Nike is bringing its iconic colorways seen in footwear into the home gym — with new workout equipment like curl bars in shoebox orange and VOLT yellow, barbells in both those colors and classic Nike red, and even a soft plyo box that looks like a shoebox. But what inspired Nike to finally bring its iconic footwear colors into home gym equipment?
Drew Conant, CEO of Nike Strength, shares that the idea was crafted with athletes in mind — the forefront of the brand’s every move. Knowing that athletes resonate with the Nike apparel and footwear brand, the next step was to bring these same designs and colorways over to fitness equipment. Below, Conant shares what overlaps between Nike’s footwear and Nike Grind products and how the brand has turned sneaker colorways into must-have gym gear.
Nike footwear aesthetics in the home gym
“When Nike Strength started, we knew it was really important to get the design right for all of our equipment, and for that design to be unmistakably Nike. The natural first question was – how do we bring Nike design and culture into fitness equipment? Nike obviously has such a rich footwear history that it made so much sense for us to draw on those elements when crafting our equipment,” shares Conant.
“Nike fans know certain colors instinctively. One of the first things the sneakerhead community thinks about is the iconic orange box. Finding ways to pull that orange colorway into our equipment gives us that instant brand connection. We have our curl bars and barbells in that orange colorway, and it helps us clearly differentiate from every other standard silver or black curl bar on the market. It also gave us an opportunity to play with the color of our collars.”
“To use another color example, we also do the barbells and curl bars in the Volt colorway. That’s the neon color that became super popular at the 2012 Olympics. Nike really became a leader with Volt in the bright and bold colors that are now really popular with athletes across all sports and equipment. So we do the curl bar and barbell in the Volt colorway, and you could pair that with matching collars for an aesthetic that really pops and draws directly to Nike culture in a way that no other brand can replicate.”
Building Nike home gym products
Beyond just copying colorways when crafting home gym equipment, Nike Grind also focuses on the “triple threat” of sustainability, disruptive design, and performance. “If you’re not familiar with it, Nike Grind rubber is a byproduct of the Nike footwear manufacturing process.We take that rubber and use it to make products like dumbbells and plates. Our Nike Grind Dumbbells are made from at least 20% Nike Grind rubber by volume,” Conant says.
“From an aesthetic perspective, you get fitness equipment that breaks free from the traditional and boring black dumbbell, but it also brings in all of these uniquely Nike colors. You’ll never get two dumbbells or plates that are alike because the mix of rubber is different every time. The look also changes with the season – as new footwear is made, there’s a new batch of differently-colored recycled rubber that goes into our equipment. It’s always been interesting to me, too, how the style feels Nike without directly centering on any one specific color. It’s that combination of colors, I think, along with the brighter look that really stands out as Nike.”
