What’s up folks?
Adam here from Iron Strong Apparel with the first of what will hopefully become a regular(ish) blog post…talking about all things weightlifting / training, apparel, motivation and anything else than comes to mind that seems relevant.
If you’re reading this, then welcome! You’ve made it to the site and have hopefully had a look around, so that’s a start. If you have any comments on the designs we have so far then we would love to hear from you – drop us an email at admin@ironstrongapparel.com. Also let us know if you have any suggestions on what you would like in a weight training t-shirt / tank that you maybe can’t find from other companies out there…after all, that’s what we are aiming to provide.
I wanted to introduce some of the designs that we have on the site and provide a bit of background to what we are aiming for.
Our initial design, The 'Classic' t-shirt is really just something simple showing our brand and forming the basis of a 'logo' t-shirt which most brands have. Brand name across the chest. Simple. Hopefully people will add one of these to their cart with another design, just to represent the brand and let people know they are supporting the little guys. **Blog Update: we have since updated our logo and therefore, our classic t-shirt had to get a bit of an upgrade. The new 'Classic 2.0' t-shirt is available now! **
With our 'Heavy Iron US' t-shirt we wanted to incorporate a basic mantra of weight lifters and something that the majority of strength and conditioning coaches preach; in order to develop real strength, you need to be lifting some heavy iron on a regular basis. Obviously there are a number of other factors to consider, however this is the foundation of any good training program. We also incorporated the US flag design to represent the fact that our products are manufactured and printed in the USA. No child labour. No sweatshops. Quality local made apparel. Plus…America – f*ck yeah!
The 'Lift' t-shirt again illustrates that weight training doesn’t need to be complicated – just get in the gym and lift. As long as you are following a weight training program 3 to 4 times per week and doing some sort of conditioning, you will be able to maintain a certain level of fitness, wellbeing and in conjunction with the right nutrition, build some muscle (the holy grail!). The overall design represents what we are about – simple and subtle, but relevant to the sport / hobby that you love. The heavy squat silhouette in the background of the text just adds that relevance component. This t-shirt will hopefully appeal to the Powerlifters and Olympic lifters out there, which is why we offer the 2XL option for this t-shirt.
The Iron Strong Barbell Club t-shirt introduces our 'Bulls & Barbells' slogan. Bulls are strong, you’re trying to be (or are – lucky you). Plus the bull skull will hopefully become a signature icon of our brand, which looks kinda cool. Look out for the bull skull cropping up in future designs. **Blog update: we have since updated our logo to include the bull skull....think it's a better fit? Comments below please!**
Finally….the ladies. I didn’t want to put you last, I just wanted to get everything else out of the way so I could focus on you guys ;-). Our current offering for the female lifter is, admittedly, very light at the moment. However, rest assured that we are working on getting more designs up on the site tailored to you. The majority of the feedback we’ve had from the ladies is that a Racerback style is the preferred option – leaves you free to move during the lifts and doesn’t restrict.
Hence why our first design is offered only in the Racerback style (besides the 'Classic' t-shirt, which can be used for wearing to & from the gym / lounging around the house). The 'Ladies Who Lift' Kettlebell tank aims to show the strong but feminine side of the wearer – the ‘strong’ in our brand being the dominant word on the tank, with some girly touches in the flowers and text colouring. All this wrapped up in a kettlebell shape. Perfect. This tank may also appeal to the female Crossfitter who doesn’t want to be walking around like an advert for CrossFit®….a subtle nod to the common use of kettlebells in boxes across the world (lets face it, you can get a serious workout from kettlebells alone).
So that’s it – you now have an insight to our thought process behind the designs and where we will be trying to align our brand. Simple but relevant designs, offered on high quality t-shirts / tanks which will be comfortable and durable during your weight lifting / training session, powerlifting training, general meathead workouts, WODs or even just grabbing a coffee at the weekend. Our t-shirts are so comfortable that you’ll want to wear them all the time!
Hopefully this will inspire you to go ahead and buy a t-shirt!! Get in there early and lay claim to the fact that you’ve supported us from the start!
Strong in the gym – Strong in life.