Recently, Athletified had the opportunity to interview Arnold Tobin, founder of Thenar Performance Labs, the country’s only Sports Technology Company with multiple products, which is black-owned. Mr. Tobin is a fitness consultant and the first and only finger and hand strength, specialist. He has over 40+ years of personal fitness experience and is the foremost authority on hand strength and performance. Tobin’s story starts in Southeast Queens, New York. He was a standout track star at Andrew Jackson High School, setting school records before setting his sights on the Olympics. By his account, Tobin’s dreams of competing in the Olympics began at five years old, watching the great Jim Thorpe and Johnny Weissmuller. The following is the interview we had with Mr. Tobin.

Athletified: Tell us a little about yourself and your start with fitness.

AT:  I grew up in Queens, the third child of 8 brothers and sisters. I started working out at 11, inspired by my oldest brother. I liked to run and was faster than anyone else. I attended to Andrew Jackson high school, known for its strong running program, and decided to be in its hall of fame, which I achieved. I was New York City record holder in hurdles and was ranked number two on the east coast and one of the top hurdlers in the country out of high school. I was a scholarship athlete at Florida A&M University. My goal was always to compete in the Olympics, but I couldn’t attend training camp in California. However, the ban of the 1980 Olympics dampened the spirits for all.

Even though I’d been working out since 11 doing pull-ups and push-ups, I realized I still needed to get stronger even though I looked the part. Around that time, I realized that I could build a business as a personal trainer. In 1980, I started what we now know as personalized fitness. That business did not exist. There was no personal fitness at all. I ran my business out of a gym on 57th street in Manhattan and started with one client, then it grew to 15 clients. So, I was a pioneer in the personal fitness business. I basically created a business that didn’t exist and turned it into a profession. This year marks my 42nd year as a fitness consultant. 

While running my business, I continued to train for the Olympics. One day, I ran into an associate while training on Randalls Island that suggested taking up bobsledding as an Olympic sport. I had an opportunity to qualify for bobsledding in 1980 but didn’t do it, so I went into a training camp in 1983 and made the national bobsled team. From there, I lived in Europe and competed internationally. I participated in the Olympic trials in 1984, and even though we set an American record, we were unable to finish in the top two places in the trials, so I missed out on the 1984 Olympic games. During this time, I continued to run my personal training business.

I had the opportunity to do commercials, and traveled in the Middle East in places like Turkey but still desired to compete in the Olympics, so I cut my trip short and returned to the states to pursue my ambition to enter the ’92 Olympics. I finished in third place in the Olympic trials after a 7-year layoff! I’ve competed against Edwin Moses, a world record holder in hurdles, and other top athletes like Herschel Walker and Willie Gault.

Overall, I’ve been in two Olympic trials, been a national team member, and was approaching 40, heading into another Olympic trial. I knew that I had to develop a product because I hadn’t planned on doing fitness training my entire life. 

Athletified: How did the idea for Thenar Gloves come about?

AT: It was a dream of mine to develop a glove to help improve athletic performance, which took me on a journey on how to get it made. The original target market for the gloves was Japanese golfers, who were spending a lot of money in the 90s to get into the sport. The idea was to develop a glove to help them hit the ball farther. However, hand strength applies to all sports. 

I also realized while there are different instruments that we use to get stronger, there were no actual products centered around improving the strength of our hands. Most hand strengthening products have a one-way function, while Thenar gloves are multi-directional. The company’s name comes from the part of the anatomy called the thenar eminence, which is the fleshy mound found that adducts the thumb. 

To get the construction of gloves right, I contacted manufacturers in seven different countries because I had to find a solution that provided the proper amount of resistance. I traveled to Pakistan and Turkey, but neither could make the glove. Mexico wanted to build a factory. China changed the ingredients. Finally, I settled on a Canadian company for R&D; however, the gloves are manufactured by a company based out of New York, which has its own factory in China. The Canadian company manufactured gloves for shock absorption, and I challenged them to convert their technology in making the Thenar glove. They made the first prototype within two weeks, and the rest is history.

The material inside the gloves is a specialized polymer with elastic deformation, so when you apply pressure, it returns to its original form. Neoprene provides the compression part of the glove. I would say that the gloves maintain 90% of their strength over 10 years. After ten years of usage, I can proudly say a Tai Chi Master martial artist comes back for a stronger glove. I’ve never had one return of a product. 

Athletified: What makes Thenar gloves so different from other hand strengthening products out there?

AT: The other products like the V-grip offer no functional grip and movement and only strengthen one way. With other products, you may open your hands, attempting to strengthen the forearm without resistance to closing the hand. The Thenar glove’s compression and resistance provide multi-directional use of the fingers, strengthening all 34 muscles in the hand. Thenar gloves strengthen the fingers, hand, wrist, ulnar, radius, extensor, and flexor, which no other product does in one unit.

Athletified: Who are the users of Thenar gloves?

AT: Thenar gloves have been used by NFL players and major league baseball pitchers in the US and Japan. I’ve also had NBA players and other professional athletes use the gloves, including women’s professional tennis players and golfers. Some professions that have used my gloves include law enforcement training facilities and a particular unit of the US Marines Corps. I’ve worked with several international MMA fighters and martial artists.

Over the years, Thenar gloves have been used for rehabilitation. A top athletic training and rehabilitation facility in Arizona with NFL and MLB players has been a repeat customer. 

Athletified: How has Thenar helped rehab patients?

AT: I’ve had stroke patients use our gloves as part of their rehabilitation, those with diabetic neuropathy, and patients post-surgery repair. I had one client who suffered an arterial stroke and lost strength in his left hand. After two weeks of using our Thenar gloves, he regained full strength in his left hand. I’ve also worked with a lot of elderly customers. The highlight was working with Olympic gold medalist Paul Hamm during his post-surgery rehab before the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. Thenar’s glove restored the strength to the surgically repaired hand, allowing him to make the Olympic team before relinquishing his place due to an injury of the opposite shoulder. I’ve worked with women who suffered from basal thumb arthritis. The current remedy for this is immobilization and medication. However, I’ve had two women over 60 eliminate their basal thumb arthritis pain through hand strengthening. We have a system that strengthens the base of the thumb to eliminate pain and injury. If a person has hand pain, I’m confident that my system can fix it. I’m the first and only person who has studied hands extensively to invent a product to strengthen hands in its totality.

Athetified: Can you tell us the difference between the strength levels of each glove? 

AT: There is a 30% increase in resistance level between our blue, red, and black gloves. The difference in the color system, with blue being the least resistant and black being the most challenging level, is the number of sets and repetitions that one can perform. Rehab patients start off with the least resistance of the blue gloves. Our red gloves are the standard glove for athletic persons. 

The gloves are customized for men and women based on hand size and body weight. Unlike men, there is not much variability in women’s sizes. In my experience, most men don’t have extra-large hands. The tallest client I’ve had is a 6′ 7″ male client who uses a large Thenar glove; however, that same size can also fit a man under six feet tall. Female athletes start off using our blue athletics Thenar glove, and most of our male athletes start with our men’s red gloves.

I recommend using all three levels as part of Thenar’s hand strengthening system and based on the type of sport or activity. For instance, a rock climber would go from a red athletic glove to black: the same for wrestlers and weight lifters. If we are talking football players, linemen would eventually move on to our black gloves, whereas wide receivers and quarterbacks would use our red gloves. Women usually move from our blue athletic glove to the red athletic glove.

Athletified: Can you share the improvements one can achieve using Thenar gloves?

AT: Many users have reported increased hand strength after just three to four workouts. Yes, people have shown improvement that fast. Some clients have reduced shoulder pain by pumping blood to the shoulders using our Thenar gloves. Thenar gloves reduce extracellular fluid, increase vasodilation, allowing the hands to become more flexible and loose. I recommend doing manual hand stretches for about 12 minutes per day and exercising using Thenar gloves. My routine involves eight minutes of hand stretches before bed every night.

Athletified: What other products can we expect from Thenar Performance Labs? 

AT: We’ve got several developments in the pipeline. We are currently working on the Arnold Sleeve, a compression sleeve that will leave the arm feeling less heavy. We also developed the RS1 compression-resistant pants, which strengthen the leg muscles during walking or running. We will also be introducing a specific glove to improve the base of the thumbs in six different positions. Thenar Performance has also developed a glove with a wireless interface that measures the force of the individual fingers. Other products are in development to improve and enhance the hands and improve athletic performance.

I was recently featured in Men’s Health digital magazine as one of a few black-owned gear brands. Finally, expect a big social push from Thenar Performance Labs in late January.