Fredericton Entrepreneur Makes Fitness Affordable With ‘Koncrete Kilos’
FREDERICTON – A new Fredericton business is aiming to make fitness affordable by creating weights made of concrete.
Koncrete Kilos opened for business at the beginning of October after co-founder Alec Gregg began making his own kettlebells for personal use with the help of friend Matt Hurst at the beginning of the year. After Hurst moved away, Gregg sought alternatives.
“I didn’t want to stop making weights or stop training,” Gregg said. “So myself along with [co-founder Shawn Costello] started looking at new ways to create exercise equipment.”
Using Costello’s barbell, the pair began experimenting with creating their own molds and concrete weights. Eventually, they crafted a product close to the same size of standard weights using their own concrete mixture and then reinforcing it with their own durability formula that involves both steel and fiber glass.
“We started changing our mix formula and added steel to the inside of the weights to help reinforce them until we knew we had a strong product on our hands,” Gregg said.
After experimenting with the product with drop tests and realizing the weights could be sold at a fraction of the cost of steel weights on the market, they decided to begin selling their product.
“From there, our mission has been to make exercise, health, and fitness as accessible to everyone as possible, regardless of where you are in your fitness journey, or what your training goals are,” Gregg said.
Koncrete Kilos offers its concrete and steel alternatives for a price beginning at $1 per pound, well below the cost of many steel weights. They have set up stations around Costello’s garage to accommodate each step of the weight-making process.
“We have people telling us every day how happy they are to be able to keep working our for an affordable price during the pandemic,” Gregg said.
Orders can be placed through their Facebook page. In addition to the weights, Gregg also offers personal training and exercise programming.
“Whether you are using your own steel weights, Koncrete Kilos concrete weights, or even just your own body weight, I will write you a program that best fits your needs that uses only what you have available to you,” Gregg said. “So there is no need to go out and purchase more exercise equipment if you’d rather just use what you already have.”
Gregg added that he builds the program based on the individual’s goals, their level of experience, and the parameters of their exercise space. He then provides details on the program and photos and videos of the exercises if needed.
“After this, the client is able to train on their own, but can consult with me at any time to make sure they are using proper form, ensure the program is working, and to change anything if something unforeseen comes up,” Gregg said.
Gregg says his experience working in health and wellness has helped lead to this experience and is grateful for the community’s support.
“We feel like this is the best way for us right now to impact our community in a positive way, and help people be both happier and healthier,” Gregg said. “Being able to provide something that really benefits our community has been very rewarding for us.”
Liam Floyd is a reporter for Huddle. Send him story suggestions: [email protected].