April 2nd, 2010 by Joe Alter | 13 Comments | Filed under Equipment
Just like in any business we get lots of calls from potential customers who all seem to ask the same questions over and over again. Will my elliptical fit under a 7′ ceiling in my basement? If I put my treadmill in the garage and it is humid will it void my warranty? bla bla bla. But there is one issue that bugs me and it has something to do with our business model.
Yowza was founded based on the idea that a truly factory direct business model can save consumers hundreds or even thousands on their purchase. But, by selling direct we are eliminating the retail showrooms where folks may want try out the unit. We do explain that we have a 60 day in-home trial period where you can return the machine if you don’t like it for a full refund. But considering the return shipping cost and size of our products, that can be a daunting task.
So I’d like to float the idea of starting a “Happy Yowza customer 10 minute demo program” the idea is that Yowza customers could voluntarily sign on to allow potential customers to come over and try our machine in a home setting for roughly about 10 minutes. The “happy customer” who provides the demo will get some sort of compensation for this service. We have talked about things like paying $50 for every demo that results in a sale, or giving a discount up front with the purchase if you sign onto the demo program. To be honest, I am open to any and all suggestions as this exercise is just to see how the folks feel about such an idea.
So please take the time and comment on this post with any feedback that you may have. Also understand that Yowza Fitness will respect your privacy and never give out your contact information unless you have asked us to.
February 22nd, 2010 by Joe Alter | No Comments | Filed under Adidas Table Tennis
Adidas Table Tennis
For 25 years now, I have been looking for the perfect contra-seasonal product line to go along with fitness equipment. As you can imagine the fitness business is busiest in the cold weather months while folks are cooped up in their homes and looking to burn off those excess calories that came along with the holiday season.
Yowza Fitness has recently entered into an agreement with Adidas which gives Yowza Fitness and parent company Greenmaster Fitness of Taiwan the worldwide rights to design, manufacture and distribute Table Tennis tables, accessories and clothing. Yowza is currently building a new website for Adidas Table Tennis and we expect to go live sometime in the second quarter of this year.
As with our fitness equipment, we expect to deliver a real value proposition offering both indoor and outdoor table tennis tables that all feature our patented one-step folding mechanism. In addition, Yowza will manufacture all Table Tennis tables in Germany under the direction of Mr. Frank Koch who is the President of Yowza’s sister company Green Fitness.
Look for Yowza to offer promotional discounts on Adidas Table Tennis products to our existing customers this summer as we launch this new and exciting business.
January 14th, 2010 by Joe Alter | No Comments | Filed under Running
Gary and Amby Burfoot
Check out this blog post by Amby Burfoot (Editor at large for Runner’s World Magazine) http://footloose.runnersworld.com/ After winning the 1968 Boston Marathon he has continued to run for over 40 years! But some of us are not as fortunate to have survived the injury bug. Running outdoors on asphalt is OK for those thin guys who don’t have enough body-weight to inject heavy trauma onto their joints, but many people need to make the switch to a soft shock-absorbing treadmill.
That’s why our engineers at Yowza Fitness have spent years studying impact and knee sheer and designing better and better shock absorption systems with each new generation of treadmill we build. Our current line-up of treadmills features the best-selling Keewadin folding treadmill which utilizes the patented swing arm impact absorption system. Swing arm absorbs impact in the front of the belt where your foot lands on the deck but allows for a firm and stable surface in the rear of the belt to push off of. Check out the Keewadin here www.yowzafitness.com/Treadmills/Keewadin-Folding-treadmill
In 1982 a man by the name of Ken Hutchins invented a new form of strength training called “Super Slow” while doing some research at the University of Florida, Mr. Hutchins was searching for a new training method that would provide greater results than the various techniques that were being employed at that time.
He began testing the concept of doing “time-based” reps while using Nautilus machines, free weights or even the person’s own body weight. He soon determined that a person would gain 50% more strength over an eight week period if they lowered the weight, increased the time of each rep to a minimum of 20 seconds and did only one set to complete muscle failure.
How could this be true? Well with Super Slow your muscles are under a constant load for a longer period of time which is called (TUL) Time Under Load. By stressing the muscles continuously, Super Slow training eliminates the bouncing or ballistic movements that are normally caused when an exerciser changes direction. So for instance, if you do pull ups really fast, your muscles will only be loaded for a portion of the upward movement and under very little load on the downside, and you would be able to cheat from the residual bounce created there, in order to do more reps.
But with a Super Slow pull-up you cannot cheat and your muscles will be stressed to the max until they begin to quiver and ultimately fail. Lactic acid builds up at a faster rate and ultimately you will end up shedding body fat and seeing more muscle tone.
That said, Super Slow is a difficult and sometimes tedious method of training and probably works best as a portion of your overall weekly workout routine. It can be done in 10 minutes a day and also in regular work attire. So give it a try and experiment with the length of time that you allow for each repetition. Try doing only one repetition for each exercise and even take as long as five minutes to do one rep. Start with a pushup on your knees and advance to a full bodyweight pull-up or for seniors or deconditioned folks try using machines with light levels of resistance.
January 12th, 2010 by Joe Alter | No Comments | Filed under Equipment
Welcome to the Yowza Fitness Blog. This is the place where you will be able to get lot’s of information about fitness equipment, innovative workout routines, dietary information and all kinds of cool stuff. Please bookmark this blog site and forward it to a friend. It’s cold outside and Yowza is very busy now shipping our hot-selling Keewadin treadmill to customers who need to run inside.
Our marketing team here at Yowza Fitness was very busy last week shooting our Core X web commercial and workout videos which will be available soon on youtube and www.yowzafitness.com. Be sure to check it out when it goes live very soon.
and size of our products, that can be a daunting task.
