one of my shoes. I was lucky enough to be sent a PRE-release model back in July of 2023. In January of 2024 I received the production model, the same thing you’d buy today. We’ve been using and abusing, testing and taking notes for the past year to collect our ideas around this potentially revolutionary piece of home gym equipment (and I just updated this for early 2026).

The Beyond Power VOLTRA I is pretty rad on paper. The price is tough though. And there are some things to consider when buying a smart device for the home gym that you might not have considered. So let’s dig into the Beyond Power VOLTRA I so you can decide if this is the right purchase for your home gym, or not.

Transparency Note

Beyond Power reached out to me to see if i was interested in their product and wanted to help them showcase it in early 2023. I shared it in my newsletter where people showed some excitement. I provided some additional notes on a few areas, scheduled an AMA with them on r/HomeGym, which they used as their launch to the world.

They offered to send me a pre-release version of their VOLTRA I. While I schedule AMAs with no strings attached, and helped share info for them because I was interested myself, I was obviously excited to get something so cool into my gym.

In January of 2024 they sent me the official release version of the VOLTRA I, and since then they have also provided an affiliate link, which means if you buy it, I get some money in my pocket at no additional cost to you.

I’m not obligated to do anything but tell the truth and provide feedback. But I always want to be clear when and how I receive products for free. Especially when this is a $2,000+ unit, and they gave me two of them!

Beyond Power VOLTRA I Videos

The first video review is about 90% accurate at this point. Some of the main details, considerations, and ideas are all present here. But there have been some updates that address some of the things I wanted to see since dropping that video. The introduction of ways to manipulate the strength curve, new features and modes, and more.

We went ahead and put together a full 2 year update video as well, with the notes helping to update this article. We cover the longevity aspect so far, durability of various core components, discuss what has changed in the past year and a half, and take a look at how they integrate with other equipment as well as answer a laundry list of FAQs.

The goal is to keep this article as built out and up to date as possible, since videos can get stale at any point. When we are talking about a piece like the VOLTRA that has quarterly updates, new community offerings, app changes, and more, things can get a little weird.

For your notes, the last day this article was updated was:

Beyond Power VOLTRA I Overview

The Beyond Power VOLTRA I comes in a magnesium alloy case, with all the internal workings inside of it. This means the direct drive motor, the batteries, and the various fancy smancy computer stuff is all inside here. It is a rack attached unit, meant to work with basically any rack configuration you might have. Very similar to a cable unit, but the power is obviously not in weights but in the box itself.

On the outside we’ve got the mounting plate on the back, which hooks into any of the mounts Beyond Power offers as well as a TON of third part mounts, and locks in tight. The VOLTRA I was designed to be an add-on to an established home gym with a rack, bars, plates, you name it as the mounts are all meant to attach to a rack in some fashion. This is fundamentally different than the other workout tech based systems we’ve seen that are more geared towards being the entire home gym.

You’ve got the LCD screen, where we can power it on, choose our mode, adjust the resistance and a number of other features, and get to work. The unit tracks your reps and sets and has metrics built into the iOS app (unfortunately right now it is only available for iOS).

The most stand out features of the VOLTRA I are the 5lb to 200lb resistance profile, which is a 1 to 1 weight ratio unlike most cable machines that have a certain stack but are cut in half with a 2 to 1 ratio.

The built in battery which powers everything.

The VOLTRA I has no subscription model built in, and it uses non-proprietary cable attachments.

The mounts are adjustable to a number of rack options, whether you have 2×2, 2×3, 3×3, 5/8 or 1” hardware… with some really heavy duty and awesome build quality components

And the system itself has a number of built in modes, functions, and cool tweaks you can play with. And because it is smart tech with a Wifi connection, they can pump out Firmware Updates to make it even cooler as time goes on (which they have consistently done).

Beyond Power VOLTRA I Specs

• Brand: Beyond Power
• Made In USA: No
• Dimensions: 12″ L x 4″ W x 4″ D
• Weight: ~10lbs
• Max Resistance: 200lbs of Resistance
• Cable: Synthetic Cable “Stronger Than Steel”
• Finish: Flat Off-White
• Assembly: None
• Mobile App: iOS available only
• Battery: Type C Charging
• Warranty: 1 Year w/ optional extended warranties

Beyond Power VOLTRA I FAQs

Over the past year I’ve seen a lot of great individual questions and concerns for the VOLTRA that I want to address… 

Beyond Power VOLTRA I Components

As of April 2026, we have clocked over 23 hours of use, not just turned on time, but time under tension. We have put in over 3000 sets, with around 30,000 reps, moving over 1.3 million pounds on EACH VOLTRA. So, double that for the total combined use.

I checked in with the Beyond Power team around some durability stats to help paint a community wide picture. They have had 0 engine failures so far. Literally, none. Direct Drive motors are very reliable. They have a life expectancy of over 10 years.

For all their customers, they have a .5% screen replacement stat, and these are all from accidents. So no failures or anything, just some cracked screens. I managed to drop my Arm Assassin Napalm Nightmare over the top of my VOLTRA I.

It did some serious damage to the MAG Pin that was holding it in place. But the VOLTRA itself only came away with a few battle wounds. It worked perfectly fine with no damage to the internals, screen, nothing.

Keep in mind that if you were to run into any issues with any of the main workings of the VOLTRA, the BP team and their customer service would work with you remotely to diagnose the problem. More than likely, you’d need to submit it to the team for repairs as the engine and internals are not currently available for self repair.

Battery

The battery is a huge piece to the puzzle for the VOLTRA. Think about your phone, if you forget to charge it overnight, the next day your entire schedule is thrown off. The last thing you want to do is walk into your gym, get ready for a session, pre-workout downed, warm-up complete, and then realize you don’t have any battery life in your gym equipment.

The good news is, I’ve done a lot of testing here, and talking to others like my buddy Brandon Campbell, and I think MOST people are likely to get about a week worth of charge out of this. Now that is a VERY generalized number… so let me break it down.

Each rep is going to eat some battery life, but the key is that the more resistance you use, the more battery each rep and set uses. So if me and my daughter Audrey do the same set of 15 reps on pulldowns, her set at 15lbs and my set at 115lbs are not going to use the same amount of power.

I did an ENTIRE upper body workout, consisting of 3 working sets for lat pulldowns, seated rows, curls, triceps extensions, and lateral raises. So 15 sets, with the back work obviously being much heavier than the other stuff.  This used roughly 20% of the battery. So even if you did this much cable work, 5 days a week, you’d still likely only need to charge the VOLTRA I over the weekend.

In the last year we’ve been using our two VOLTRAs daily, literally 7 days a week, accounting for a large chunk of sets and reps. We are now charging them twice a week. But keep in mind, that is with me, my wife, my daughter, and our Sunday crew which consists of 4 or 5 parents plus their kiddos all lifting in the garage. If you have a more normal home gym, that once a week piece is still probably relevant.

The VOLTRA also has built in fans, which help it from overheating. The workout I just mentioned was done on a triple digit day in my garage and it never overheated. BUT the fans definitely eat some more battery life. My buddy Jonathan shared with me that he had it attached to a leg press, hitting high rep nasty sets, alongside his IFBB Pro training partner jumping in right after him in the So-Cal Desert and it shut down after about 45 minutes.

On the other end of the spectrum, is my buddy Dan aka Dr TattyWaffles. He ran into an issue this past winter, with the negative 20 degree days in Ohio, his batteries essentially died on him. Well, until he took them inside, let them warm up and charge, and then they were back to normal.

The VOLTRA I can operate while plugged in, so if for some reason you managed to forget to charge it, you could run an extension cord and make it work. I found that I was able to get a full charge in about 2 hours, so in a pinch you could start charging during your warm-up and probably get a workout out of it, charge during a lunch break, or what most people will do, simply charge overnight and be good to go.

So a trainer with a full weekly schedule would likely be good charging every night, and a normal home gym owner would be good charging on some schedule like every Friday.

After multiple years of consistent use in a garage, we have seen zero faults in the battery. Beyond Power tells me that they have had 1 battery failure from the ENTIRETY of their customer base. Our battery health on both VOLTRAs is still at 100%.

Beyond Power does offer a replacement battery, if you happened to need one by the way, but they are EXPENSIVE. The only negative I found with the battery, was that if you manage to run it to 5% and below, it won’t turn on at all. Since it won’t turn on, you can’t disconnect it from the mount. So you either have to take the unit off your rack with the mount, or run an extension cord to charge it.

Cable

The VOLTRA cable itself isn’t so much a cable we are accustomed to in a cable machine, because it has to wind up inside the unit. So it is more of a rope type feeling. This doesn’t seem to impact the use at all, the overall feeling, smoothness, it all works. They again offer a replacement for the cable and the good news is that it is fairly cheap.

As I mentioned for the battery, they have an internal monitor for the cable health, and mine was sitting at 96% after my first 1 year check up. If we equate that to roughly 1% per month, we are looking at 100 months before you’d kill the cable as an estimate, of course depending on heavy use. Talking to Beyond Power, they estimate between 1 to 2 years for cable replacement, depending on your use.

We replaced our cables for BOTH VOLTRAs in late 2025. We learned that the cable health assessment is an ESTIMATE, not an exact figure. Replacing the cable can be done by most people in about 30 minutes. They now offer professional cable replacement services as well. It is $39, and includes a new cable, professional replacement, and round-trip shipping with a 3-5 day turn around for the work itself, but not the shipping. So you’d be out somewhere around a week or two without your VOLTRA if you went this route.

I’ve done cable crossovers, rear delt stuff, pulldowns, low rows, curls… the cable pulls really well with no real noticeable drag. The only issue I have with the cable, is that on more than one occasion, I’ve had people walk into the garage and when the VOLTRA is off, pull the cable down. They obviously thought it was like a traditional cable machine, or maybe it would kick in right away, but the cable was half way down my rack and I had to turn it on, readjust, then turn it back off.

Not sure if there is a way for it to simply lock, or maybe there is a “storage mode” for the carabiner in a future version… It was fun telling them that they broke my $2k piece of gym equipment… but ultimately I’d like to see some sort of solution there. That’s my only gripe with the cable.

VOLTRA I Durability

Here is one of my 45lb plates. These plates were made in the 80s, spent a good 30 years in a commercial gym, and have been in my gym for nearly a decade. They function and perform the same today, as they did when they were cast in the 80s. And they’ll continue to do so for decades in my gym, likely outliving me, maybe getting passed down to my daughter, or her kids… for as long as humans continue to lift weights.

The VOLTRA I has held up fantastically in my garage for the past several years. The battery life is still great, the overall unit is intact, all parts, pieces, everything is good to go. But at some point that won’t be the case. The battery will fade, the internal gadgets will die, or they’ll simply move onto a VOLTRA II. At some point in the future, this will become a 10lb brick… And my plates, well, they will still work.

When we think of gym equipment, we often have this idea in our head that we are buying something that will last forever. And historically that has been the case. Even with cable machines, some minor maintenance, replacing a cable here and there, and it’ll last forever. But with SMART devices, with exercise tech, we have an end-of-life scenario at some point.

We don’t know yet what the lifespan is, and considering the battery and cable health of my units being so good, we could be looking at a PRETTY long life span… but I want you to think about the VOLTRA I more like a new computer instead of a new piece of gym equipment for a bit.

You can run updates, get cool new features, and this thing will continue to expand and improve and be more and more awesome… Until it isn’t. At some point your $2k investment for one of these, is going to end up in the landfill, and you’ll be on to the next thing. If you had spent that same money on a more traditional cable system, you’d still be using it for years to come.

I am 100% not telling you to skip the VOLTRA I. I’m keeping both of mine, and quickly looking to make them my ONLY cable machines in my gym. Their tech, the updates, new features, and ability to integrate into other pieces of gym equipment (more on all of this as we go) is something no other cable machine or piece of gym equipment can do.

Just remember that the Beyond Power VOLTRA will have an end date. If you are still with me, lets keep rolling.

Beyond Power VOLTRA I Mounts

When I wrapped up my original video, we were still working with the original BP mounts and not much else. The good news is that Beyond Power has launched several solid options since then, and the community has also created a wide scope of options.

Sliding Rack Mount

This affixes the VOLTRA I to your rack, and lets it slide up and down much like a functional trainer would. This is our most used mount, as it quickly adjusts from wherever it is, to wherever I want it to be.

It isn’t as fast as a functional trainer, as they have to have a system in place to eat up excess space. So you need to loosen the side nut, then pull the pin, lower to your preferred location, pop it in place, re tighten, and get to work. One other downside here, is that because you have metal sliding up and down, it CAN scuff up your uprights. If you have a pretty rack that you are trying to keep pretty, I might skip this one just for that sake. Another consideration is that this mount is likely only suitable for up and down an upright, not for mounting on a horizontal cross-member.

Adaptive Rack Mount

This is pretty creative, as it uses one pin to go all the way through the rack upright, another pin to provide extra stability, and then what is almost like an olympic bar collar to clamp it down. This one could be mounted essentially anywhere in any orientation, and is fairly quick to adjust.

This was our go-to mount for awhile, but the clunkiness of the clamp on the back isn’t my favorite for the more creative placements of the VOLTRA.

Fixed Rack Mount (Pair)

This was the first set I received, and requires bolts to affix to a rack. This wouldn’t be my go-to for a first option, but likely a good solution if you have a somewhat permanent location you always attach the VOLTRAs to.

These would be a good fit for a center Lat-Pulldown orientation on a rack cross member, or if you plan to connect your VOLTRAs to a permanent machine of some kind on a regular basis. These are meant for something where you want a quick mount option without messing around with the specifics.

Strap Mount

The BP Strap Mount works really well in situations where you are trying to connect it to an odd object, especially useful if you plan to travel with this, set it up at the park, outside, that kind of thing. It also works well for certain machines that don’t have a quick post or anything to mount to.

Adaptive Bar Mount

When we move off of the rack, the Adaptive Bar Mount is our go-to for most applications. I used this when doing cable resisted back extensions on the Hyper Pro, when setting up preacher curls for the Prime Shorty, and more.

DARKO Quick Mounts

The daily drivers for us are the Darko Quick Mounts. They are easy to use, move around the rack, and aren’t in the way at all. They can even slide up and down the rack easily. They come in multiple size options for your rack, use a magnetic rack pin for easy use. These are the GOATs of VOLTRA Mounts.

EVE Company Ceberus Mount

I’ve also got a Cerberus mount from EVE Company, which lets me easily set up dual VOLTRAs for seated rows. EVE offers a lot of creative and very UNIQUE solution mounts worth a look.

Travel Platform

I’ve seen a number of people comment or think that the VOLTRA I would be a good travel companion or small gym set-up in a front room, etc… it makes sense in theory… you can use multiple mount options, it has a carrying case, has an optional travel platform, and comes in a very portable size and shape. But in practice it is a little different than what you might think up front.

You can do things like curls and rows and shoulder work with the travel platform… My wife and daughter recently got to do the majority of a workout on it, inside, because it was 110 degrees here in July in California… my wife’s comment was “we need to keep this”. So, a nice win there.

Unfortunately, I was REALLY hoping that the travel platform would open up things like belt squats, but the range of motion is nowhere near enough. You have the mount, plus the VOLTRA itself, plus the couple inches of slack in the cable, and the carabiner, and there is basically no way to hit a solid depth with this on squats, and even things like RDLs have the same limitation in the stretch portion.

I think they need instead of a flat platform, something more like the Exxentric platform for the KBox, where the Voltra would hook in under it, and you’d get back nearly half a foot of range of motion.

And remember, if you want to do pulldowns or something with it on the go away from your home gym rack, you are going to need some kind of custom set-up to make that work. They don’t currently have a strap or set-up for say a tree or post or anything. When looking at the VOLTRA for portability reasons, keep these things in mind. I think the platform works well for SOME things, but misses the mark on others, which could really limit your travel workout.

Other VOLTRA Mounts & Accessories

Here are some other companies to check out for VOLTRA mounts:

• EVE Company Accessories – https://www.eve-company.com/
• WM Fab Accessories – https://wmfabrication.com/
• JD Gym Equipped Accessories – https://jdgymequipped.com/products/stainless-low-pro-voltra-mount
• Bremmy Accessories – https://bremmyproducts.com/products/extension-arm-single
• VOLTRA Mounts – https://voltramounts.com/

Beyond Power VOLTRA I Settings

The VOLTRA I comes with a ton of extra features, something a basic cable system obviously doesn’t do. So lets look at some of the features and tech inside this guy.

Buried in the settings is the ability to customize the language of the VOLTRA, convert from metric to imperial, change how the screen rotates if you set up the VOLTRA in a different orientation… you can set up a Child Protection mode, new features that just got released like Direct Load…

You can adjust the maximum resistance setting, which might be helpful in a rehab facility… you have multiple modes that you can circulate through including Beginner, Normal, and Sport that each adjust the velocity at which the cable can travel and the max resistance. And you can adjust the maximum additional eccentric load you can add, which with a recent update can go both in the negative and positive as high as you want (assuming you still only use a total of 200lbs).

The VOLTRA also offers the ability to change the quick adjustment button from 1 to 5 to 10. And then they have these interesting pieces… Standard and Intense Resistance Experience. I played with these for awhile back and forth. The INTENSE resistance profile simply fights you harder. So if you want to use say, 30lbs and rip it, the Standard mode would let you do that, but the INTENSE mode will fight back. In a normal exercise function, you probably won’t notice MUCH of a difference.

In chats on Reddit, a lot of people use the Standard, and think it feels smoother. So your mileage may vary. In testing it added about 10% of perceived resistance during the pull, but nothing at the isometric static hold. So it isn’t adding “weight” simply slowing down the cable.

The assist mode kicks in if you happen to stall on a lift, much like a spotter would. If you pause in a rep for more than a second, it’ll ASSIST you with the lift to finish the rep.

Most of these settings, modes, and features, in my experience and opinion, aren’t something most of us need or will likely use that often. Again, not complaining that they are there, they aren’t in the way or difficult to turn on and use if you wanted to, just that the majority of us simply want to lift more today than we did last week.

Reddit is building out an Unofficial User Manual that can be VERY helpful for this discussion.

Subscriptions

The VOLTRA I has no subscription model, and doesn’t have proprietary cable attachments. This continues to build on the idea that this was meant for someone who already has a gym. This is an addition to a rack, opposed to an all-in-one home gym. In multiple discussions and from multiple sources, Beyond Power has no plans to have a subscription model baked into the unit. Obviously, things can change, but the rumors I’ve heard are simply that this would be an additional feature, opposed to a required feature.

Beyond Power VOLTRA I Workout Modes & Performance

The VOLTRA continues to add new modes that give us different workout options. From basic weight training, to isometric tests, recreating a rower, and even the long awaited customer curves. Over the past couple years this list has grown, but some items feel like they might need to be phased out, or combined in various ways. You’ll find that not every feature (like eccentric overload) is available in every mode. This stuff changes RAPIDLY, so I’ll hopefully have the most up to date info below for you. Lets dig into these.

Weight Training

This is where you are likely to spend the VAST majority of your time. We probably spend 99% of our VOLTRA I use in this one mode. We have access to the 200lbs of resistance, as well as Eccentric Overload, Chains, and Inverse Chains.

What does it feel like?

That is a question I’ve received a number of times. The answer… different… Not better or worse necessarily, just different. Because the unit isn’t weight, meaning it isn’t gravity but instead a motor applying the resistance, it feels a little different. Beyond Power will claim it is more consistent. For the majority of movements, stuff like curls, triceps extensions, rows, pulldowns, it all feels pretty normal.

Where I feel this being different than a cable is on items like lateral raises, as well as light weight warm-ups. I believe this is likely due to the motor trying to apply a consistent force against what you are doing. In the warm-up scenario, it’s like an adult trying to throw a wiffle ball fast, it is just too light. So the motor has trouble trying to apply enough force for resistance on the lower weights.

For the lateral raises, I think it is a combo of lighter weights and the extreme range of motion of the exercise. You start off REALLY strong and then get REALLY weak at the top as well. So to make it through the exercise you have to drop the weight a bit, and we get that wiffle ball effect at the beginning, with a normal and then almost parking break effect at the end.

Again, every other exercise at a working weight is fine. I’ve done leg stuff, back stuff, arms, shoulders, crossovers, forearms, whatever. They all truly feel very natural and smooth, very similar to a cable machine. If you weren’t LOOKING for a different feeling, I don’t think you’d find it.

How Accurate Is The Voltra I?

I wanted to test how accurate the resistance was, meaning if the screen said 20lbs, was it actually 20lbs. I went ahead and ran two different tests.

First, I loaded up a few different resistances and used my crane scale. 20lbs, 50lbs, and 100lbs. I was looking to see if my crane scale measured roughly the same thing. Below is the 100lb test, which is pretty damn accurate. Add in some instability on my end and we are probably perfect.

The second test was with a loading pin. Seeing if an equivalent amount of weight on a pin to the resistance on the screen, would move the cable. I loaded 20lbs almost exactly, and then 50lbs almost exactly. The interesting part was that the Beyond Power VOLTRA I didn’t drop the weight until several pounds UNDER the stated resistance.

If I combine the two results here, I’m going to go with this… . I would argue that since there is some variability in my static pull, a couple pounds is probably ok here, so the first test was a pass. The second test I’m assuming is because of the way the motor works. 50lbs would fight back against 50lbs evenly.

You need a certain percentage of force compared to the resistance applied to the cable, to move the cable. Both come in around 15%, so that means that while this might not have been what I originally thought would happen, it is a consistent result.

1lb Increments

I mentioned that this goes from 5lbs to 200lbs with 1lb increments. The 1lb increments are absolutely awesome for little exercises, and especially working with my daughter. Where 10lbs is kind of light, 15lbs might be heavy, so we can dial it in to 12 or 13 without having to grab a bunch of small plates, pins, and various hacks to make it work.

The downside with the 1lb increments, is the need to scroll through them all. First, if you are trying to go from say 12lbs to 14lbs, it can be a little finnicky to nail the scrolling and selection and land exactly on the weight you want. The good news is, we now have a few options to help with this.

Beyond Power launched the SmartPin feature for the Weight Training mode. This lets us simply enter the weight we want, and it can jump between weight settings in a matter of seconds with pin point accuracy. This is an AWESOME update, and something they basically plucked from their app and added directly into the unit itself. Nicely done team!

They also now offer the ability to scroll through the weight, or use a button option to jump 1, 5, 10 lbs at at time. Which oddly enough was a request of mine early on.

The adjustments are fairly quick and easy from set to set. But not so much in a back and forth, back and forth, back and forth kind of manner. So if you plan to super set with one VOLTRA, this might be a little bit of a hiccup.

Other Settings

One thing I really like here, is the ability to adjust the starting position of the cable. This is great for those of you who have kids or smaller athletes that lift with you. I’m able to adjust and get this to the exact right height for Audrey, without having to constantly tinker with the rack adjustments. And if we wanted to share and superset, we’d just adjust the start position back and forth.

We also use this for adjusting to the right length for seated rows, for leg curl variations, on our belt squat, and more. This is a HUGELY underrated feature.

The other two features that we use REGULARLY with the VOLTRA, are the Auto Load and Auto Deload functions. Auto Load lets you turn the resistance off, get into position, then have it turn on after a few seconds in position. This lets you get into awkward set ups using pads and benches and more. The Auto Deload, of course, turns the resistance off for you. So you can get out of those awkward positions.

Eccentric, Chains, and Inverse Chains

The eccentric would be the lowering phase, so if you wanted to lift 50lbs, but control the lowering of 100lbs, you’d do that here. The chains work in an accommodating resistance manner, where the weight gets heavier as you get further from the unit, and lighter as you return closer.  I love me some loading of chains on a barbell, so this is a unique feature for sure. And the Inverse Chains is the opposite of chains, where it is heaviest the closer you are to the VOLTRA, and lightest the further away you are.

You might be asking, why would we want any of this? Great question! Our bodies are naturally stronger in the lengthened position of our muscles, and weakest in the shortened position. We are typically strongest in the lengthened position of a muscle, and weakest in the shortened position, so for a seated row you can see this:

The problem with straight weight on a cable machine, is that if you match the weight to what you can handle in the lengthened position, you won’t be able to fully finish the rep. But if you match it for the shortened, then the lengthened portion is too easy.

The VOLTRA Inverse chains lets us address that, matching our bodies natural strength. And since we are finding more and more evidence that the stretch portion of an exercise accounts for a lot of the hypertrophy response, maximizing that might just lead to better gains overall. On top of that, our bodies are stronger in the eccentric than the concentric. So the VOLTRA lets us tackle BOTH of these to maximize our training.

The only problem I ran into, was how to implement these features. More of a good thing isn’t always better, so I didn’t want to just CRANK those levels as high as possible. So I turned to the expert… Coach Kassem from N1 Education.

Coach Kassem explains that a 30% eccentric overload brings our VOLTRA back in line with a free weight exercise in terms of adjusting for inertia. And then he recommends a starting point of a 70% inverse chains setting. So, we’d get there by setting our resistance to 100lbs, then setting the Inverse Chain to 70lbs, and the Eccentric to 30lbs. The VOLTRA will automatically adjust that up and down as we adjust the weights from there and keep the right percentages.

The only problem you will run into, is that this only works up to 100lbs of base resistance, because 100 + 70 + 30, maximizes the total 200lbs available in the VOLTRA. You can either slap on a second VOLTRA, or utilize the 1:2 ratio trick. Which by the way, I asked the Beyond Power team, that does not void your warranty. So we should be good to go.

Quick Note – If you want access to a full spreadsheet of how I set-up my VOLTRA for every single exercise I use it for in my gym, including rack settings, accessories, Eccentric, Inverse Chains, and Chains settings, even cable length adjustments, you can sign-up for my newsletter. You’ll get exclusive perks and programs as well as see all the new stuff I’m working on first!

Resistance Band Mode

The VOLTRA resistance band mode aims to mimic your traditional bands in a gym. Where the weight feels light at first, and then gets more and more difficult as you pull further and further. You can adjust this resistance similarly to how you can grab a different band to make it easier or more difficult.

They also include a reverse band setting, which is essentially the inverse chains concepts. Instead of starting light and getting heavier, it starts heavy and gets light.

I have a couple of reasons why I don’t personally use this much. First, is that with the recent updates for Weight Training mode to include the eccentric, chains, and inverse chains, we have the same functionality in Weight Training mode, with more control over the specifics.

Second, is that while the VOLTRA does mimic the resistance profile of bands, it doesn’t mimic the oscillation of bands. This is where bands move back and forth and shimmy and shake in weird and uncontrollable ways. This creates a different effect for lifting, for loading barbells, for hanging things from barbells, as well as mobility and core exercises that I just don’t think this does well.

Damper Mode

I have not used Damper Mode extensively enough to comment on it. I plan to interview an expert to get more details here for applications. Stay tuned!

Custom Strength Curves

VOLTRA Custom Curves was something a lot of us requested as early users. But then Beyond Power released the Inverse Chains function, and it kind of killed that need. Custom Curves runs through the App, and lets you create an literal custom resistance curve where it can be heavier, then lighter, then heavier again, then lighter again, just on the concentric portion, and then back.

In my chats with Coach Kassem, I asked him about the application of this. His general thoughts were that he did not see a huge benefit to that kind of variability in the resistance profile. But that there are some exercises that might benefit in a Bell Curve application. Right now, the Custom Curves do not have Eccentric Overload, which limits their effectiveness. And I think without being a true expert here, the time invested to tinker and perfect it, might not be worth MOST peoples time over the Weight Training aspect.

One exception, would be if you are injured. You could lower the resistance at the point of pain, work through it, and it might help you continue to train.

Isometric

I have not used Isometric extensively enough to comment on it. I plan to interview an expert to get more details here for applications. Stay tuned!

Isokinetic

I have not used Isokinetic extensively enough to comment on it. I plan to interview an expert to get more details here for applications. Stay tuned!

Rower

Beyond Power added a Rowing function as well, which we have tinkered with to mimic our Ski Erg. And if you get creative, you can mimic an actual rower as well.

Just like those machines, you have 10 dampening settings to adjust, you can set up workouts around just going after it, setting certain distance goals, or time goals, you name it.

We have owned both a Rower and a Ski Erg, and I’ll say that this feels CLOSE. The hard part is recreating the seat, the straps, the sliding movement from the rower. For the Ski Erg, it is difficult to recreate the right height, the right handles, and the right width. You will need to tinker and adjust appropriately, to get to where you want it to be. Doable, but not out of the box.

Beyond Power App

We recently purchased an iPad to be able to leverage the app. Unfortunately, after 2.5 years, we still have no Android App support for the VOLTRA. So we bit the bullet and recently bought an iPad.

The app gives us a number of interesting options. First is the ability to easily change the weight and settings on the VOLTRA. Sometimes you put the VOLTRA in odd spots and need to be able to adjust, change settings, or turn the load on without getting out of position. The app does that.

You can also easily pair two VOLTRAs into Twin Mode. We use this for the seated rows and belt squats. The app also provides metrics around velocity, gives you a graph that shows the range of motion for each rep you perform so you can make sure you are being consistent, you name it.

The app is getting some big updates here soon, so I’ll be back with some additional notes in the future.

Using The VOLTRA With Other Things

When we first started using the VOLTRA, the cable machine piece was cool. But even with the fancy features inside, it was still just a cable machine.

But the creativity and support from the community is what has made the VOLTRA an integral part of our workouts in a lot of ways. The REP Belt Squat Attachment is a pretty lackluster piece… but for $150 off Marketplace I was able to pair it with the VOLTRA and get a monster of a belt squat solution that stores away when not in use. A Rogue Rhino is $2400, and a Squat Max MD is $1400 and they require dedicated space.

We love using our sled, but on rainy days it can be unsafe. The VOLTRA works pretty damn well as a sled replacement for indoor work. That’s another $800.

Take the REP Pegasus… it works well with the VOLTRA for a basic lat pulldown seat. But it also opens up options like this chest supported row that I can easily get in with the help of the auto load feature. We also use it for seated leg curls with some daisy chains. AND we use it for standing leg curls.

Since it connects into our leg developers and easily adjusts the set up as well, it handles the majority of our lower body accessory work. One of my all-time favorite pieces in our gym, was the Powertec Levergym. But the biggest issues were the starting position for the lever arms, and plate loading the cable. Using a pair of VOLTRAs would completely change that.

You can take any plate loaded machine, Rack attached Smith Machine, leg press, hack squat, you name it, and turn it into a cable driven stack variation, saving you time to load up plates, improving the resistance curve, potentially saving space by taking the weight horns off the machine itself, and not forking over money for that weight stack.

The VOLTRA has opened up new exercises, improved the function and performance of others, and continue to pay dividends with every new mount, accessory, and new piece we get into our gym. They aren’t getting any cheaper any time soon, but the ability to replicate, replace, and upgrade other expensive and space eating pieces is unlike anything else.

Should You Buy The Beyond Power VOLTRA I?

Before adding the VOLTRA to your space, there are some other items you likely need to think about.

Your rack is going to play a part in the VOLTRA’s success. Not so much the 2×3 vs 3×3 aspect here, but how crowded your rack is. If you have safeties, j-cups, monos, maybe other items on the front of your rack, you’ll likely need to get those out of the way to move the VOLTRA up and down the rack or get it into the position you want.

The VOLTRA comes with… only the VOLTRA and a single carabiner. So you need a bench of some kind to sit on for multiple exercises… you need cable attachments and likely somewhere to store them.

For pulldowns you have nothing to anchor yourself down… For low rows, you need something to press your feet into for the heavy work. So that is more rack attachments and accessories. You really need a clean rack and open layout to take full advantage of the VOLTRA I, plus you are going to need an assortment of other goodies to take full advantage… with a $2000 price tag and the need to spend hundreds of bucks on top of that, this thing goes from expensive to EXTREMELY expensive, very quickly. 

After years of owning a VOLTRA side by side a traditional cable machine, the more I have used the VOLTRA, the more I want to use it. With new changes line the smart pin and different ways to adjust them, they keep getting easier.

With the athletes that come into my gym, friends, kiddos, and more, they all gravitate to the VOLTRA. One friend even bought a VOLTRA for her gym after using it consistently here at our gym. The VOLTRA wins in a few obvious areas, like size and portability. I can’t take my Tandem Tower anywhere. And the Tandem Tower wins for sake of… it’ll be the same cable tower today, as it is in a decade, or two, or five, with minimal upkeep and replacement parts.

But the VOLTRA has three areas where I think it stands out depending on your space.

First, the tech inside. The inverse chains, added eccentrics, auto load, auto deload, cable adjustments, the app, and more, all make for something that can’t be done with a traditional cable machine or anything else on the market as of today. And they keep dropping updates and new features that address things I didn’t even know were a problem until I used the VOLTRAs.

Second, is the ability to combine with other equipment with mounts, straps, etc. The Tandem Tower needs some hefty DIY creativity to work with just about anything outside of its own attachments.  The VOLTRAs… I’ve got cable back extensions, a sled, a belt squat, a seated leg curl, standing leg curl, chest supported row, others are adding onto plate loaded machines, Smith Machines, Chest Press, Leg Press, whatever…

It is one of very few pieces of equipment that improves all the other equipment in your gym.

The third piece is going to be unique to certain gyms, but a huge factor for us. The VOLTRA is safer and easier to use with younger and newer lifters. We don’t have any pinch points to worry about. The adjustments are straight forward, no 2 to 1 ratio conversions. Being able to load up 1lb increments means for our youngest and oldest lifters, we can dial it in exactly where we want. Other cable machines take more work to make that happen.

If you want a cable machine for the basic use of a cable machine, the VOLTRA is over priced compared to other options and come with the impending doom of cable replacement, dead batteries, and more. But if you plan to use it outside of JUST A CABLE MACHINE, nothing else is doing what the VOLTRA does.

Other Options On The Market

The MAIAK-GO (now named the Freak Athlete ATOM) was announced in late 2024, and has yet to be released.

You could grab something like the ANCORE Pro, or simply go with any cable machine on the market. But these are going to be missing all the fun tech stuff inside the VOLTRA.

You also have devices like the SHOGUN FLEX that operate in a similar realm, but require the use of an app, have some huge limitations in terms of their resistance, and are just no where near as polished of a product.

Wrap Up

The Beyond Power VOLTRA I performs well, it has held up well, and overall our experience has been good. From the first iteration we used, to the most recent updated version, is a wildly different piece of gym equipment. It has changed the way we lift, and continues to do so as we learn, experiment, and new offerings and updates roll out.

The VOLTRA is our go-to cable solution in our gym. They aren’t right for everyone, but if they are, get ready for some fun!

💲Want a Beyond Power VOLTRA I for your home gym? Use this link!

Our Favorite Accessories For The VOLTRA

• DARKO Mounts
• Exponent Edge MAG Pins (use Code: GML to sve 5%)
• Cable Attachments to Use w/ VOLTRA