Exxentric kBox V5 Review – The BEST Flywheel Device For Your Home Gym?

Last updated on October 27th, 2024 at 01:58 pm

Flywheel training is something I had no experience with, but was always intrigued by. One of those, an itch you have to scratch ideas. I had a full set of cable attachments, multiple cable arrangements and options, and a pretty stacked home gym. But Flywheel training was calling my name. My friends at Exxentric and I connected in early 2024, and made plans to get an Exxentric kBox V5 Active Platform into my hands for testing, training, and of course… a review!

After close to 8 months of use, I am here to share my thoughts. I like doing some of these long term reviews because it gives me a chance to use it, put it away, come back to it, and overall get outside of the new flashy toy honeymoon period and really have an objective opinion about how this fits into my home gym and how it might fit in to yours, or not.

Today I’m going to share my thoughts… good and bad… about flywheel training and the Exxentric kBox V5, so you can decide if this is the next purchase for your home gym, or not.

Key note as we proceed, this is a PREMIUM piece of gym equipment with a premium price tag. Thus, it will get the premium scrutiny.

Transparency Note

This was sent to me for free, including a bunch of theirs discs and attachments, for sake of testing and putting together this review. I also have an affiliate link, so if you want to buy one of these, you can use that link and it helps support what I do at no cost to yourself.

Exxentric kBox V5 – First Look

Quick primer on the Exxentric kBox V5 and Flywheel training. Flywheels are similar to cable machines in that you can perform some of the same movements. I can hook up my favorite cable attachment, and perform curls, rows, and various exercises.

But they differ in their execution. A cable machine you select a weight, it works off gravity, and you have a somewhat consistent resistance from beginning to end. Flywheels use stored energy in the form of inertia, to create the resistance we feel in each rep.

If I do a 10lb curl and so does my daughter on a cable machine, it is 10lbs for both of us. Whether I absolutely dominate that rep, go fast, slow, controlled, whatever… it is still 10lb. With a flywheel, because the resistance is based on the input, the output can be very different with the same settings.

If we load a small disc, and I do a curl and my daughter does a curl, it is automatically going to adjust how each rep moves and grooves to that person and how much fight they put into the rep. Ok, so that is the high level on Flywheels and the Exxentric kBox V5, lets dig in deeper.

Exxentric kBox V5 – Video Review

If you prefer to take in this review in video form, I got ya!

Exxentric kBox V5 Specs

In theory, one of the cool things with Flywheel training is that Audrey (my daughter), my wife, and myself can all use the same flywheel for the same exercises, and likely be good to go. There are different sized wheels which provide a different level of difficulty (I struggle to say resistance here for sake of confusion), but in my early tests even the smallest wheel has some pretty gnarly strength to it.

The available flywheel discs range in 5 sizes, from Extra Small to Extra Large, much like shirt sizes. The larger the disc, the more potential for inertia it has, which means it can store more energy and fight back harder. So if we want to make an analogy to weights…

An XS disc might be a 5lb plate, where an XL disc might be a 45lb plate. This isn’t exact, but you get the idea for the sake of what I’m explaining.

The Exxentric kBox V5 comes as the base platform, and you can pick and choose your accessories to fit your needs. Exxentric sent me a pair of D-Handles, Ankle Cuffs, a straight bar, and the hip belt. With these I’m able to perform squats, deadlifts, curls, shoulder work, rows, calf work, and more. Of course I have an entire wall of cable attachments, but their offerings are pretty good. If you have your own, I wouldn’t likely buy from them. If you don’t, then by all means go for it.

Specs List

• Brand: Exxentric
• Made In USA: No
• Top Surface Dimensions: 29 x 17 inches
• Height: 8.3 inches
• Footprint: 32 x 20 inches
• Weight: 35 lbs
• Total Range Of Motion: 71 inches
• Suitable Athletes: All ranges
• Finish: all black
• Assembly: none
• Additional Items: Attachments mentioned above

Build and Construction

The kBox is a premium platform with a flywheel built into it. Everything about this is nicely finished, smooth, and built to look good inside your front room, garage gym, or wherever you take it. Over the past several months this thing still looks brand new. I have carried it inside, outside, stored it in various fashions, loaded it, dropped it, you name it. It got the normal home gym treatment of constantly shuffling around, and it looks FANTASTIC!

The grip on the platform is more than adequate, looks clean, and isn’t the skateboard grip tape that tears up shoes and skin. It also seems to be holding up well, so a solid choice here. The stickers, padding, every detail on the kBox is really a premium choice.

Shackle

To connect your various cable attachments, the kBox has this crazy shackle device. It is pretty cool, but at the same time feels like it is missing something. The rotation is fantastic and smooth, the strap slides well, but the opening for the shackle itself is lacking.

With the way the shackle works, you have a very small opening available. This means that for some cable attachments, I am hooking up a carabiner to then connect to the shackle itself. It works perfectly well for the attachments offered by Exxentric, it just doesn’t play nice with every other cable attachment option. Now to be fair, I am currently doing an entire piece on the BEST carabiner for a home gym, because it isn’t as straight forward as picking one carabiner. But this is an area where I think they could improve their ability to work with other attachments.

Strap

The strap is what wraps around the flywheel itself, and is the alternative to a cable for a cable machine.

In use, the Exxentric kBox V5 strap has two things that kind of irk me. One, is that it has a tendency to get twisted. This is easy to fix, but if it happens mid set or you don’t notice it, well, you can see that the strap is already starting to fray. This happens mostly because of how the strap rolls up, and then ends up dragging on the various metal parts.

They do send you an extra strap, so I’m assuming this is a learning curve issue. Once you realize how this works, that sometimes the strap gets caught up, you can simply adjust and fix without problems.

Second, is that the strap doesn’t pull in a consistent straight line. With a cable attachment, it is always pulling from the same angle, every time. With the Exxentric kBox V5, because it wraps around one direction, then flips on the way back, every rep it is about an inch left to right back and forth. This isn’t huge, but something that was definitely noticeable, especially on squat variations as it was pulling me sideways.

Flywheel Pin

The last piece is around the flywheel rod itself, where the plates go. You pull this pin and it comes off fairly easy. Unfortunately, it tends to have some weird hiccups when going back on. This isn’t consistent, which almost makes it more annoying, because sometimes it works the first time, other times it takes 3 or 4 or more times to get right.

Storage and Mobility

A traditional cable machine like my FT2, is not portable at all. Even when I tried to move this thing back into its spot after finishing my flooring, it took me and my neighbor and his brother with two dollies to make it work. And it sucked!

The kBox, on the other hand, isn’t much bigger than a box. While it CAN be moved, there are a couple of areas I think they can address here.

Storage

The Exxentric kBox V5 doesn’t store very well in any orientation other than flat on its feet. So, while it is fairly small, it takes up more space than my Freak Athlete Hyper Pro. Because the bottom has grippy rubber pads, which is ideal for smooth surfaces like tile, it means that it doesn’t slide or move well on a typical rubber gym floor.

Mobility

I found between the various exercises I did, that I needed everything from the Small to Two Large Flywheel discs. Meaning that if I planned to do a single exercise, I might only need a disc or two. If I planned to do multiple exercises, or superset with my daughter or wife, I likely needed the entire set of discs.

The kBox also doesn’t have any way to carry it or move it, other than to simply pick it up and move it. It is kind of an awkward shape, has no wheels, and in general isn’t the easiest thing to maneuver as it is just a little too wide to fit between the door when horizontal.

Add to that that we need a couple of attachments, as well as the platform itself, and things start to get a little less mobile.

They make a carry bag, which is probably a great idea whether you plan to take the kBox somewhere or just set it up at home as it’ll help keep everything in one place, and now we could likely pick up the platform, and the bag, and make one trip.

Should the kBox fold up like the Booty Sprout? Maybe have wheels and vertical storage like the Freak Athlete Hyper Pro? Should it simply have an easy to carry handle? I’m not 100% positive on the perfect solution. But for something that could easily be moveable, could store away and take up almost no space, it is missing a few pieces to the puzzle.

Performance

The very first time we used the kBox, we had an experience that I believe most people will have. If you were to do a curl on a cable machine, you’d have a small pause at the bottom for the stretch, and a small pause at the top for the contraction. This lets you breathe a little, really soak in the rep, and prepare for the next one.

With the flywheel, there is no pause, there is no break in the action, it is a constant exercise. This can be figuratively and literally jarring the first time you use a flywheel. And it is something you really have to find a feel for. That constant work makes every set of flywheel training brutally difficult. You are constantly trying to balance breathing, bracing, moving the concentric fast and controlling the eccentric on the way back.

This is something that I think can have tremendous carry over to the rest of your lifting. Ever get a little loose on a squat on the 4^th or 5^th rep and lose position? Not anymore! Ever forget to keep the upper back engaged in a heavy bench? Not anymore! This is a teaching tool as much as it is an effective training tool.

But what about…

The problem with this, is that from a bodybuilding stance we typically like to have a little bit of that pause. Letting each rep land, instead of instantly going back into each rep. Especially with recent research leaning on the lengthened portion of a lift being the most advantageous for muscle growth, we might want to SIT in the stretch for a bit. This isn’t possible here. We could definitely adjust the strap length and only hit lengthened partials, but we aren’t going to get that deep stretch and pause.

Now, I mentioned that the flywheel adjusts automatically to what you put into it. The cool thing here, is that this means every rep can be maximized for full effort. It essentially has a built-in drop set regulated by your abilities. So instead of 50lbs, then 40, then 30, then 20 on a cable machine. It simply adjusts each rep based on how hard you work. Which arguably is a much smarter set.

The struggle here is that it can make beating the log book very difficult. If I load up 50lbs and hit 10 reps in Week 1 on a cable machine, I know I can do 11 reps or 51lbs in Week 2 and it is abiding by the concept of Progressive Overload. Assuming of course that I am doing the reps consistently. Week 3 I can do 12 reps or 52lbs, etc… I work until I plateau or need a deload, change out exercises, whatever my program calls for.

With a Flywheel, since every rep is adjusting to what you put into it, no rep is the same, and no set is the same. So even if I use the Large Disc in Week 1 for 10 reps, if I try and do the exact same workout in Week 2 for 11 reps, those 11 reps could be easier or harder by a magnitude of difference. I could do 5 reps that is drastically more difficult than 10 reps with the same exercise, same disc, same attachment. So trying to manage progressive overload week to week, can be tough.

kMeter

Now they did provide me with the kMeter, but I’m a little mixed on this.

For one, it requires you to log into an app, with a user account, to simply see the results of your set. Multiple times I went to use it during a workout and I had been logged out. I’m not stopping my workout to go find my log in credentials, to measure my set. I’d rather have something on the kBox itself that tells me what I did. Obviously, the app is there for a more robust experience, exercises, you name it. But I’m just not a fan of that for the most part.

Add in that the discs aren’t exactly “weight”, and you get another fun issue. I currently run JuggernautAI, but it would be the same for the vast majority of app based programs. I can’t enter a weight into my program for the Flywheel, because there isn’t one. I could decide that the Large is worth 45lbs, medium 35lbs, small 25lbs, or something like that. But I’m not truly capturing my work load in an app using a Flywheel device, as the work load doesn’t translate over to anything the app understands. And since each rep is different, it probably wouldn’t work anyway.

What About Triceps?

The Platform is awesome, but only for exercises coming from beneath you. I can’t do pulldowns, triceps extensions, chest work, you name it. So this likely isn’t a full fledged home gym or even cable system, in one package. Their rack attached system likely has more options here as you can move it up and down the rack, but now you are attached to a rack and not very portable. You win some, you lose some.

Overall Thoughts On The Exxentric kBox V5

Ok so where does this all get us to.

The kBox as a whole, is a well-presented piece of gym equipment. I think there are some opportunities to improve its storage, mobility, and potentially longevity and ease of use with other attachments, but a lot of that is small nit picks.

You ultimately have two decisions to make. The first is whether Flywheel Training is right for you, or not.

Who Should Buy A Flywheel?

If you go into the gym and simply work hard. If you want to do a set of curls, or rows, or some accessory movement and just DO A HARD SET. The flywheel is likely a superior option to a cable set up in a number of ways. If you run a program where your goal is simply RIR or RPE related, and you aren’t focused on the idea of progressive overload, this is the business!

It will adjust to your abilities that day, for that set, and for each individual rep. It will be a difficult set that will challenge your strength in the concentric and eccentric portions of the lift, it will challenge your cardio as you will get NO break during that set, and it will leave you gassed. Whether you are doing curls or squats, you are gonna finish that set knowing you went for it. Each of the flywheel options opens up a lot of opportunities for exercise variation, is portable, and gives you options to go places and get creative.

Flywheel training can also be a teaching tool all on its own. Go hard, go all out, brace, breathe, and make every single second of every single rep count. That is something that can have a serious carryover to performance no matter what you are training for. It will teach you that whether it is your first rep, or tenth rep, to not get lazy. Learn to dominate every rep, no matter what, and you’ll always fire on all cylinders.

If you are in the rehab space, the ability to load up and challenge someone without overloading them is crucial. The Exxentric kBox V5 care of the difficult math equations for you.

Who Should NOT Buy A Flywheel?

If you go into the gym and take note of each exercise, set, and rep, and plan out progressions week to week often looking to beat your previous bests on accessory exercises, then a flywheel is a tough sell. Trying to determine if you are getting better without trying to use the kMeter and App is nearly impossible. And even then, I only get those results AFTER my set is complete. Entering that information into another program app is not user friendly. And ultimately you are left with a guessing game of whether you did more or less each week.

As someone who treats their accessory work like a bodybuilder, with pauses, squeezes, and stretches, the Flywheel just can NOT do that. You have less control over how you perform your reps in regards to the cadence. It can be a jarring experience that you ultimately dislike, and might not ever be able to truly get past. My daughter, who performs cable work like a champion, struggled with the kBox no matter what we did, which unfortunately killed one of the primary goals of our use.

Other Options On The Market

Flywheel devices are expensive. At minimum you are looking at just shy of $1700 for the Exxentric kBox V5 starter system, and all the way up to almost $3000 for the kBox Pro Platform that can handle heavier loads. Buy a pack of XS to XL discs, cable attachments, the carry bag, etc. you are looking at $2000 at the low end, and close to $4000 or more on the higher end for your kBox.

So this isn’t a casual investment into something you might want to try for your home gym.

There are a number of offerings from other companies, but I likely won’t be digging into them personally. If you want to explore the world of Flywheels from a good dude, check out The KurtLocker.

For the majority of home gym owners, we are likely comparing this to a cable machine.

The real comparison here is going to be to things like the Beyond Power Voltra I, or the newer items like the Shogun FLEX. These are portable, take up minimal space, allow you to train movements in various ways, without dedicating space to a massive cable tower.

Now again, flywheel training is meant to inherently be DIFFERENT than cable work. So those aren’t apples to apples competitors. More so different options for portable training that uses cable attachments.

Wrap Up

So… you have to decide whether Flywheel training is right for you, or not, based on the experiences I laid out here today.

If you want to try flywheel training, the next step is to decide what kind of a home gym owner are you. If you want the premium flywheel experience, Exxentric is the way to go, without a doubt.

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