Industry

RPM Training Co. Introduces Atom, an At-Home Functional Training Program Package

July 25, 2021 by
Photo Credit: RPM Training Co.
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The purveyor of jump ropes and clothing made for functional fitness, RPM Training Co., is branching out in a major way. The company co-founded by Josh and Shane Rogers, just announced an at-home training system designed for the modern functional athlete. The new program called Atom, will focus on fitness enthusiasts that prefer to workout from home but don’t necessarily want to exercise in front of a mirror or ride a bike for hours. 

One big thing: The company is not trying to take people out of the gym; instead, RPM is looking at ways to complement the traditional training methods after a pandemic threw a wrench into the proverbial gears and forced people to adapt. 

The details: Atom will include a “premium equipment kit” and daily programming delivered through a digital platform. Using the virtual platform, Atom will provide workout demos, instruction from coaches, and leaderboards. Users who sign-up for the $35-per-month subscription can also set up live sessions and take on the daily workout together, which Josh compared to a video game party system. 

  • There are three equipment kits, starting with Axis at $995. This kit includes dumbbells, a kettlebell, sandbag, jump rope, plyo box, and some smaller accessories.
  • The tiers continue with the Fly kit ($1,395), adding a pull-up bar and gymnastic rings to the existing Axis kit.
  • The third and final tier is the Power kit ($1,995). This package includes Axis and Fly but also adds a barbell and bumper plates. The purchase of any kit includes two free months of the subscription.

RPM Training Co. acquired Warm Up and Work Out, adding CrossFit icons Pat and Taz Barber to the fold as Atom’s head coach and director of programming. This dynamic duo will provide instruction to subscribers while using nearly two decades of experience. 

  • “[Pat’s] been on seminar staff forever, he speaks to the methodology extremely well,” Josh explained. “And he’s obviously a really dynamic performer and personality, so being on cameras is a very natural place for him.”
  • “We started thinking about authenticity through a virtual platform. Who do we want to deliver that and make it a really fun, real experience like a regular class, as opposed to what might be termed a more cheesy gym culture, fitness experience that you might find in literally almost everything else?”
Photo Credit: RPM Training Co.

Why now: With COVID-19 shutting down gyms worldwide, companies such as Tonal, Tempo, and Mirror began shifting their focus to market people stuck at home wanting to workout. These companies received significant investments and began selling packages that cost thousands of dollars. There are so many options for at-home fitness, so why did RPM decide to launch Atom? The simple answer is that it provides a solution for those that do functional fitness. 

  • “I put a garage gym into my home and actually ended up really loving it more than I thought I would,” Josh explained. “Obviously, I put that to use during COVID, and so did the rest of the team as we kind of got dispersed and couldn’t all be at the office together.”
  • “And then as the fitness space grew in the nonfunctional training realm, we realized that these other offerings that were on the market, none of us would ever participate in any of those things. And none of the people we knew would ever do any of those things.”

RPM said there was a large group of people who wanted a “plug and play” solution, but they didn’t have the knowledge about the best equipment for that. With Atom, there is a specific formula and kits that provide a uniform equipment list, taking the guesswork out of the equation. 

  • People interested in Atom can take a questionnaire that addresses their fitness history, experience with functional training, and any possible PRs that may be worth mentioning. 
  • Based on these answers, there will be an equipment package suggestion that works with the user’s lifestyle. If they’ve never done any strength training or functional fitness, there could also be a small capacity test to use as a baseline. 

Community workouts: The new program will also provide an affiliate programming option for independent gyms. The benefit of this, as Josh and Shane explained, is that an Atom user can do one workout at home and then go to an Atom gym the next day without having to worry about doing “150 wall balls two days in a row.”

  • “The future of fitness, we really see it as this like, hybrid model where we can kind of meet people with programming wherever they are, whether it’s in their home, in the gym, or on the road,” Shane said. “Or if you’re traveling — like you probably will be this next week — and you don’t have any equipment, you could log on and do a bodyweight workout in your hotel room.”

Functional fitness enthusiasts can see the new product at the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games. RPM Training Co. will have an outdoor Atom gym on the campgrounds starting Wednesday, July 28. Attendees can test out the system before preorders open in August. 

A collaborative community: RPM’s announcement takes place weeks after CrossFit Home Office introduced The CrossFit Affiliate Programming. In terms of target audience and tools offered, there is some crossover between CAP and Atom, but there is no competition. Instead, RPM sees a partnership. 

  • “From all of the responses we’ve had from CrossFit — and we’ve been very candid about what we are doing — that’s how they feel too,” Josh explained. “We’re out here, activating the campground and making a big deal about Atom, and they’re really excited for it as well.”
  • “I think it’s the rising tides that raise all boats. One thing that our brand does that not a lot of other brands in the space do is it stretches out beyond the CrossFit community. So as we communicate and bring in more people from action sports and outdoors and more athletes who are really putting this functional training methodology to use in ways that are really aspirational and fun, it’s really a fun way to talk about how to use your training.”

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