Mike and Stephanie Morris rolled out their Resist-A-Ball program to the fitness industry at the World IDEA Conference in New Orleans in 1993.
Just one year prior to the conference, Mike learned about the stability ball while attending a personal training certification course led by Tom Purvis, a physical therapist and former head trainer for the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). Mike returned home excited about working with this new exercise ball, but quickly realized that little information was available for stability ball training in the fitness industry. With Mike's expertise in strength training and Stephanie's background in dance exercise and choreography, they introduced the stability balls into their personal training and group exercise workouts. After establishing its popularity and effectiveness with the public, the first educational manual for Resist-A-Ball training was written. Today Resist-A-Ball education and training products can be found in many health clubs and homes throughout the world.
As of October 1, 2008 Mad Dogg Athletics added the Resist-A-Ball® line of products to its growing stable of brands, including Peak Pilates® and Spinning®, the world's leading supplier of indoor cycling education, bikes and accessories. The addition of the Resist-A-Ball brand offers core programs and world-class products developed through years of experience, and now the Mad Dogg Athletics community will reap the benefits.
Mike Morris, founder of Resist-A-Ball, explains why Mad Dogg Athletics is the perfect partner for this acquisition: "What sets Resist-A-Ball apart from all other ball distributors is education and a passionate group of fitness instructors working together to develop and promote great programs for our ever-changing fitness industry. For Resist-A-Ball to continue, we needed to partner with a company that shared the same passion and vision, and truly saw the value of what our team has done over the past 15 years."
Mike points out the similarities between the companies' history and philosophy: "In many ways our companies share similar paths. We both introduced and pioneered our exercise concept in the early ‘90s. We both have never wavered in our integrity and our ability to lead the industry in programming, and we both have a talented, loyal and passionate Master Instructor team.”
John Baudhuin, founder of Mad Dogg Athletics, has a bright vision of the future for Resist-A-Ball and its other brands: "We recognized a long time ago that the team at Resist-A-Ball had something special. While our competitors may view stability balls as a commodity, we believe that comprehensive education, videos and top-quality balls provide instructors and facilities the ability to offer the best program available. Resist-A-Ball has created programs and products that are equally beneficial to a personal trainer as well as first-time users. We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to build on this great foundation."
