Steady work- New exercise platform developed by U of M graduate Mike Deden

UM graduate develops exercise machine for building stability

A Missoula man has developed an exercise platform he believes will revolutionize physical training for athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike.

By MICK HOLIEN of the Missoulian

The KOR Trainer, http://www.deden.com which was designed by former University of Montana high jumper Mike Deden, allows an individual to do everyday ground-based movements while working against an adjustable resistance system.

"It’s really simple," he said. "The machine will accept your skill level and it will allow you to take your skill level wherever you want to."

The machine’s name is in reference to core training, the latest fitness trend, which focuses on the body’s functional power zone that lies about the gluteus, abdominals and lower back where the body’s largest and most powerful muscle groups are located

These muscles allow a person to climb stairs, walk and perform myriad other everyday activities.

Core training is about relearning basic functions to move the body the way it was meant to move, the way we moved as children, said Deden, the company’s president and research and development engineer.

"It is an extremely efficient way to acquire functional strength and maximize the body’s potential," he said. "It all comes down to the squat. That’s what humans are designed to do. It might be a real shallow squat like a single step forward, but it’s still a squat."

Such exercises aren’t just for athletes because rather than building bulk, they strengthen the stabilizer muscles that help hold a person up.

In the last year or so, core stability training has received national publicity and become accepted as an alternative to just pumping iron and building bulk.

"You need to train in patterns that reflect life," said Paul Chek, the country’s best known functional fitness evangelist, in Outside Magazine. "If your core is deficient, your arms and legs have nothing to anchor to."

"The core is the single most crucial region of the body in terms of maximizing strength," said Brett Tudsbury, Montana State University’s strength and conditioning coach, in the school’s football press guide.

"While we don’t always contemplate the importance of core power while hoisting a trash can, carrying groceries or mowing a lawn, the fundamental forces of the core are at work as we do these things," wrote Tom Seabourne in IDEA Personal trainer magazine.

But until the advent of the KOR Trainer, which provides time-efficient strength training against a resistance system whose range of motion and speed of movement are solely governed by the user, there were few devices to accomplish such training, said Deden.

"This is a big paradigm shift. They’re just asking for this," he said. "Core training is really evolving. The knowledge is there but the tools to really develop an individual’s core are missing. This is the missing link."

And there’s been measurable results after the use of the machine.

Former University of Montana offensive guard Thatcher Szalay, who now plays for the Cincinnati Bengals, said he improved his vertical jump by 5 inches after using the machine for a month, and Dennis Black, a Great Falls shot putter, said he threw 5 feet farther after six weeks.

"That’s remarkable," said Deden. "It’s incredible improvement."

Endorsements from NFL and NBA teams and others indicate Deden’s machine could be the wave of the future.

"The KOR Trainer will replace the barbell squat," said Joe Gold, founder of Gold’s Gym.

"This is he best way I’ve found for athletes to take their game to the next level," added Tudsbury, whose MSU weight room features five of the devices with plans to order more.

The patented thoracic harness system utilized in the KOR Trainer also was tested by NASA to be used for squat-based exercise in space and is currently being further evaluated for possible purchase.

"NASA recognizes the importance of the squat exercise for maintaining muscle mass and bone density of astronauts in microgravity," said Deden.

"What’s neat about it is it integrates a range-of-motion selection with a resistance level selection. For squat-based exercises, it worked beautiful," said Elliot Westwater, Deden’s brother-in-law and business partner. "Most machines you can’t even make a range-of-motion selection. We’re creating a new market. Right now we’re the technological leaders."

Core training, Deden said, works all muscles, rather than just a single muscle group, thus workouts on the KOR Trainer improve everyday function.

"My job is to deliver a simplified means to allow individuals to reach their fitness goals the easiest way, whether you’re a high-end athlete, a mountain biker or a hiker or a baby boomer who wants pain-free mobility," said Deden, who has a bachelor’s degree in geology.

He’s been working on weight training technology mostly in the garage of his south side Missoula residence since the mid-1980s and debuted the machine in 2001.

"I had to learn all the engineering stuff on my own, said Deden, who also taught himself how to weld, then bought a 3,500-pound milling machine when the project outgrew his tools.

"A typical company will pay anywhere from $1 million to $3 million to develop a product like this," he said. "It’s been 15 years of sweat equity."

The initial run of 20 machines have been sold to places like the University of Washington and Oregon State University and to the Seattle Seahawks

"Most of the people that have one want to buy more, so that’s a good sign," said Deden.

Two machines also were purchased for placement at Athletes Performance, a 30,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art training facility in Tempe, Ariz.

"It’s going good and the word’s getting out," he said. "We’re excited that the inertia is starting to swing our way."

A redesigned platform manufactured in Regina, Saskatchewan, and due to be released in April will focus on rehabilitation applications rather than just the athletic market. Loaded with weight plates, it will sell for about $4,500.

"It’s been a lot of hard work. If you look at any point of this, pretty much we did it," said Deden. "It’s him and I that have put together this body of work, so it’s hard to say exactly what I do or he does sometimes."

"I started out being an artist more than a businessman," he said, "and now it comes down to being a business."

Future plans could include moving the manufacturing to the Missoula area, something that wasn’t initially possible.

"Basically, Montana doesn’t have a lot of equipment to get this thing done," said Deden. "We definitely want to get home right here and grow from there."

If you’re interested

For information about core training, read "McCall Body Balance Method," by Lisa Ann McCall (Brown Books)

For more information about KOR Trainer, see http://www.deden.com on the Internet.

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