Torque Proving Grounds

REAL LIFE TESTING

Our engineers utilize finite element analysis with their CAD tools when they are developing new products. Once a prototype has been refined through functional testing, a battery of durability tests are done in the lab. These include things like statically loading the equipment with 6 times its maximum rated capacity and cycle testing movement arms at full weight for thousands of repetitions. All of this helps to ensure that the products will hold up under their intended use. However, years of experience designing training equipment has proved to us that the real world isn’t a controlled laboratory and just because we design a product for specific functions, doesn’t mean someone won’t think of some other way to use it. That’s where facilities like Game Face Training come in.

Game Face training (www.gamefacetraining.com) is a performance and fitness training facility near our headquarters that utilizes cutting edge performance techniques on individuals and teams ranging from youth soccer participants to professional athletes. Torque partners with Game Face and utilizes them as a proving ground for new concepts and prototypes.

Having our products run through the mill here not only proves they can hold up in the real world in an extreme environment, it gives our designers insights on “what else” they may use them for. This involves progressive training techniques that their staff is using with professional and collegiate athletes and it also sometimes meaning seeing firsthand the abuse and misuse a team of football players can do.

This week we were down at Game Face taking in a day of their Football Combine Prep. We were able to see Division 1 athletes in a day of training getting them prepared for the upcoming NFL Combine and Pro Days they will be attending. DeVentri Jordan, the Director of Sports Training had those guys using all 8000 square feet of the facility and it was exhausting for us just watching. Not only did we get to see up close the size and quickness of these athletes, it made us appreciate the work and dedication they put in. What the players got to see and use and train with was our top secret new weapon. Here are a few images of them using our X-Rack and some new accessories, but unless you’ve been invited to the 2016 NFL Combine, you are going to have to wait for our launch at IHRSA to see the TANK.

In future articles, we’ll cover more on testing in the lab, at CrossFit and Health Clubs we partner with, and we’ll see if DeVentri will share some of his training techniques. Stay tuned.