The PiLLar Vertical Plank System
As we move toward the dog days of summer, we feature an invention born in the baseball dugout of Cleveland’s own Major League affiliate team, the Lake County Captains. Athletic Strength and Conditioning Coach, Paul Synenkyj was working with the club when inspiration hit to improve the output of common core strengthening exercises. Watching another trainer attempt a vertical plank on the dugout rail got Paul thinking about how to get the most out of the repetition. In his quest he not only created a new piece of equipment, but a whole new exercise with scientific evidence of improvement.
The PiLLar Vertical Plank System began as an idea to use weight transfer physics and became a drawing that Paul contends resembles a game of Hangman. With the help of a friend who worked in steel fabrication, a one-piece prototype was created. Now that he had a functioning piece of equipment, he partnered with a graduate student at Cleveland State’s Exercise Lab. The resulting vertical plank study proved Paul’s invention provided a 500% increase in the output metric. The design also helped alleviate some common issues with a traditional prone plank, by allowing the user to avoid over-flexion of the neck and eliminate curvature of the lower back while allowing for proper knee stability.
Although the output goals of the experiment were met, Paul quickly realized that the design of the units would need to be more agile than the solid prototype, requiring adjustments to the design. After updating to create a version that could be disassembled for easy transport, Paul also added arm pads and handgrip placement to create a reproducible, stable upper body posture.
With the assistance of Renner Otto, as part of our Partnership with MAGNET, the Northeast Ohio partner of the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Paul’s invention recently received Patent protection, and he is ready to take on the next steps of bringing his product to a greater audience for his product, which is currently in limited production. So far that has meant exhibiting at trade shows, where he has garnered a fair amount of attention, and the often arduous endeavor of introductions and contact-making involved in early entrepreneurship.
When not busy with the launch of his product, Paul is still actively involved in conditioning athletes, with The PiLLar Vertical Plank System as part of his fitness arsenal.