Benefit from a 200 euro introductory discount – further details available at the studio.
The year 1967 brought the world colour television, Disney’s Jungle Book, and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Rolling Stones performed in Switzerland for the first time. And a pioneer founded Kieser Training AG: Werner Kieser. His idea was to strengthen the world. For over 55 years, people have trained using the high-intensity Kieser Method.
Opening of the first Kieser physiotherapy centres in Switzerland and Germany (Circle Zurich Airport, Dortmund, Bern and Zug).
Introduction of a new 12-week programme for targeted nutrient supply for more strength, health and training success.
Rebranding of Kieser Training to Kieser.
Introduction of the new E4/5 shoulder machine.
Opening of the Kieser Flagship Studio at Circle (Zurich Airport).
Thanks to a partnership with seca, the German global market leader in medical measuring and weighing technology, Kieser Studios have been equipped with bioelectrical impedance analysis devices since summer 2020. BIA measurements determine the distribution of muscle and fat mass in the body.
With the i-B6, Kieser introduced a new machine and, at the same time, a new training method in its studios. The machine does not use a weight block; instead, the user generates the resistance themselves.
Werner and Dr Gabriela Kieser handed over their life's work to long-standing managing director Michael Antonopoulos and board member Nils Planzer. ‘Fifty years is enough. I have said what needed to be said and done what needed to be done. With the generational change, we are now moving into the next 50 years.’
Werner Kieser remained with the company as a mentor and source of ideas until his death. He handed over his position as Chairman of the Board of Directors to his wife. She continues to work for the company as Medical Director.
With the acquisition of the exersuisse studios, the Kieser Group strengthened its presence in its home market of Switzerland: this move increased the number of Kieser studios in Switzerland to over 20.
In 2014, Kieser is launching four new machines: F1.1, F2.1, F3.1 and C2. These machines make training even more efficient.
With the two machine developments B3, B4 and A5, Kieser launched three world firsts on the market. With the help of the B3 and B4, it is now possible for the first time to train the muscles of the ankle joints in an isolated and intensive manner. The A5 is the first machine that can be used in a public training room to train the pelvic floor while simultaneously measuring muscle activity and displaying it on a screen.
Werner Kieser stepped down from operational management and appointed Michael Antonopoulos as CEO. As Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kieser continued to shape the company's strategy and focused increasingly on the further development of the training machines.
Based on Arthur Jones' lumbar extension machine, the machine development department had further developed the machine and established it in the studios.
In 2006, a pilot studio opened in Sydenham, Australia.
The first Austrian studio opened in Vienna in 2000. In the same year, Werner Kieser established his own research department (FAKT) to clarify outstanding questions.
The first Kieser Studio opened in Luxembourg in 1999.
Kieser Training AG acquired the licence to manufacture MedX machines in Europe. This is Jones' successor company to Nautilus. Kieser started manufacturing the machines in Dieburg, Germany.
Werner Kieser opened two more studios in Hamburg. But few customers came. ‘Is this an art exhibition?’ asked an elderly lady, looking at the supposed objects with interest. Kieser did not let himself be deterred. He stood firmly behind his reductionist concept. He tirelessly explained that although the training was not exactly enjoyable, it was nevertheless worthwhile. That neither bars nor music contribute to muscle building and reducing back pain. Kieser was on the verge of bankruptcy. But the leases in Cologne and Munich had been signed. In the same year, Walter Verlag published Kieser's manuscript ‘Die Seele der Muskeln. Krafttraining jenseits von Sport und Show’ (The Soul of Muscles: Strength Training Beyond Sport and Show). Slowly and almost imperceptibly, the tide turned: initial scepticism gave way to enthusiastic acceptance.
Kieser's wife, Dr Gabriela Kieser, opened Europe's first practice for strengthening therapy in Zurich together with physiotherapist Christiane Fritz, becoming one of the first practitioners to use the Lumbar Extension (LE) machine. No pills, no injections. The team did not use any of the methods recognised in conventional therapy on patients who had usually already undergone a long series of treatments. They used only the LE – with spectacular success. Due to the proximity of the practice and the Kieser studio, the Kiesers observed a strong synergy effect. Patients found relief from pain and were then able to train independently. The success of the programme led to newspaper and television reports. The Kiesers integrated strength training into their concept. In the same year, they ventured into Germany with their first pilot operation in Frankfurt's railway station district.
In the same year, Kieser founded the Training and Documentation Centre (ADOK) to train studio employees.
As early as the beginning of the 1970s, the Centre for Exercise Science at the University of Florida in Gainesville launched what was then the largest research project ever conducted on the treatment of chronic back pain. Even back then, researchers attributed the pain to weakness in the spinal muscles. Arthur Jones invested a total of over 100 million US dollars in the development of testing and therapy machines for the back, neck and knees. It was also Jones who launched the lumbar extension machine in 1986, which for the first time offered the technical prerequisites for meaningful functional diagnostics and strengthening of the back extensors. One night at 2 a.m., Werner Kieser received a phone call: It was Jones, who said, ‘Werner, we've solved the back problem. Come over.’ ‘Fine, Arthur. But I don't have a back problem,’ replied Kieser. ‘You don't, but millions of people are almost dying because of it.’ Kieser flew to Florida on the spur of the moment and tested the machine. Convinced by the machines and the scientists' research results, Kieser ordered five machines the next morning.
Werner Kieser was faced with the decision of whether to establish a second studio. Instead, he began expanding through franchising – initially in Switzerland.
Werner Kieser became the general importer for Nautilus in Europe.
Falkenverlag published Werner Kieser's book: ‘Leistungsfähiger durch Krafttraining’ (More powerful through strength training). It is the first popular science book on the subject in German.
To see for himself the quality of the then revolutionary Nautilus machines, Werner Kieser travelled to the USA. He met Arthur Jones, who was to become Kieser's most important mentor until his death. Kieser explained to Nautilus' head of research, Dr Ellington Darden: "I'm going to set up a chain of studios exclusively for high-intensity training on Nautilus machines. No sauna, no juice bar, nothing. Just training, hard training." Back in Zurich, no bank was willing to finance Kieser's project to purchase the machines. So he borrowed the money from his parents, friends and even customers. His friends, who had studied business administration, predicted that he would go bankrupt. The machines arrived, but bankruptcy did not. In 1978, he was the first in Europe to use the equipment.
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung published Werner Kieser's article ‘Problems with strength training’ in its science section. Kieser explained the problem of the ‘strength curve’ and the ‘negative training method’. As a result, his studio experienced a strong influx of competitive and high-performance athletes.
Werner Kieser read an article by Arthur Jones in the American magazine Iron Man. The American pioneer of strength training, who had been tinkering with improving strength training equipment since 1939 and built his first prototype series in 1948, founded the company Nautilus in 1970, with which he was to revolutionise the fitness scene and which became the undisputed market leader. In 1972, Jones launched the first machine with variable resistance, which for the first time enabled isolated training of the large back muscle. In the article, Jones described the technological shortcomings of barbell training and the advantages of his ‘pullover’ machine. Kieser realised that he had to have these machines. Since he could not afford them, he first designed his own.
In the early 1970s, the fitness boom brought better-equipped competitors to Europe – with music, saunas, solariums, whirlpools, massage services, drinks bars, etc. Kieser thought he had to keep up and expanded his offering to include saunas, solariums, bars and drinks. He said: "The broader my range of services became, the less my customers exercised. People just lay around, thought everything was great, but they didn't train." As an enthusiastic Bauhaus follower, Kieser began to reduce everything to the core – he threw out all passive offerings and painted the walls white. Nothing should distract from the essentials in future: training and muscle building. Kieser established his method: 2x30 minutes of training per week.
A year later, Werner Kieser gave his ‘creation of scrap metal and hopes’ a legally binding form by founding Kieser Training AG. He actually wanted to give his brainchild a grand name reminiscent of outer space. Galaxy Studio, Orion or something similar. Kieser asked the first customer who bought an annual subscription from him and thus believed he could stick with it for at least a year for an idea for a name. ‘If you really believe in what you're doing, use your own name.’ Werner Kieser knew: this is what I believe in, this is what I can do. And so he named his company Kieser Training. When the wrecking ball approached, he moved to new premises in Zurich city centre.
In 1963, Kieser visited the first two gyms in Germany: Poldi Merc's gym in Berlin and Peter Gottlob's gym in Stuttgart. He gained an idea of what his future should look like. He had no money. Money? To train, you mainly need iron, he thought to himself. He found this at the scrap yard. For 40 centimes per kilogram. Many beautiful, round discs, from which he welded dumbbells. In Zurich, he found rooms in a building scheduled for demolition. The facilities: a rough wooden floor, a laundry room converted into a shower room, drinking water from the tap. And a few tonnes of dumbbells, benches and simple pulling machines. In 1966, he opened his first studio in Zurich on Nordstrasse. A centre for strength training in Zurich – that was the title of the article in the Swiss daily newspaper NZZ about the newly opened studio.
Fascinated by the idea of having discovered something valuable, Kieser researched instructions and studies on weight training. Kieser explained to Werner Hersberger, the national coach of the Swiss weightlifters at the time, that he wanted to make the world stronger because he believed this would solve a lot of problems. Hersberger gave Kieser a stack of American magazines and some advice: if you want to spread strength training, set the direction yourself. And never let yourself be dissuaded if you recognise something as right.
When 17-year-old Werner Kieser suffered a bruised rib during sparring, his trainer and doctor advised him to take it easy. But Kieser preferred to follow the advice of a Spanish professional boxer, who recommended strength training to speed up his recovery. The boxer was right: Kieser was back on his feet faster than the experts had predicted. Shortly afterwards, he set up his first training room in his parents' laundry room. Boxing lost its magic and Kieser turned his attention to strength training. He began to study the sparse specialist literature – mainly American books and studies. Europe was not yet ready for this, and the term ‘strength training’ was still unknown in the German vocabulary.
