The Future of Training at Home and Beyond

The Playbook With David Meltzer

David Meltzer, Entrepreneur.com

Careers, Business, Entrepreneurship

4.9 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In today’s episode, I sit down with Blake Kassel, the creator behind Flexicon and a pioneer in modern resistance training. We talk about designing a band-driven system that replicates the feel of free weights while reducing joint stress through linear resistance. Blake explains why training for speed matters, how the machine supports full-body strength, flexibility, and cardio, and why teens, pros, and older adults all feel safer without a spotter. We get into real-world use in my home gym, compact setup and steel build, and the growing library of guided workouts. After three decades of iteration, Blake’s vision lands on a smarter path to long-term performance.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Entrepreneurs of Playbook. I'm David Meltzer here in our glorious studios with a dear friend of mine, Blake Castle.
0:07.2	He's the CEO of Flexicon, which is the epitome in sports of things happen very slowly.
0:15.5	Then all of a sudden, years and years. It reminds me, Blake, you remind me of an author that never finishes his book.
0:22.4	And finally, after years and years, creates this incredible Jack Canfield chicken soup for
0:28.2	the soul, selling over a half a billion books. When I have used the flexicon, my wife uses
0:34.7	the flexicon, it's completely aligned with what I call the middle
0:39.3	age workout where your mind tells you to go back to 285 pounds on the bench. And your body
0:46.2	tells you that's pretty stupid. And I've lived that life with me and the athletes that I represented
0:52.7	over the years.
1:00.0	How many years did it take to develop the band system that identically replicates the movement and feel of free weights?
1:06.6	That's the best way I describe.
1:07.6	Yeah, yeah.
1:08.2	Coming from someone that uses it.
1:09.4	The bands I started working on in 94 and then launched just the band system I describe. Yeah, yeah. Coming from someone that uses it. The bands, I started working on in 94, and then launched just the band system in 98. And then in 2009, we started doing live workouts on the web. And then during COVID, this was a pet project. I had a solo flex when I was younger. There was a lot to be desired with the solo flex. It was a great machine, but it could have been a lot better. So I started working on this project, and it took me
1:32.4	three years, nine trips to China last year for weeks at a time at the factory, rolling up my
1:38.1	sleeves with the guys to get it to where it is now. And where it is today is the ultimate workout.
1:47.4	Thank you, man.
1:48.2	And it deals in strength, flexibility, cardio.
1:53.2	And I know I talked about the middle-aged mutant turtle
1:56.0	category, which I exist in.
1:57.7	Yeah, we both do.
1:59.0	But yet I have it next to a true rack, a free weight rack in my gym,
	...

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