More Than Just Gym Machines
Muscle D Fitness has the longest running heritage and history of any company in the fitness business. Muscle D is an outgrowth of Muscle Dynamics which had its start on the shores of Muscle Beach in Santa Monica and the original Gold’s Gym on Main Street. Some of the all time body builder greats like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, and many other legends trained regularly on the MD strength equipment. Brian Lewallen, the president of Muscle Dynamics, teamed up with Roger Helgesen and made some of the earliest cam selectorized machines that competed head-on with Nautilus who was the dominant strength company in the 70’s and 80’s. The new gym machines were called Maxicam. Over the next 40 years, Brian and his partner, Tom Csenar, went on to develop nearly 150 machines, benches, and racks with constant upgrades to the line. They even established a health club in Manhattan, New York to make sure that all the commercial strength equipment would hold up even under the abuse of 15,000 members. Muscle Dynamics was also private labeling Weider Muscle & Fitness machines for a worldwide market including a multi-station for the Prince of Monaco. Brian and Tom sold their interest in 2007 and unfortunately the company didn’t survive the effects of the economic downturn of 2008. However, from the ruins of MD, the idea for the new Muscle D Fitness division of Excel Weight Products was born in 2013. Excel had developed and sold weights, bars, and weight stacks of all kinds for 25 years prior to this evolution.