Premium fitness equipment maker and strength guru Primal will bring more power to the people from this month as it launches two new flexible training products for commercial and home gyms.
A stellar performer since start up in 2016, the Scotland-based business’s multi-function operation incorporates sleek designs, robust manufacture and adaptable fitting services.
Founded by sales and fitness industry expert Steven Rinaldi, his motivation was to replace staid lines of treadmills with functional strength spaces more relevant and appealing to the modern gym user.
Following that pioneering instinct well ahead of today’s health boom, the Atlas of Glasgow has gone from strength to strength and, backed by growth investor Flywheel, is on track for £20million turnover come 2024.
With a team of 40 staff in the UK and Asia, last year Primal installed more than 700 gyms, sold 36,500 pairs of dumbbells and 48,600 weight plates.
Being a global brand is its ambition and sales in 25 countries so far include South Africa, Europe and the United Arab Emirates.
Using ultra resilient, top grade brushed aluminium and stainless steel, Primal’s equipment comes with a lifetime frame warranty. Renowned for the quality construction of its equipment, a major factor in reducing injury risks, its innovative, adjustable designs are lauded for the way they work the body exactly where needed.
Rinaldi’s decision not to settle for buying off-the-shelf but to produce bespoke machines from the outset was a big step for an indie start-up.
But it’s paid off repeatedly giving Primal an enduring unique selling point and to date he has overseen several world first designs, such as building cables into power racks to save space, allowing trainers and small group sessions to mix power exercises with auxiliary cable work.
Explaining the company’s inclusive ethos, he says: “We are not just for the elite lifter, but a strength brand designed to equip everybody to discover their full potential whatever their age.
“Strength is not about what you see in the mirror. We are always for progress over perfection and partner with athletes who live this mindset.”
A similarly highly disciplined approach shapes the business’s model, which has “a slick distribution model and lean overheads in the UK”, adds Rinaldi.
Customer heavyweights on the commercial side include JD Gyms, Energie Fitness and Celtic FC and there’s plenty of celeb sparkle too with England cricketer Jonny Bairstow among those working out at home with Primal.
The endorsement of champion strong men brothers Tom and Luke Stoltman, born and bred in the Highlands, is also a perfect fit for the brand and its cultural roots.
Powerful dudes performing astonishing feats like tossing cabres (wooden poles) are part and parcel of traditional sports in Scotland and the achievements of the Stoltmans – and Primal – could well help bring greater prominence again to Highland Games events as well nurture the next generation of Olympic athletes.
Lockdown lifestyle changes alerted Rinaldi to the home gym market’s potential, a demand that has continued and Primal’s Personal Series now accounts for 30 per cent of its trade.
Most successful lines now are its leg training products such as the V-Squat, Commercial Glute Drive and Pro Series Hip Thrust Bar.
At present 80 percent of products are made in Asia and the remainder in Europe and the UK, but Rinaldi says he would always consider more domestic sourcing if there were makers with the right laser cutting equipment producing in the volumes required.
The latest innovations are a modular small group personal training rig, to suit the needs of any gym, and a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) studio concept that combines explosive anaerobic exercise with Pylometric (jump) and strength training.
Equally uplifting are the broadening of Primal’s customer base to all ages from teenagers to 80-somethings and a rapid rise in female training. “That drove us to redesign all of our leg machines so they were suitable for users of all sizes,” observes Rinaldi.
Having strength at its core opens up many more opportunities too for the business because of the way society is evolving and having to grapple with an aging population and its consequences for mobility and self-reliance.
Strength and fitness are two sides of the same coin and Primal is building links with academic researchers into the benefits and believes further collaborations with the NHS could help too.
“Strength – it’s in us all,” declares Rinaldi. Primalstrength.com
