Updated March 18, 2024 11:11AM
One of the most highly respected strength-training equipment designers in the industry Mark Nalley has signed on at Star Trac to work with the company on additional improvements in and expansions of its strength line.
Nalley, the founder of Flex Fitness, which Star Trac bought after he had sold that company, will be a contract designer for specific products in the works, Randy Bergstedt, vice president of marketing at Star Trac, told SNEWS®.
“We hope it improves our strength offering,” Bergstedt said. “He’s a key part of the overall strategy of improving our position in the strength category.
“Our commitment to the strength category is obviously strong with the acquisition of HumanSport, the launch of Instinct and the redesign of Impact,” he added.
Star Trac acquired the Italy-based HumanSport line by Teca Fitness founder Eliseo Falcone, debuting it in March 2006, or about 16 months after it acquired the assets of Murrieta, Calif.-based, Flex Fitness in November 2004. That became Star Trac Strength, a wholly owned subsidiary of Star Trac, and the company’s first push into its own strength line on its quest to be a full-line company.
No stranger to Star Trac since it was already using his designs in the Impact line, an update to the former Flex Platinum line, Nalley had also licensed his Lock n’ Load flip-switch system for selecting plates on a stack to the Southern California company.
“Our goal is to continue our growth as a major player in the commercial strength market, and we are pleased to attract the expertise of Mark Nalley to assist us in achieving this goal,” Terry Woods, Star Trac director of product development, told SNEWS®.
Nalley will work out of the current Murrietta office of Star Trac Strength along with other designers.
“It’s not a new strategy,” Bergstedt said, “but just another step.”
SNEWS® View: Nalley and Roy Simonson may be two of the most respected names in fitness who have brought some innovations to this category. Cybex locked up Simonson earlier this year; now Star Trac has Nalley. We can’t wait to see what comes out of these two companies next year.