Training for any sport can be a pretty lonely activity. It’s especially true for boxing. The ring, the lights and belt attract thousands to the arena and millions to the screens. What we don’t see is the countless hours athletes spend punching bags in the dark, alone and unaware whether they are getting stronger, faster, and more formidable.
For such an emotionally charged, adrenalin-pumping sport, individual training sessions need to become more engaging, interactive and enlightening. That’s where Impact Wrap steps in.
Founded by CEO Dan Fradin and CRO Marcus Diggle, Impact Wrap is a portable fitness tracker that captures the power and frequency with which you strike the punching bag.
In a phone interview, Diggle told us about the inspiration behind the product:
“Dan Fradin is an MMA nut who wanted a tool to track his performance when training. After failing to such a product on the market, he set about solving the challenges himself and the result is a portable wrap that fits on any straight sided heavy bag in less than 30 seconds and captures three key metrics – the number of strikes in a round, the average force of those strikes, and the hardest strike in any round.”
“Like numerous great inventions before it, Impact Wrap was built in Dan’s garage with a combination of innovation, some engineering skill and a lot of duct tape.”
There have been other attempts at capturing this data but they all had fatal flaws. Some devices embedded sensors in a grid around the bag which forced the price way up. While others embed sensors within boxing gloves, thereby limiting the data captured to punches – and falls short for MMA enthusiasts who strike with kicks, knees and elbows.
“Arranging embedded sensors can be problematic in a number of ways,” Diggle explains. “Not only are they expensive, they just don’t like being hit.”
Unlike its competitors, Impact Wrap will cost less than $200 and measures the aftershocks of a strike, like the ripples made by a pebble hitting water. In this way, the device captures data no matter which part of the bag the body strikes, eliminating the risk of breaking the sensor.
Workout data will be transferred from bluetooth to smartphone, then stored in the Cloud. The app will show your average and hardest hits, which you can use to compare with yourself, your friends, and even professional athletes.
“With Impact Wrap,” Diggle says, “You can compete with foes without worrying about knocking out their teeth or giving them a black eye.”
Though the product has yet to hit the shelves, Diggle and the team already have big plans for the next couple of years.
“We hope to expand Impact Wrap in two directions: hold tournaments and leagues in gyms nationwide, and develop new cues on the app to tie into other regimens. Our product is not limited to boxing, and we plan to see it incorporated into all workouts built around heavy bags.”
Interested parties can support Impact Wrap’s Kickstarter Campaign before August 13th and sign up for mailing updates to receive Early Bird Specials.