The classic black Soloflex is the fitness machine which made home weightlifting socially acceptable in America.
From a meager beginning, Soloflex has become a model of business success–admired and copied in the fitness industry for its product and marketing techniques.
However, the phenomenal success of Soloflex, Inc. seemed remote in 1976, when Jerry Wilson first applied for a patent for his muscle machine.
Jerry Wilson’s idea was to create an exercise machine that would be attractive, convenient and easy to use in the privacy of one’s own home. Wilson’s commitment was to combine all the advantages of free weight lifting with the safety of machines. Over a period of one year, Jerry built 10 prototypes in his garage, doing the welding himself.
Initial Financing: Mortgage Everything
Although financial institutions were skeptical of the idea of a home weightlifting machine, the Wilsons believed in the Soloflex.
To borrow the $60,000 needed to get their fitness machine business started, the Wilsons mortgaged their house, three cars, a motorcycle and the patent on the Soloflex. Jerry quit his job as a Lear Jet charter pilot and began to concentrate full-time on the development of the L-shaped machine.
Following his invention and patent application, Soloflex, Inc., was formed in Texas, in July 1978.
One month later, the husband and wife team of Jerry and Marilyn Wilson opened the their first office in Roswell, New Mexico, to begin marketing directly to the consumer, not to health clubs as past weight machine manufacturers had.
“There were 5,000 health clubs in America and 75 million homes. We knew were we wanted to be,” said Jerry Wilson.
Manufacturing of the first Soloflex machines was on a much smaller scale than it is today. The frames were constructed in the Wilson’s garage and the wooden benches were cut in the barn. The finished machine was then painted in the driveway and packaged for delivery in the living room of the Wilson’s Roswell home. As orders reached into the hundreds, the Wilson’s hired the company’s first employee.
In March of 1979, the manufacturing of Soloflex was moved from home-based to a close Air Force base–in a rented building once used as a veterinary hospital.
First Magazine Advertising Paid Off
Their first advertising effort began in September on 1979, with a $3,300 print ad in a South West-regional edition of Playboy magazine. Orders flooded in.
Sales for the first year of operations totaled $80,000 with the sale of 228 machines. The second year, sales increased to $1.2 million.
Sales continued to grow, and in August 1980, Soloflex operations were moved moved to Hillsboro, Oregon, 20 miles outside of Portland. The move was made for several reasons, including the availability of raw materials and the need for a larger work force.
Space was first rented in the Hawthorn Farm Business Park complex, the largest industrial park in Oregon at the time. In June 1983, the corporate offices and manufacturing center moved to 570 N.E. 53rd Street in Hillsboro, Oregon.
By 1989 sales had reached all the way to $98 million.
Soloflex print ads, designed to sell America “better birthday suites,” became award winners after their appearance in such national markets as Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, GQ and Esquire.
The black-and-white magazine advertising, featuring hard-bodied, warmly photographed male models, made such slogans as “No Pain, No Gain” and “Body By Soloflex,” literally household phrases. Soloflex brochures included endorsements by sports luminaries such as body building great Arnold Schwarzenegger, Olympic gymnast Mitch Gaylord and football star Gale Sayers.
Soloflex Became TV’s “Infomercial” Innovator
Around 1986, Jerry and Marilyn recognized the advantages of using 30-minute sales videos in the rapidly growing cable television market. Eighty percent and more of the Soloflex advertising budget was going directly into television, taking advantage of huge blocks of surprisingly affordable cable-TV time, at a period when such “space-buying” was virtually unheard of.
This spurred an increase in sales, surpassing a quarter of a million machines sold by mid 1988.
Soloflex also was one of America’s greatest success stories in selling through “videotape brochures”, 20 to 30 minute cassette tapes mailed directly to potential cstomers who’d seen Soloflex TV commercials and dialed a 1-800 telephone number seeking more information on the machine.
In Jerry Wilson’s opinion, the video brochures demonstrate the Soloflex machine better than any salesman and can be watched repeatedly and passed on to other potential customers.
The astonishing growth of Soloflex led to Jerry and Marilyn creating the company’s own advertising firm, 53rd Street Advertising, in 1987. The firm handles all advertising and video productions, as well as media placement for Soloflex’s innovative TV advertising campaign.
Soloflex has always been sold exclusively through advertising, not in stores or mail order catalogs. Consumers still can call the toll free number for a brochure of what the machines can do. Then, the consumer follows up with and order if they want to purchase. It is that simple.
By 1990, Soloflex was the home weightlifting standard by which all other machines were measured. Over half a million machines were sold.
Stay tuned for part two of the Soloflex History story. Coming soon.
I bought my first Soloflex over 25 years ago after working out on a friends’s unit with the wood bench and the Shock Rings. I’ve loved it from the start. I gained muscle, lost inches and became stronger. I have never thought about buying a competitor’s brand in all of these years. Recently, I went back and read ALL of the blogs on the Soloflex website and became interested in Jerry Wilson’s (inventor of the Soloflex) assertion that using shock rings WITH weight plates on the end of the Soloflex lever arm gives the best and smoothest feedback to the body in his opinion.
I don’t have the Shock Rings yet but I have just begun to workout using Weight Plates with my Straps(a 50/50 percentage approximately) on many of the exercises and let me tell you, I am nearly as EXCITED as I was when I first got my Soloflex. I feel that I am working out on a NEW, IMPROVED Soloflex muscle machine. Here are the advantages from my perspective:
1. Using weight plates with the straps(or shock rings which I intend to buy as my straps wear out) add a new dimension of smoothness to the reps when doing the exercises. I don’t know why but I know that they DO! Jerry Wilson could probably explain it.
2. One reason many “free weight” believers including some fitness experts like free weights over machines is that it makes you focus on balance which is important especially as you get older. Adding Weight Plates to the Soloflex lever arm by using their free weight attachmant rods along with the straps/shock rings gives one the best of both worlds: You can still work out by yourself without a spotter but you still get the feel of balancing the weight plates.
Finally, how many products have you bought in your life that you can honestly say “almost” NEVER requires maintenance or repairs? For 25 years, the only thing I have had to do to my Soloflex is keep it clean and replace the straps as they wear out. It’s built so solid and well. So, here I am after all of this time, still enthused about a product I bought 25 years ago. THANKS SOLOFLEX.
Mr. Wilson, dont write many of these most likely because there so few products im still impressed with after 27 years or 27 days for that matter. If you keep records that long youll see a purchase by Steve Garceau in Brooklyn NY . I still remember all my neighbors staring out the windows of our apt building as the tractor trailer pulled up to deliver my new Soloflex. My parents thought i was crazy spending so much money at that age for a “silly” execrcise machine. I was 5’10 , 230 lbs and while i was not in terrible shape i knew i was heading down the wrong road. Fast forward 27 years and im still using that Soloflex as much as the first week i got it. Im 45 and havent passed thru 175lbs since i slipped under. Have run several marathons and sincerely credit it your product in helping
> me achieve my goals. So much so I have picked up a few extra Soloflex machines which ive set aside 1 for each of my 2 sons and donated a 3rd to the a local firehouse. Im so happy to see the Soloflex interest picking up again think its the absolute best machine on the market. Im also compelled to tell you that when i hauled mine off to college suddenly a Soloflex appeared in the home of my parents! Sorry to rambe on but I did feel i owed you this thank you for some time. I continue to spread the good word about your products and company .
> Wish you good health and continued success. Regards , Steve
Mr. Wilson, dont write many of these most likely because there so few products im still impressed with after 27 years or 27 days for that matter. If you keep records that long youll see a purchase by Steve Garceau in Brooklyn NY . I still remember all my neighbors staring out the windows of our apt building as the tractor trailer pulled up to deliver my new Soloflex. My parents thought i was crazy spending so much money at that age for a “silly” execrcise machine. I was 5’10 , 230 lbs and while i was not in terrible shape i knew i was heading down the wrong road. Fast forward 27 years and im still using that Soloflex as much as the first week i got it. Im 45 and havent passed thru 175lbs since i slipped under. Have run several marathons and sincerely credit it your product in helping
> me achieve my goals. So much so I have picked up a few extra Soloflex machines which ive set aside 1 for each of my 2 sons and donated a 3rd to the a local firehouse. Im so happy to see the Soloflex interest picking up again think its the absolute best machine on the market. Im also compelled to tell you that when i hauled mine off to college suddenly a Soloflex appeared in the home of my parents! Sorry to rambe on but I did feel i owed you this thank you for some time. I continue to spread the good word about your products and company .
> Wish you good health and continued success. Regards , Steve
Hey there. I just wanted to let you all know that next week marks the 16th anniversary of my Soloflex. Through the years it has earned it’s share of “character building” scrapes, scratches, and surface rust. And while I use it mainly for pull ups, dips, and such these days, she is still as solid as the day I got her way back in 1993. Other benches and machines have come and gone, but my Soloflex is the one constant I always come back to, time and time again. Thank you for building such a remarkable piece of equipment.
Workout: LaTray is a mother of five children ranging in age from 7 to 18. A car accident in mid-2008 left her with chronic pain in her shoulders, back and neck. She couldn’t stand, sit or walk for long, or lift much of anything. She coundn’t take walks or work in her garden. Her life became very limited, but her kids, she says, did an admirable job of taking up the slack.
She had tried various methods of obtaining relief when, last March, her chiropractor recommended the BStrong4Life program. It’s designed to increase the core strength, bone density and muscle tone, and strengthen the spine using (deep-breath) BioDensity Neuro-Musculoskeletal Stimulation and Measurement Technology. Total treatment time is 10-15 minutes a week. The program is approved for ages 12 and up.
LaTray begins with a two to five minute warm-up on platforms that vibrate quickly, causing muscles to contract. She moves to four isometric exercises. The core pull, chest press, vertical lift and leg press. Each exercise lasts five seconds.
Feedback: LaTray says, “Before starting the program I didn’t have any pain-free moments; now it’s the opposite. It’s just little bits of instead of little bits of no pain. It’s very exciting.” She says improvement was immediate; by the second week of treatment she was able to garden for two or three hours without much pain. She also could walk pain free for an hour three or four times a week. She feels stronger and notices muscle definition in her arms, legs and abdomen.
As the weather makes walking less feasible, she’ll sometimes walk in a mall, but she loves nature trails. She’d like to get back to biking and cross-country skiing but is taking it slowly and carefully. In the meantime, her daily routine is much easier.
Nutrition: She and her family eat mainly gluten- and dairy-free and low -sugar because of her children’s food sensitivities. They eat a lot of produce, and she makes a lot of soup. They avoid processed food in favor of beans, rice noodles, grass-fed free-range beef, chicken and turkey. She uses brown rice syrup and applesauce as sugar substitutes. Dessert might be a fruit crisp or crustless pumpkin pie. “You just have to more creative.” She makes her own flour blends and is grateful for the Bob’s Red Mill store. The family tends a garden and orders food monthly from a co-op. LaTray orders fish when eating out. She drinks tea and water, but no coffee. Her kids like to cook, and the whole experience has taught them how to fend for themselves.
“I never had the opportunity to meet Jack but knew well his counterpart here in Portland, Joe Loprenzi. Joe had a similar TV show here locally for decades, inspiring and teaching people how to live better, and was close friends with Jack. Joe died last year, healthy way past ninety just like Jack. Nobody lives forever but I was so impressed that Joe kept his wits and charm about him until the end. Kept his compassion, his love for others too. He really cared about people, knew that his example would make other lives better so was totally dedicated to setting the right example by teaching what he’d learned. Can’t think of a better way to earn a soul than that! These men were “happy.” It was infectious and they knew it. My shortcoming was their ace in the hole, they could motivate people to get off their asses to exercise and eat right! I did build a better mousetrap, own the federal trademark on “exercise and eat right” but never came close to being able to motivate people like these men did. It’s never too late to start. I’ll work on that.”
If late-night television commercials are to be believed, America’s soft-bodied sofa dwellers dream primarily of three things: owning a knife that can cut through a penny; obtaining cash for gold; and building their muscles with a minimum of time, money, and effort. Of these three dreams, the last appears to be the most pressing. Today, gullible endomorphs can choose from dozens of fitness miracles: the Total Gym, which is endorsed by Chuck Norris; the Ab Flyer, an expensive swing that tones your midsection; the Thigh Glider, which turns leg-spreading into an exciting workout; and the Flex Belt, which uses electronic stimulation to shock your abdomen into six-pack shape.
Twenty-five years ago, though, a single home-fitness product ruled the airwaves: Soloflex. The first comprehensive home-exercise device marketed to a mass audience, Soloflex broke ground with its unique design, which promised users a safe way to build their bodies at home; its magazine ads, featuring close-up photographs of chiseled torsos and abdomens; and its infomercials, which brought those torsos and abdomens to life. Although Soloflex no longer paces the home exercise market, it paved the way for all the Ab Flyers and Thigh Gliders to come and changed the way we think about building our bodies.
I called in and talked to Carly, who was most pleasant. I wanted to let you all know that your WBV board is really helping my son with autism. He’s only been using it for about a week, but he is much calmer and able to focus on his academics more. I was lead to try it on him by an article I saw in an in-flight magazine. Perhaps this info will lead you to new uses for your product.
It is a group at U WI that used to work with Paul Bach y Rita who have developed a tongue vibration that is helping reverse some of the symptoms of MS. Its thought that the vibration to the brain stem may be causing the brain to regenerate in areas.
I’m a long-time owner and user of Soloflex. I started with the original “Bucksteel” and to my regret left it with a sold house in Texas. I replaced it with a new Soloflex machine and thereafter with a Rockit, weight bench and bells.
Now that I have room in the new house in Florida, I just got your Equipment Organizer and it’s as great as I thought it would be. So, where is the organizer for the plates and hand bells? I have two sets of bells, plates and straps all over the place and need the organization for them. I’d also like to see the compound bar bell and placement rack to come back now that we have a big-enough exercise room.
I know, timing is everything; or “you snooze, you lose,” or something of the sort!
Meantime, thanks for the high quality, functional equipment that’s so basic in function, it never gets obsolete. Cheryl has begun to use the equipment and pound-for-pound may be in better condition than I am. My travel schedule away from home is my excuse for not being in better condition from more regular use.
Give my best to all my friends at Soloflex and special thanks for the Soloflex sweatshirt you sent with my last order!
C. L.
Hello all,
Just purchased a 1980-82 SOLOFLEX!
Wow, what a great machine. I foolishly gave away my 1st machine to a neighbor. But this 1 is my pride and joy. I am sitting here just looking at it and welcoming it to our house. It is amazing! I travelled 300 miles round trip today to pick it up and had a smile on my face every mile, what a find!
Thanks for wonderful service every time I call SOLOFLEX, the receptionist are the best!
I hope I can someday visit SOLOFLEX and thank Mr. and Ms. Wilson and the employees personally for manufacturing this amazing work of art.
Thanks,
Rob McHale
NYC
Whomever:
While working out yesterday on my Soloflex, it occurred to me that I should pass along to you my gratitude for and praise of your machine.
I bought my used Soloflex 20 years ago from a neighbor and have put it through a one-or-two-hour, upper and lower body workout three times a week almost every week since then, vacations and illness excepted. I was 54 years old then, and I am 74 now. I am 5-foot-9, 160 pounds, have a 32-inch waist, significant biceps, triceps, abs, pecs, thighs and calves, and I attribute most of that to your long-lasting, reliable, easy-to-use device. My only cost during those 20 years has been new bands. I would send you a picture, but unlike the Soloflex, the use of photos on the computer is a technique that eludes me.
David N. Mitchell
Dear Jerry Wilson,
Just thought I’d drop you a note to let you know that I still have the original machine I bought from you in ’78 or ’79, don’t recall which. I’m now 65 and still using the machine 3 times a week. I’m not doing the same intensity of workouts but still able to shovel snow for 6 hours without any back pains or muscle aches afterward, which I did this last storm that dropped 2 ft. of snow on us.
I also have the WVB bench as well.
Keep up the good work .
Sincerely,
Joe Fallon
Browns Mills, NJ
I just wanted to mention that I bought my Soloflex in 1984, and have been using it on a regular basis ever since! I have more than gotten my money’s worth!
I will be turning 50 in February (2009), and Im still using the same Soloflex that I bought in 1981, when I was 22. Ive updated the weight straps and added the butterfly and leg extension over the years, but the machine itself is still the same and its still going strong.
One of the best products I’ve ever owned.
The classic black Soloflex is the fitness machine which made home weightlifting socially acceptable in America.
“I never had the opportunity to meet Jack but knew well his counterpart here in Portland, Joe Loprenzi. Joe had a similar TV show here locally for decades, inspiring and teaching people how to live better, and was close friends with Jack. Joe died last year, healthy way past ninety just like Jack. Nobody lives forever but I was so impressed that Joe kept his wits and charm about him until the end. Kept his compassion, his love for others too. He really cared about people, knew that his example would make other lives better so was totally dedicated to setting the right example by teaching what he’d learned. Can’t think of a better way to earn a soul than that! These men were “happy.” It was infectious and they knew it. My shortcoming was their ace in the hole, they could motivate people to get off their asses to exercise and eat right! I did build a better mousetrap, own the federal trademark on “exercise and eat right” but never came close to being able to motivate people like these men did. It’s never too late to start. I’ll work on that.”
Hi,
I will be turning 50 in February (2009), and Im still using the same Soloflex that I bought in 1981, when I was 22. Ive updated the weight straps and added the butterfly and leg extension over the years, but the machine itself is still the same and its still going strong.