Crystal OKeefe: Welcome to the MetPro Method podcast. I’m your host, Crystal O’Keefe, and today I’m joined by Director of Global Sales of Assault Fitness, Paul Jackson. Paul, thank you so much for being here today.
Paul Jackson: Pleasure, excited to be on the podcast.
Crystal OKeefe: We’re excited to have you. Okay, tell me a bit about Assault Fitness. Let’s start there.
Paul Jackson: Yeah, absolutely. Assault Fitness really came about in 2013 and initially, the company was under a different name was called LifeCore Fitness, and we used to manufacture your traditional recumbent bikes and elliptical machines and that. And in 2013, around that time, we found that there was a big demand for high-intensity training bikes, but something that was durable and that would last and obviously CrossFit was growing at quite a, quite an alarming pace at that point in time and talking to most of the big CrossFit boxes and hit training studios and that they were looking for an air bike that would stand up to Some serious pounding, basically, and something that would hold up.
What we did was we brought over a few samples we worked on a bike we got them into some boutiques that were using air bikes at that time, we got them in the hands of quite a few of the top CrossFit boxers around the nation, and they absolutely fell in love with that bike, and basically, right after that we were in the CrossFit Games with our bike, and from that point forward, we were basically regarded as the gold standard in HIIT training Specifically for that bike, just because it wasn’t a few thousand dollars.
It was pretty affordable, but it delivered a workout second to none. If you go hard on that bike for 30 seconds, you are done. We started bringing in the bike, and as I say, it was adopted by CrossFit around the world because that was the gold standard for CrossFit, and the program was all based around that product.
Soon after that, we then started to manufacture a non-motorized runner. And basically what a non-motorized runner i,s the way it’s designed is you do not need a motor. So it’s human power, just like all our products that we manufacture, and it’s designed to basically give that user an experience as close to running outdoors as possible.
So on a traditional treadmill what the user does is they set the speed and they are actually keeping up to the speed of the belt. Doesn’t teach them the correct form. You go to the gym, you often see people bent over, holding on to it to keep up to it. Because that’s all they’re doing is keeping up to a belt.
Our machine is designed where when you are on the machine and you stand in the middle of the machine, you take your first step and it will actually start to move under your body weight. You can pick up the pace, you can sprint and all the belt is doing is keeping up to the user’s intensity that they’re putting into the unit.
So we sell that unit to rehab facilities to NFL facilities, all the UFC performance training centers around the world use our product as well because it’s the most natural form of walking, running, and rehabbing. You don’t have a belt running at, for example, three miles an hour as the user lifts their feet and hits the belt again, you are hitting a belt that’s moving at three miles an hour.
That’s going to obviously jar the joint again. Our unit is as you run. So it’s keeping up to you. You’re not keeping up with that unit. It also has a unique design. If you’ve ever used one, it’s higher in the front than it is in the back. That’s what causes the momentum, the inertia to get the machine going.
So when someone starts to run and they strike a bit higher, so the machine’s going to want to move faster. It also teaches us form. So if you leaning forward on our machine, because the weight is transferred forward, the belt is going to want to take off on you. So it teaches the user to run efficiently, chest out, chin up, and in the correct form.
So that was the runner. Then we moved on to manufacturing a rower. We have a rower as well. Pretty unique. We don’t have dampers on the side of it. So it’s really all-inclusive that if it’s in competition or anything like that, everyone starts off at the same level as such, depending on the intensity they put into the unit.
So it’s going to make the unit go faster. In turn, burn more calories, complete your calorie burn or whatever metrics you’re using on that unit to complete that part of it to move on to the next event.
And then we have basically three different bikes. We have your basic classic bike, which everyone knows out there. Then we have, what’s known as a Pro Bike that we just recently introduced. It’s the Pro Bike X, and we actually have dual belts on that particular bike. Cause a lot of people are using the unit in the home. Now they looking for something a little bit quiet, a little bit smoother. So that is the Pro X and then we have an elite line.
So the elite line consists of the full commercial runner, the full commercial row, and the full commercial bike. The step-down, which is like commercial, is the pro bike, the pro rower, and the pro runner. And then the classic bike stands on its own, more of a commodity purchase.
Crystal OKeefe: That’s interesting that it stands on its own because when I hear Assault Fitness, I’ve always heard assault bike, like it’s almost synonymous. So, to me, my perception is that’s your most popular product, which is that still the case?
Paul Jackson: Yes, it is. Yeah, that actually is still the case. So everyone, again, when you look at the bike, when you look at the cost of the unit and the workout you can get from it and elite athletes using it to keep in elite shape, for example, UFC, it puts that person into an uncomfortable place where they’ve got to deal with their breathing and how to adapt to that high-intensity workout. So, when they are in a UFC fight able to cope because it’s almost replicating what you’re experiencing when you’re out of breath and how you react to that and how you’re able to break through that.
Because we came to market with our bike first and everyone knows our bike The bike is the most popular piece that we sell. I will tell you that the runner has gained incredible traction out there in the market. They are already using it in certain of the world triathlon series where people can actually compete virtually around the world.
Because you don’t have to plug it in and there’s no modal, no boards that can get damaged. You can use the product in different environments. We do an event in Florida, which is the kickoff to the CrossFit season, where athletes actually swim.
They get out of the water and actually jump onto our runners to compete a certain amount of miles on it wet, coming right out of the water. Very, versatile product. Again, the mainstream consumer out there or that average person who’s in their home who wants to train for a 5K or because walking is such a natural form of exercise that people can do outdoors.
People that want to lose weight, that want to tone up, that want to get into shape. It’s the perfect training tool for them because all they need to do is walk. And the machine is keeping up with them. So that, as I say, has gained a lot of attraction around the world. And people go to the health clubs now and they actually see our units there too. So pretty excited about that.
Crystal OKeefe: Yeah, absolutely. And as you said, all of your products are 100 percent powered by what you’re doing. And I just want to dig into that a little bit, because the average person may not understand that when you say that you’re saying like, it is not powered into an electrical socket at all.
Like you said, you could have it right on the beach and you didn’t have to have electrical running to that for them to come out of the water and use it. Now, I have never used an assault treadmill, but I have used other treadmills that use a free mode and so this is where my experience is coming from.
That was the free mode within those treadmills uses your own momentum, but it’s very intense. Like you have to really push hard and that’s what I’m imagining your products are like. Is that the case? Because you’re talking about walking, so it sounds like it’s not as, it can be intense, but it doesn’t have to be intense. Is that accurate?
Paul Jackson: So what you are saying is accurate in the sense that the majority of the machines that are out there, and I’m obviously not going to name any machine, your traditional nonmotorized machine is a curve that is often referred to a non-motorized machine as a curve runner. So what that means is the front portion of the runner and the back portion of the runner of the same height dips down in the middle.
So it starts up high, dips down, and comes back high again. The sweet spot is right in the middle of that machine. So essentially when the user gets onto that machine, they have to hold on to the side and push back to get that belt going up. Because it’s inclined on the back because it’s a curve. It’s almost an 80-pound belt that has to go up and incline to get the momentum going.
So yes, there’s stress on the joints. You cannot walk extremely slow if you’re rehabbing because there’s not enough momentum that person is creating to get that belt up and over. The flywheel on the back of the unit, the roller, I should say. So our runner is unique, and that’s why it’s so popular.
So as opposed to being as high in the front as it is in the back, our runner is high in the front and actually slants down. So it’s actually lower in the back. So if you think about it, because it’s lower in the back, when you’re standing on it, you take a step. Because of the momentum and gravity, it’s just gonna roll because of the higher portion, lower portion, it’s going to start to move under your weight.
So yes, our machine can be used for rehabilitation, if a person’s first starting off and just wants to take a gentle step, because of our unique design, it can be used without putting any stress on the joints, as opposed to having to move a traditional curve up and over an incline, so you’re constantly fighting that 80-pound belt.
And that’s why I say you’re partly right because that is mostly what in the clubs, your traditional curve, we looked at those designs and basically improved on the design to make it all-inclusive, that again, if someone’s starting out, and they, for example, want to lose a little bit of weight, out of shape, this is a way of them to be able to start up extremely easy without having to put any stress on the joint or making it difficult for them to move.
It’s almost as though you’re on an electric machine at that low speed and you’ve hit the lowest speed possible so the belt is just moving under your weight and that’s what our machine will replicate.
Crystal OKeefe: Wonderful. Okay. What a great explanation. So, then when I think about the circumstances that you were originally solving, which was these high-intensity situations, there are a couple of questions that come up.
The first one is if a person is really trying to lose weight. The high-intensity side of things is their focus on their particular goal. How do you engage people to push themselves to that level? It’s hard to sometimes be self-motivated.
Paul Jackson: That’s a good question. So basically, when I speak, when I talk about HIIT training, we are really talking about someone who’s already exercising, who is used to pushing themselves, getting into that uncomfortable part of exercise.
Our products can also be used for that average person, again, who is just starting out and wants to just get onto the treadmill and maybe walk for 10 minutes to begin and slowly build up their tolerance and pick up the pace. So I’m not saying well it’s for HIIT training and hang on a minute, I can’t do that. It’s way too difficult to train like that. My personal trainer says I don’t have to train like that. I have to spend 15 minutes at a moderate pace on the piece of equipment and adjust my diet to get the results I’m looking for 100 percent you can do it on our machine.
For example, instead of going flat out on the bike for, say, 30 seconds and depleting all your energy and having to wait 5 minutes, 10 minutes to recover from that, you can use it a lot easier pace and because you’re using the upper and lower body, you are using so many more muscles and so many more parts of the body. You are raising the heart rate a lot quicker than just being on a regular bike, just sitting there, or you can just isolate your upper body.
If you want to start toning the upper body by putting your feet on the pegs, which you get with the bike, or just using the pedals and not the upper body. So a lot of people use it that way. And if you’ve ever seen, there was a program on TV, it was called Biggest Loser. So Biggest Loser, if you see on Biggest Loser, one of the biggest cardio pieces that they used was our bikes.
So, our bikes were featured on Biggest Loser in most of the seasons. As one of the best training tools, and when you see them start out at a slower pace, and as they progress through the season, and these are people that are out of shape have never exercised, but are basically changing their life that was an incredible training tool for that.
And once the program is over, or they voted off, we actually got a lot of those people that contact us directly and actually say your bike changed our life we, got incredible results from it. It was an incredible training tool. When we first got onto it, we thought there was no way that we would be able to use a product like this. And have purchased them for their home to continue their fitness journey. That is the one part of it. The hip training part of it is you’re not on the bike for a prolonged period of time. So, you just at a pace or heart rate.
So our screens give you time, distance, speed, your calorie burn. There’s interval training programs that you can put in as well. There are heart rate programs where you want to get to a certain heart rate so you can monitor it. Time-based, things like that as well.
Essentially, someone can get onto a bike, put on the chest strap and basically stay in their fat-burning zone, if that is what they want to achieve, fat burning. Obviously, as the elite athletes want to push themselves where basically they get into anaerobic training. So it can be used, as I say, from that person starting out on their fitness journey all the way to that elite athlete who is pushing themselves in intervals, raising their heart rate as high as they can, then letting it recover, then hitting it again.
So again, it’s an incredible training tool and that’s why you see so many personal trainers using these pieces of equipment that we sell to get people to where they need to be. If that answers your question.
Crystal OKeefe: It does. Yeah. It answered a couple of questions. Thank you. So, I guess what did we miss?
What do you want to make sure that people at home know about Assault Fitness and your product line? Yeah.
Paul Jackson: Paul Jackson: So, I think the biggest misconception with our product line is people automatically think that, hey, this product is designed for that elite athlete.
That person that you see at the CrossFit box or competing in CrossFit or that MMA fighter or that NFL player that’s using our product. And that was and still is a massive part of our markets. But what you’re going to start seeing is that the product is now going to start to be marketed to an all-inclusive market that again, you don’t have to be that athlete.
If you have limited space, the bike is a perfect piece for you to start that fitness journey to get you better Cardiovascular equipped and we talk about our engine again. It is human-powered. When we refer to your engine, it’s your heart. Basically, the stronger your heart is the less it has to be to push the blood through the body.
Which lowers obviously blood pressure and everything else that comes with it as well that basically improves the body to function more efficiently and to make it stronger. So that is one of the biggest things, the misconception of people thinking that I can’t use it that all I see are basically athletes using it and I’m not an athlete.
But again, you don’t see the other side of it, that it’s used in your health clubs out there people starting off. That’s so basic to use you step onto it. You start walking. It’ll move on your way. You get onto the bike. No fancy features that you’ve got to program it and things like that. You get on, you start pedaling and you go again, because you don’t plug it in. You can use it anyway.
So a lot of people purchase the product come summer, and they roll it out of their garages, but that can work out outdoors as well. Which is really nice. And again, you can use the product absolutely anywhere Because it does not require it to be plugged in.
For example, we sell a lot to the military. Because they’re able to pack it into a container and fly it out to the desert somewhere. Drop the container, open it up, and roll it out and be able to use it. And again, you don’t have all those little micro upper boards, lower boards, decks that stand or dust and get between.
So for example, our runners, you will get about an average of 150,000 miles out of a belt. Which is just unheard of, people don’t even keep their car that long. Essentially, you’ll be able to use that product for almost a lifetime. 150,000 miles is really hard to put in a runner like that. So when people look at it and the opening price of that machine is $2,999.
So to buy a pretty decent treadmill. You’re looking at anywhere from about 3, 500 and up. Unfortunately, the cheaper unit, because of the smaller motors they use, because of decks and belts, they wear out very quickly. And… Once they start wearing out because of the friction between the belt and the deck, which causes stress on the motor and electrical components, and those go, you enter that for hundreds and hundreds of dollars, and you can’t use the machine.
Our machine, if you break the machine by mistake, by dropping something on it, you can still use the machine. You don’t have to have the monitor. It’ll still turn. As far as investment, and investment into a product like that and cost of ownership it’s… It works out extremely profitable for the person to purchase over a long period of time that they’re going to have.
Here at Assault we’re not a big, company. We’re around 28 people. We pride ourselves in customer service. If a customer ever has an issue, we’ll walk them through how to repair the machine or get a technician out there if need be. But now that we offer three products you get those people that enjoy rowing out there, we have a rower, you get those people that enjoy walking or running, which again treadmill is almost probably the most popular form of cardiovascular training, just because it’s a natural form of exercise, we walk every single day, and again, our runner delivers the same sort of experience that you would do outdoors, and the bike is just taking up very small area when you’re finished with it, you can tip it onto the transport wheel, roll it out the way to store it.
But we have something for everyone and we continually looking to better ourselves, our Pro line and the Elite line. The monitor actually has Bluetooth, and it is in plus, so all the monitors you can pick up your heart rate, but with Bluetooth, you’re able to download, it’s a very basic program that we have on the app store.
It’s free. You can record all your programs and see how you’re progressing through time using that as well. And we are working on some sort of an app, which is more interactive to where you will be able to call your friends up and go, “Hey, let’s hop onto a ride” and you’ll be able to see the stats and compare your stats as well.
So again, getting back to the question, our product is designed for everyone. We never designed it for that high-intensity use. It was just a market that was untapped and that’s how we started. And because of that, you see it again in the rehab centers, as I say, where people are rehabbing from injuries all the way up to your high-intensity programming.
There are boutiques out there that actually run classes and it’s 90 percent of the classes on our bikes. So that’s how popular the bikes are. You’re on the bike, then you get off and you do some dumbbell work and then you back on the bike. And it’s almost like a high-intensity sort of class. Where, in a way, it’s similar to Peloton, but you’re doing it in a class environment and there is an instructor there as well. Hopefully, that answers the question.
Crystal OKeefe: It did. It did. Thank you. That was a lot of really great information, Paul. And I really appreciate all of your time today and all of your information about Assault Fitness products. Before you go, let everyone know where they can find you and Assault Fitness to find out more.
Paul Jackson: Excellent. Yeah. Our website is Assault Fitness. And basically, that just takes you to our website where you can actually see the different products that are out there.
You can actually compare them as well. You can also reach out directly to us. There’s info as well at assaultfitness.com to my personal email address. And I pretty much answer all the emails that I get at paul@thesaltfitness.com. And yeah, if anyone has any questions or they want to try out the product, we’re more than happy to direct them depending where they are in the U.S. to be able to go try out the product as well.
Crystal OKeefe: That’s wonderful. Listeners, that’s all for this week. You can find all of the MetPro Method episodes anywhere you get podcasts, or you can go to MetPro.co/podcast. Please be sure to follow the show and rate and review that lets other people know what they can expect.
You can also learn more about MetPro@metpro.co. I’m your host, Crystal O’Keefe and I will be back next week. Until then, remember, consistency is key.
