I wanted to ask this forum what you’d think of this idea, before I luanched- but I didn’t want to tip my hat to early and reveal my idea.
I added a flexible high tech fabric covered in tiny armored plates to an over the calf sock to make an abrasion resistant shin area and also lower frictional area for pulls.
The socks work well in terms of protection (I’ve tried to cut my shins with the knurling cheese grater style and couldn’t) They also give a feeling of psychological safety which makes pulling easier - but that could be in my head.
They are washable (but I wouldn’t recommend putting in the dryer.)
I hope to establish a brand and make some other lifting apparel next, so this post is an amateur’s attempt at market research.
I am curious to what everyone here may think ? and first impressions.
FYI I don’t post here, but I listen/ lurk for many years now…and buy the Surge(s) and Alpha Male for years now.
I have to agree with Evolv. There are a whole lot of people with delicate skin and low pain tolerances deadlifting nowadays. Nobody deserves abrasions on their shins. Nobody. Perhaps you can tap into that market.
You could also consider packaging these with an assortment of lotions scented with lavender and honeysuckle. You could even look into a partnership with Bath and Bodyworks. If you are promoting shin health, go all-in.
I would like to talk about your other claim on this product. How, exactly, do they enhance performance? How much more will I be able to pull if I slap these bad boys on? 10 pounds? 20 pounds? FIFTY pounds?
What’s the price point on these compared to, let’s say, picking up some used hockey shin guards at play-it-again? What’s the advantage your product offers for the shin-conscious deadlifter? Is it the performance boost you mentioned?
All joking aside, you might be able to have success with this, but I would probably zero in on the Crossfit crowd.
Pretty much this. I don’t think powerlifters give a shit about bruised or bloody shins. For example I’ve had one blister, lost one callus, and have gotten some type of weird rug burn/scrape thing going on with my lower quad that has gotten opened once and bled in just the past two weeks of deadlifitng, and I don’t care.
I think it would go really well with crossfitters, especially women crossfitters (which seem to be the majority anyway) who may be a bit more casual, or may care about having nasty banged up shins.
Definitely more for the crossfit / weekend warrior crowd. You could probably generate sales through a place like Rogue vs. a place like EliteFTS or Ironmind.
I love deadlifting and I can’t imagine buying these, but there are absolutely some people who would - plenty of people buy workout gear that are more interested in looking / sounding hardcore than actually improving their performance. If you’re cool with selling a product to people who do it as much for the look as for any genuine benefit, that’s your market.
I personally brag about this shit to anyone within ear shot - especially if I’m in the produce section of the grocery store and it’s an uppity looking soccer mom.
I agree the hardcore lifter isn’t necessarily my market (but that’s who’s opinion counts, at least to me) - I was sincere when I asked for feedback here. I was hoping a tampon remark wouldn’t be in the first reply, however - but knew it was inevitable.
But there are other types lifters, and yes some of them use tampons and lavender and some those who use tampons and lavender are actually women…
I think if you had girlfriend with nice legs you may want her to wear these while working on her posterior chain.
Honestly, These aren’t going to add pounds to a 1 RM that’s ridiculous. But if you are doing a heavy 5x5 you may appreciate them on that last working set. I personally tend to get sloppy when fatigued on work down sets - so they’ve been useful there.
Let me ask:
What if the armor material was hidden so these looked like normal socks ? while still offering better abrasion resistance Would that appeal to PLs?
What is everyone currently doing to avoid messing up their shins ? ( My socks are really just a “better mouse trap” I was trying to improve upon what was already being done…)
Is there really that much pride in “battle scars” ? ( is that mindset healthy ? or is that the same mind set that allow for maximal pulls ? )
It might appeal more to serious lifters, but I also suspect that your market will come more from people who buy this to look cool than it will people who actually think it will do them any good.
I occasionally wear regular long, thin cotton socks but just as frequently deadlift with exposed shins. Rarely do I get anything more than a token scrape. Part of this, admittedly, is that the Olympic bars at my gym do not have an especially deep / sharp knurling.
Joking aside, I was serious about this in my reply. I suppose the words “performance-enhancing” are a bit vague, but I would not advertise this product as such. Sure, someone who is worried about scraping their shins might pull with more confidence, but that’s hardly “performance-enhancing”.
I agree with the rest that they might sell well for those new to lifting and want cool things to go with it like gloves. To me they would be, like gloves, an external trapping that you wear to let others know you’re hard core; it’s a visible announcement.
I rarely bruise or scrape my shins anymore and only bother with long socks in meets where they are required.
lol, I’m just busting your balls dude. Keep following the product if you believe in it man. Seriously, people would have laughed a man out of a room at the idea of commercial bottled water 30 years ago. You never know, you might be able to to build a company on this, even if it is not successful.
I am personally just used to getting a little bang up on the shins… I don’t even think about honestly. If I get super banged up after not deadlifting for a long time, I just lower my knee sleeves so they rest on my shins. But, the issue always seems to go away after I have been consistently pulling for a few months.
I feel like it is similar to guys arguing about wearing weight lifting gloves in the gym… My school of thought is just do what men have been doing for centuries and pick some shit up and develop the thicker skin so it is never an issue in your life. I understand, and appreciate, innovation and coming up with new ideas. So, I’m just voicing my opinion.
How much damage to one’s shins does one do? Is there a pervasive problem in the lifting world that this product fixes? I’ve had busted, bloody shins before and it didn’t hinder me at all.
I just don’t see what problem this is supposed to fix? I understand what YOU think it’s supposed to fix, but, anecdotally, I wouldn’t shell out any amount of money for these for the sole purpose I would get zero utility out of them.
How big of a market do you think these will serve?
