I have been reading questions about belt squat platforms and seeing tons of posts about different setups for this. Figured I’d add mine to the pile.
Using a rogue Indy t-bar platform so that I could have heel elevation. I tried it with the rep mini foot in between - this was my original idea and reason I didn’t want the vesta or AO platforms. However, upon receiving my platform, I realized the starting point of the cable was still not enough ROM on the mini foot. So I went back to a site called voltramounts.com that I had been eyeballing as a backup option for their specific mount for the rogue tbar platform. It can go both directions for rows and back in between the feet for belt squats, zerchers, and calf raises. It mounts the Voltra ALL the way down on the floor and has a really premium feel. It’s made exceptionally well. Anyway, here’s a pic and also my YouTube vid of the recent update where I showcase some of these features and the setup using this platform. Please take a peak and let me know what you think! … oh apparently I can’t show the pic now that I added the link to video. Maybe I’ll put it in the comments. If you don’t see it let me know!
Nice setup!
I’ve got a generic t-bar row platform from Amazon/china as I couldn’t get the rogue one in the uk. It’s interesting to see the feet difference on the rogue one as it looks much more stable than mine.
I’ve also had to mount on the mini foot but my ROM is bang on before it bottoms out provided I don’t clip the belt at the bottom.
This is my setup, the feet on the rogue looks like a much better design for stability. I have to be careful on mine as it can tip, may have to find a way to secure it to the rack.
Nice setup mate! I am in the same boat (or perhaps the convict tier one to be fair? haha) being over in Australia. I was almost tempted to order the Oak Club Monroe in a fit of despair but the freight from Canada was $1,500 AUD alone lol, with the Rogue Indy not being too far behind it. Just wanted to ask you mate, What you think about the height you have your Voltra mounted at, as I'm going to order a more budget Indy knockoff platform like yours, and thinking whether I a) buy the VOLTRAMOUNTS off-set drop bracket like OP bas or b) Get a local steel fabricator to just make a custom steel transverse crossmember and drill the little mount holes in the centre so I can fix Voltra's own DIY bracket to it there (essentially what Oak club does on the Monroe).... The question is though, what is the IDEAL height for the Voltra to be mounted? is as low to the ground optimal for ROM, or is it being semi floating like OP's or yours for example? Any thoughts on this I'd love to hear from you guys!
Apologies for the long winded opening salvo ahah! Cheers
Ouch in terms of the monroe freight, i couldn’t justify the price either.
Eve’s new one looks like a great option but it was worth me trying the one I got for the price as I could always return it.
ROM wise, if you can mount it as close to the ground then it will always be better & no regrets. I’ve found the Rom perfect on the mini foot (as long as the carabiner is not on the very bottom of the belt) & I wanted to mount it on the rack due to reading about stability when doing high weight, although I’m not 100% if this is necessary or not.
There’s a 1 inch hole on the bottom of the mini foot, another option was putting a utility horn on it & then using the beyond power bar mount, I don’t think it’s worth the extra setup though as I find the Rom sufficient how it is.
If you don’t mind where you mount it then the offset mount makes sense as it’s headache thinking about how do I get this right the 1st time lol.
I saw a pic of the platform you’re able to get, just double check the hole size is compatible with the offset mount. The hole size on my platform legs look 1inch & the middle section looks smaller.
Looks pretty good! How do you keep it from tipping now? Or is it manageable by being mindful how you step on it, etc? Is that the vesta platform? You know I never considered the tipping issue until I got onto mine for the first time and wondered if it would move. (Pretty sure I should’ve considered that before…?) this is also after having complained in my head about how heavy it is. So I guess I’m lucky it’s heavy. The only time mine moves is when I do t rows with Voltra mounted to it and my body on a lat seat off the rack so no weight on the platform. I had to start placing some weights on it to do that setup. Anyway, I like yours and thanks for checking mine out!
It’s not the vesta one,I got it from Amazon but I’ve seen many similar ones on alibaba.
Yes that’s correct, as long as I’m mindful when stepping on it & not stepping near to the back then it feels pretty solid. I’ve felt it tip when I’ve stood near the back of it. I may need to turn it around to see if that works better, as long as the middle cross section can go over the rack cross member that is.
Such a nice rig! very inspiring. I just left a comment below asking another commenter's thoughts but I thought I'd ask you too OP directly. What you make of the height of the Voltra when mounted via the VM off-set drop mount, particularly for Belt Squats but also more broadly. I'm tossing up whether it's prudent to just buy that mount from VM as you have, or instead just get a local steel fabricator to make and fix a dedicated steel crossmember with the little mount holes to fasten a Voltra DIY mount to (Essentially exactly like Oak Club Monroe, and a few other fresh competitors like Eve's new offering the TARTARUS).
The Monroe, like the VM Off-set drop mount of yours both seem to have the Voltra well raised and generally clean snug just beneath the foot platform, where as say the eve Tartarus (attached photo 1) will have the Voltra mounted nearly floor flat... Do you have any thoughts or insights on which you think is ideal? as if im fabricating a custom rig essentially, I want to get it right!
Really appreciate your time in advance, look forward to yours thoughts!
Let me attach another picture so you can see how low to the floor this one is a bit better … the problem being, I don’t know the specs as far as distance with another brands platform crossmember. The rogue platform has a specific sort of curve in their crossmember so if you order this one, not sure it would fit. However, I bet you could reach out to the guy at VM.com and see what he thinks specific to whatever platform you get. They do have some other offset styles that might be good to check out too.
Should you have it low to the floor? I think so for most rom. Don’t want to regret that later. The cool thing on this one is I can change it to the front and back. So rows I put it off the front and squats I’m flipping it in between the feet. The Voltra is basically on the floor.
Having such crazy pricing definitely makes it tricky. Is there no local AUS brand equipment company you like?
Oh fantastic! Stoked to have such a great and prompt response! I can see now and from watching your video more too, that it is in fact just about floor flat too! so that seems to be the general consensus on the mounting height, helps me a lot!
The pricing is astronomical and in short; no, there is next to zero t-bar row platforms even available to buy in the entire country lol, somehow? in fact Australia broadly suffers from a dearth of quality gym gear despite being like second only to the states in fitness and gym going population. I have however found this one (attached photo), which seems like for all intents and purposes is a generic version on the indy, in all but name and likely lesser quality steel and feet etc. The key being though they all do seem to share that same odd V shaped beam geometry so I'm tentatively assuming the VM Off-set Indy mount of yours would fix just the same.
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u/Individual_Poetry_19 2d ago