Category Archives: Rogue Community

The Rogue Way

George Selden's patent for the automobile

No one on the Rogue team is Henry Ford, but we did build our business around a very similar principle. For Ford, it was the idea of providing a quality automobile that the average person could afford– a goal he famously achieved through innovations in design and manufacturing. It wasn’t an easy road, though. As seen in the photo above, George Selden and the Association of Licensed Automobiles owned a patent that basically held other manufacturers hostage for years. It took the determination of Ford to fight and finally defeat that monopoly, opening the door to the modern auto industry.

I think this drive toward delivering a “quality product the average person can afford” is what makes Rogue Fitness unique, as well.  Like Ford, we did not invent racks, squat stands, yokes, barbells or bumper plates. What we’ve done is work tirelessly to give our customers the best possible value in our industry. It’s what we think you deserve.

The Rogue Way

1) We design, build and warehouse at Rogue.  We own our manual MIG/TIG welders, robotic welders, CNC machines and presses.   Our footprint spans 400,000 square feet between manufacturing and warehousing.

2) We ship orders, big or small, in one business day.  The only thing that would keep us from doing this is stock levels. Lucky for us, we manufacture our own equipment.  The industry norm is 6-8 weeks for racks and full gym outfitting. We cut this down by 98%.  This was done by stocking everything we make– hence the need for a 170,000 Sq Ft distribution center.

3) Build equipment with options.  Our Infinity Rig has exactly what its name describes– an infinite amount of options.  We have built small garage gyms to 300’ CrossFit Games pull-up rigs.  And for extra convenience, everything is built in families.  Our latest family of items is the Monster family: big 3X3 steel tubes with 1” hardware.

Most other manufacturers build racks with large welded frames that are hard to paint, ship and/or setup.  We chose a different path

4) Unique in Construction Design.  Our design process starts and ends with the items described above in mind.  We take a rack or squat stand and build them so we can ship them to a customer efficiently. Parts can be used in multiple products and will stand up to any abuse that can be thrown at them.

This is achieved by laser cutting, robotic welding, and CNC machines—all highly repeatable processes that allow us to streamline our operations.  These are the things we patent.  We cannot patent a rack, but we can and do patent how we make it.

Rogue JCup

5) Listen to the Customer.  Our equipment is crafted from the culmination of years of valued customer feedback.  From the beginning, our pull-up rigs were built for CrossFit affiliates and other high volume gyms.  We didn’t build some multi-station piece of equipment that only one person can use effectively.  We designed for symmetry and volume.  Our patented Infinity rig design is a repeatable rectangle that alternates from 4’ to 6’ spans.  This enables the coach or trainer to look down a line and see any discrepancy in movement, allowing for clear, uniform coaching cues.

Rogue Facebook Conversation

6) Safety in Design.  The best example I can give you is that, almost every day, someone asks us to put something on the bottom of our pull-up rigs.  There are many manufacturers that do this– add structural support at the base, etc.  When someone falls from a pull-up bar and hits that piece of steel, however, it tends to result in disaster.  This is why we have chosen not to abide such requests, choosing instead to address these concerns in every step of our design process.  From the rubber padding on the ring hanger to the Dollamur matting at the CrossFit Games, we lead with Safety First.

Rogue Safety Mat

 

And so, from Henry Ford to Louie Simmons, we remain “Often imitated but never duplicated.”

Henry Ford & Louie Simmons

Not a day goes by that we are not trying to make everything we do better, and that includes building up our team that makes it all happen.  We stand now at 160 Rogue team members, and our goal of 500 is within reach by the year 2015.

Thanks,

Bill Henniger

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Rogue Gun Rack

Are you short on floor space? The Rogue Gun Rack holds 6 bars on the wall and keeps your floors clear for working out. Theoretically this is a better way to store bars than in vertical rack, especially bars that are not used very often. With some brands of bars that are stored in a vertical rack, the lubricant can pool at one end of the sleeve. Therefore, for the first few lifts, there may be bearings or parts of bushings that are not as lubicated as others. In a horizontal rack this will never happen.

This rack will work well in cement walls, cinder block walls or anchored into studs in traditional construction. Even if you have studs that are an odd distance apart, this will work perfectly. The rungs are cut to fit the shaft or the sleeves.

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Starting Strength – 3rd Edition

Starting Strength

The most important book in strength training has a new edition.

The second edition sold over 80,000 copies in a highly competitive sport and fitness publication market because it is just that good.

It is written in a way that is easy enough for a beginner to understand, but detailed enough that advanced lifters and coaches will gain new knowledge. Unlike most books on training, it does not put you to sleep. It holds your interest through the plain language, and often funny, explanations of what should be done and also why it should be done. If you are a coach, after reading this book you will be able to handle almost any form issue you might encounter with one of your athletes with simple cues as well as the knowledge to back up your recommendations. If you are an athlete, this book provides a wealth of information that you can use to improve your form as well as real programming that you can use to greatly improve your strength.

Now, after four more years of testing and adjustment with thousands of athletes in seminars all over the country, this third edition expands and improves on the previous teaching methods and biomechanical analysis. No other book on barbell training ever written provides the detailed instruction on every aspect of the basic barbell exercises found in Starting Strength, 3rd Edition.

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Happy Birthday Kevin – The Consigliere

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