Opening of the first Kieser physiotherapy centres in Switzerland and Germany (Circle Zurich Airport, Dortmund, Bern and Zug).

Rebranding of Kieser Training to Kieser.

Opening of the Kieser Flagship Studio at Circle (Zurich Airport).

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.

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.

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.

Based on Arthur Jones' lumbar extension machine, the machine development department had further developed the machine and established it in the studios.

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.

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.

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.

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 became the general importer for Nautilus in Europe.

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.

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.

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.

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.