FEATURE

Michael Baldino walked into a gym two years ago. He had a purpose that day. He was going to bench press, and he was going to do it using a new method that would allow him to lift more weight than ever before.

Baldino planted his legs on the floor and drove with them, attempting to use his legs to generate force while benching. He had read about this technique in an article online (see: sidebar). As he pushed off, his back couldn’t maintain its position. He slid upwards, his head going beyond the cushioning provided on the machine. He looked around sheepishly, his face unable to mask his shame and he hoped no one had just seen this. The article didn’t warn of the slipping and shame. In fact, he assured himself it wouldn’t happen.

The new method had been a failure. He decided it was time to create his own workout shirt.

Ever since, Baldino has poured his efforts into creating a workout shirt that would allow him to bench without slipping.

The-then 21 year old physics major told his friend Robbie that someone, anyone, should invent a shirt that made sure no one would ever slip again. The friends went to the gym together two weeks later. This time Robbie attempted the leg method–only to slip.

“We were doing incline chest presses and he’s pushing up on his feet and he slips on the bench and he started cursing, he was really pissed off,” said Baldino. “And then I go ‘Hey, Robbie, wouldn’t that shirt be a good idea right now?”

Robbie always had something to say–not this time. And that said everything.

Robbie’s silence was all Baldino needed to hear to know he had a product worth spending time on.

Now, Baldino claims he’s on the verge of making millions.

He Went All-in…

Since 2009, Baldino spent over $4,000 trying to perfect his workout shirt. He bought over 200 books on business models, and purchased 50 different types of rubber and silicone materials to place on the back of his shirt before settling on Spandesol, a little-known material made by Rutland Technologies.

The Spandesol material allows the shirt to “catch” on the bench press, and ensures that a user won’t slide while pushing with his or her legs.

Ever the businessman, Baldino got his start-up money from a prior business where he would purchase gold and sell it to refiners. He found too much competition in the field and left to focus on something he was passionate about.

Baldino also recognized how important the product was to his future. He said he has enough discretionary income from his past business to last him through the summer. After that, however, he’ll need his product to become profitable to reward the hours of time and thousands of dollars he threw at his company or he risks failing and having little money left.

It’s not something he’s fearful or bashful about, though.

“I think the projections, depending on the how the market accepts it, anywhere from 2 to 4 million dollars if it’s in a select niche market,” said Baldino about the financial vision he has for his shirt. “I see the potential, tangibly, going to 40-60 million in the next 3-5 years if it’s able to get into the mass market.”

The difference between a niche market and a mass market is the difference between becoming Under Armor and becoming a company that few have heard of. It’s the difference between millions of dollars.

Baldino has also had to deal with family pressure.

“My dad, he’s been hard on me because the company hasn’t produced any money. He’s not sure whether to give it the stamp of approval as a hobby or a legitimate job.”

To top it off, spending every second thinking about his shirt has drained Baldino emotionally.

“It’s been incredibly stressful,” said Baldino. “I’ve been having to actually focus on forcing myself to stop working when I get home at night. I just feel like it’s a time crunch. It’s actually a challenge just to manage that stress.”

Three months ago, he went on a trip to Vegas and met a girl. What was supposed to be a 2-night trip turned into a 6-night trip because of her. Despite living in London, that girl is now in a relationship with Baldino. Months ago, they’d be able to talk for multiple hours every day. He admits now, though, because of the strains of the business, it’s down to 20 minute conversations–every few days.

Start It Up…

On August 4th of last year, Baldino filed with the state of Florida to create his company, naming it Roizo. He has no reason behind the name, other than it sounded cool.

The proposed name of his t-shirt? The Roizo Shirt. There’s a certain simplicity to Baldino. He specifically registered his company as an LLC, allowing him to be the president, founder and CEO of the company, and not needing partners. He says “we” a lot and then, always, corrects to “I”.

He’s not lacking confidence, either. He admits the perfect person to run his company was…him.

“I thought about it awhile back, I said ‘I really need someone to take this company to the next level,” said Baldino. “I was thinking of the perfect person, I was like, ‘he’s gotta know physics, he’s gotta be smart, and he’s gotta have a passion for working out.’ I’m like, ‘oh, that’s me!”

After he started his company and finished creating his shirt, Baldino wanted to make sure other people tried it. He wanted to be certain the shirt worked, and if not, he wanted to hear people’s doubts, disbelief and distrust. So far, he’s heard none.

“About 100 people have already tried it,” he said. “Every single one of them lifts more weight.”

He’s had power lifters, professional bodybuilders, workout enthusiasts and others try the shirt. He understands 100 people is not statistically significant, but it certainly didn’t hurt his cause.

One of those 100 that Baldino took the shirt to even went so far as to attempt to purchase the shirt. And not just one — hundreds.

“I went to Coach [Brian] Remington, and he’s the strength and athletic coach at FAU,” said Baldino. “I showed him the shirt, within 5 minutes, he goes ‘I want 450 of them for all the athletes in the school.'”

Remington is a former power-lifter and the concept of the shirt excited him. He remembered, years ago, trying to accomplish techniques that would keep him from slipping on the bench. Now there is a shirt that does it for him.

“When I was power lifting we would buy stick-em spray,” said Remington of his power-lifting past. “We’d put stick-em spray or chalk on our backs to keep from sliding.”

Despite his enthusiasm and encouragement for the shirt, Remington ultimately recognized he couldn’t purchase them. FAU is an Adidas sponsored school, and as such, the athletic department cannot purchase non-Adidas apparel.

It’s Just Science…

Baldino’s got pages and pages of notes. Not normal notes, not even writing. Formulas, numbers and science. Baldino is a business major now, focusing on how to sell his t-shirt, but he’s got a physics background and it shows.

Baldino even wrote out a physics formula for the shirt. He couldn’t help himself.

“This is classical physics, Newtonian physics,” said Baldino, scribbling furiously on a piece of paper. “Force total equals MG, Sign theta, plus mu of static friction, times MG cosign theta equals force total. OK?”

“I have to somehow teach people Newton’s theory of law and stuff like that without being too technical,” He paused, then added, “That’s going to be a challenge.”

It’s a challenge he’s ready for, though. Baldino wants his shirt in the mass market and has even prepared a sales pitch for most amateur potential users.

“You push with your legs, you’re not going to slip because of the shirt, you put tension in your body and that makes you lift more weight. Boom. That’s it.”

The Roizo Shirt is available currently at Fitness Now, a gym located in Boca for $29.99 and Baldino is currently in talks to have the shirt sold at the FAU bookstore and inside the FAU Rec Center.

Heres how the shirt works...

Sequence 1:

> At a bench press (or any machine with a backrest), sit down and begin to lie back.

> Drive with your legs and attempt to push yourself back on the machine.

>The ROIZO shirt will “catch” on the bench, allowing you to not slide back further.

Sequence 2:

>Continue driving with your legs, as the shirt ensures you won’t move.

>Push off normally — now there’s added strength.

>With the extra force generated from the legs, you will now be able to lift more weight.

The Bells and Whistles of a Workout Shirt

It wouldn’t be enough for Michael Baldino to just believe in his product.

The 23-year-old wanted to prove, empirically, that his shirt helped in the process of bench pressing.

Baldino spoke with Dr. Michael Whitehurst, a professor in the Exercise Science & Health department about his non-slip workout shirt.

“It made sense,” said Dr. Whitehurst about his initial thoughts of the shirt. “The fact that it helps you maintain your position when you apply force makes for a better vehicle for the person to generate force and not dissipate energy.”

In addition to wanting the professor’s opinion, Baldino wanted his help in conducting official research on the shirt.

Conducting research at FAU, however, requires a faculty member to sign off as the principal investigator. The university has an Institutional Review Board, consisting of scientists and members of the community who are charged with making sure the research is safe for the participants.

Baldino and Whitehurst are in the process of drafting up an application, and they hope to be approved by the board (to which Whitehust belongs) in the next couple of months, at the latest.

The proposed research would have the subjects attempting to bench press both with and without the non-slip shirt, in a random fashion, to determine the amount of force the shirt helps generate.

Dr. Whitehurst, for one, believes in the shirt.

“If I were to construct a hypothesis, I would say that this particular shirt will provide an advantage and there will be more force generated.”