Anthony Richardson is still keeping up with the workouts from his military days, but one thing has changed for the career navy officer.
He's become a full-time entrepreneur, supplying armies and fitness gurus alike with his AUSFIT Torsion Bars.
“As funny as it is nobody ever created a weatherproof barbell, something that was designed for boot camps and the outdoors, especially with a focus on military,” Anthony says.
Torsion bars are compact barbells traditionally used by the armed forces in military training because they're versatile and portable.
Anthony Richardson is the founder of AUSFIT Torsion Bars. Source: SBS
Anthony first came across them during a stint with the army, when he passed the selection process for the Australian Special Forces in 2012.
“When you’ve got a group of kind of 100 guys doing workouts, they need a piece of equipment that is very plain, very basic," he says.
Military careers run in the Richardson family. Anthony followed his brother into the Australian Navy, serving as a mine warfare specialist for 11 years.
The torsion bars are used in functional training exercises to improve strength and stability. Source: SBS
He spent most of his time around the South Pacific, but also saw active service in the Middle East.
“I generally would do a lot of stuff around the islands and the Pacific. So a lot of old World War II ordinance. They would usually get picked up by the mine warfare vessels.”
He started making the steel bars to use in an outdoor fitness camp he was running five years ago in Sydney, thinking they would be ideal for his clients.
Anthony still remembers his early struggles balancing full-time work while starting up AUSFIT.
Anthony started making the bars out of his garage in North Sydney. Source: SBS
"If I got deployed or if I went away for a week. It would put a lot of stress on the business."
“It put a lot of stress on the old Commodore. These weights get pretty heavy. So trying to move around a ton I had to kind of space them around in the seat and the boot."
Later he took his rust-proof torsion bars to market in 2015 once he perfected the design.
Anthony’s company is now manufacturing up to 10,000 bars every month to supply to gyms and fitness enthusiasts around the world.
The military remains his biggest customers, supplying armed forces in Australia, the United States, Britain and New Zealand.
“It was difficult because coming from the military, I had to learn relatively quickly around how this industry works and how logistics work,” Anthony says.
But Anthony says finding a supplier to meet growing demand for his product has been a challenge.
“They may say they can make 10,000 units a month, which is what we needed. But in reality, they will be lucky to push 4,000,” Anthony says.
“We actually set up with a partner in China to manufacture torsion bars in a standalone factory that just does torsion bars."
The company plans to increase its export markets to more than 80 countries through distributors.
Trainers have praised the bars for their versatility and small storage space. Source: SBS
Moving into the large-scale international orders of up to 2,000 bars made managing cash flow became even more essential.
“Everything you’ve got to kind of measure, where is the smartest place to spend that cash. And obviously keeping the lights on is a must," Anthony says.
He expects revenue to increase to almost $7 million this year - up from less than half a million dollars three years ago.
But he knows there’s plenty of hard work ahead.
"It's a pretty long road, as much as it does get pretty dark sometimes. If I was going to give any advice to anyone I think it would be stay in there. There's always light at the end of the tunnel."
