Brad Thornton, Author at American Gymnast and Ninja

AG Heads to Ozark, MO

Brad Thornton — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 14:19:24 +0000

American Gymnast recently popped over to Ozark, MO to knock out the installation of Summit Athletix cheer facility. We helped Summit throughout the design process to create the ideal equipment layout as well as a clean look of “Summit” red and black.

Once we wrapped up the design portion, we got some exciting new pieces of equipment in to production to prepare for an April install. Among those pieces of equipment was a new American AirTrack Factory AirBag. Owner, Lacy Emmert, chose to go with an airbag over foam block for a variety of reasons. First, Lacy is all about branding. She loves the ability to be able to create a unique and artistic look with the airbag top sheet. Secondly, Lacy wants a clean gym, so if you are going to do a pit, airbag trumps foam block in cleanliness all day. Lastly, Lacy was tired of hearing “hey, Abby is stuck upside down in the pit again. Can someone pull her out??” Throughput is key in a busy cheer facility and when you have an airbag it’s only going to take about 3 seconds to exit the pit. Imagine your athletes getting 3 times the number of tumbling runs in a 15 minute station. That’s productivity!

Summit’s new facility will host a number of programs including Cheer, rec gymnastics and Ninja. In addition to the airbag, athletes will train on 2 large custom sized spring floors, a 40ft tumbl trak, 40ft rod floor and a 7×14 in-ground trampoline. Parents will have a nice viewing mezzanine complete with a lounge and a coffee bar.

Check out a cool time lapse video of the installation >>>

Hear from Lacy about how it was working with American Gymnast to design and outfit Summit Athletix >>>

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Epic Ninja Facility – Great Owner – The Best Testimonial Ever

Brad Thornton — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 13:23:38 +0000

We have done hundreds of Ninja projects all over the country, but none compare to the one we did for Cypress Ninja Academy. We have designed two full Ninja facilities for Cypress. The first facility was 5000 square feet with various levels of Ninja rig, accommodating ages 4 through adult. The second facility was a breathtaking 27,000 square feet of pure Ninja perfection. We created some of the most unique attractions in the world for this new Cypress facility, making it one of the best places in the county for top Ninjas to train as well as young Ninjas to learn. Owner, Aaron Basham talks about his experience with our team through the process….

The design process for this facility was a long one. When designing custom structures, you have to be spot on with their measurements and their placement in the gym. Working with Aaron is a great deal of fun because he takes pride in facility aesthetics. Branding and color schemes are very important to Aaron, so we have to make sure color combinations present well and logos are strategically positioned throughout the facility. Our designs don’t just provide an accurate map of the equipment layout, they are realistic glimpse at what the completed facility will look like. The design allows the owner to effectively market the new gym with a beautiful set of images and a fly through video.

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HUGE Gymnastics Facility Design – Salem Gymnastics

Brad Thornton — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 16:20:01 +0000

Salem Gymnastics just went from big to HUGE!! The American Gymnast team just finished up with the re-design of this world class expansion project and it is pretty incredible. Salem Gymnastics already had a very large training gym, but all of their programs are packed with athletes, so the desire to expand finally became a “we must expand!”

The idea with the facility expansion was to provide more separation between the competitive athletes and the recreational athletes. In addition, dedicating a new large foam block to their high level athletes was essential for efficient training. This new addition, which is added on to the end of the long gym, will also accommodate the competitive athletes with their own entry, creating a much better traffic flow in the building.

During the construction phase there will inevitably be some inconveniences to the current customers, so it was important for Salem to show their customers what the end result would be post-construction. Therefore, our design team worked hard to provide a very detailed realistic rendering of the final product.

Hear Salem Gymnastics owner, Beth Morphis, explain the expansion plans …

Do you need help with designing, outfitting, and/or installing a new gym project? Fill out this short 3D Gym Design Form and let us provide you with a quote.

Brad Thornton

Brad@InteractiveSportsZone.com

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Beautiful new Gymnastics Facility Design – 3D Fly Through

Brad Thornton — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:08:51 +0000

Some new clients approach us for a gymnastics facility design and simply want to see a basic equipment and pit layout. Others want to see a real life glimpse at how then envision their new business. We obviously are happy to take either approach but I get more excited about the latter (and so do our clients). When one sees all of their branding, colors, decor etc. in a final design, we typically see a common reaction – eyes wide, mouth open, gasp. Needless to say, this is a very rewarding part of the process for us. Vertical Athletics was no different. They wanted a full marketing piece and had some really cool color combinations in mind.

In addition to the beautiful aesthetics, they are also creating a phenomenal training facility. Nearly every apparatus has a foam block, resi and hard landing option. Recreational and competitive gymnasts each have their own area of the gym with their own apparatus. The gym is large enough to allow for good athlete flow, proper egress and dedicated areas for stretch, warm up and conditioning. It’s going to be world class so I can’t wait to see this one in person. Check out the design…

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Recovering 7 Balance Beams by Lunch-time

Brad Thornton — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 19:02:13 +0000

American Gymnast Sales & Installation Manager, Jason Heartsfield, performs 7 balance beam core replacements at Roanoke Academy of Gymnastics.

Starting first thing in the morning, 7 worn beam tops were replaced with brand new beam cores by 1:30pm so that zero classes were affected during the procedure.

The 7 used beam cores were then transported to our facility for inspection. Post-inspection, each core is either refurbished to original specs for resale or retired from service. Contact us for a quote on your next beam recovery!

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Portable Gymnastics AirBags

Brad Thornton — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 20:57:05 +0000

The AirBag S by American AirTrack Factory is one of our more exciting innovations. This versatile training tool is there to help you back down safely. It’s the small version of our larger built-in AirBags and can be placed anywhere in your gym. What is it that makes this new equipment so smart and how is it beneficial for your gym? Let us explain.

First and foremost the most important and predictable argument is that it is soft. But like all our equipment, it is soft in a smart way. A simple pressure regulation system was built in so that gymnasts or coaches can easily alter the internal pressure. Very soft for nice back landings, getting rid of that fear barrier and helping the athlete to get comfortable with their movements. Secondly, somewhere in between soft and firm, to get more comfortable with upright landings without losing that safety for when things don’t go as planned. Then there’s the most firm option which allows you to stand up your landings, taking you one step closer to landing on solid mat. This variety in pressure makes learning new skills more pleasurable and less frightening.

THE AIRBAG S IS PORTABLE

Secondly, the AirBag S is portable. Like any other piece of American AirTrack Factory equipment, it is small in storage and lightweight compared to your large resi mats. This means that it can be easily moved around the gym, creating a very versatile landing mat. Use this AirBag behind Vault, at the end of beam or a tumbltrak for dismounts, or on the floor for tumbling skills. The AirBag S is not only ideal for the specialized gymnastics facilities but also for clubs who train in gymnasiums where foam block pits are not an option!

Of course, there is also the benefit of it being able to deflate, making it about 10% of its original size. This is ideal for clubs that have limited storage or clubs who do not want a permanent set up. simply switch off the blower, roll it up and store it. That’s all there is to it!

TESTED BY THE BEST!

Lastly, the AirBag has been developed with and tested by elite athletes and coaches. These athletes know what they like and more importantly, know what makes their training more fun, efficient and safe. They have helped with the placement of additional Velcro to make your AirBag easily connectible with an AirTrack by AirTrack Factory, safety lines and the softness and friction-free top sheets. This knowledge combined with the air-expertise of American AirTrack Factory make this product something that we are proud to stand behind.

As with all our equipment, we are constantly innovating and evolving the equipment to make it even better for its users. Do you have an idea that would make our equipment better? Let us know!

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3D Gym Design Continues to Evolve

Brad Thornton — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 13:33:06 +0000

American Gymnast has been providing professional gym design services for the better part of 2 decades. We love this side of our business as we see how beneficial it is for our clients. What started out as basic 2D drawings, meant primarily for space planning and equipment layout, has evolved in to a 3 dimensional, flashy and realistic animated marketing piece. Even over the past few years we have implemented new applications which allow us to create renderings that blow our clients away. We can even accurately demonstrate how the sun hits the building and where it may have an effect on the training area due to the placement of windows – super cool stuff!

Our goal is to exceed the expectations of our clients when they choose to work with us for facility design. It is important for us to enable our clients to sell their vision to either a lender, investors or future customers and athletes. In order to effectively do this, we have a dedicated design team who keeps up with the latest technology in 3D design software. So, you can feel comfortable knowing that the individual working on your project is not only skilled in facility design, but also has vast knowledge of the sports/programs you are offering. We are a team of athletes with decades of experience and we love that we do!

If you are interested in our design services, you can fill out our design request form HERE

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Largest Gymnastics AirBag in the USA!

Brad Thornton — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 15:24:10 +0000

American Gymnast recently worked with Synergy Gymnastics in Malvern, PA. The plan was to provide a 3D gym design for top notch gymnastics training facility for recreational and competitive gymnastics. The design incorporated air bags for training purposes instead of loose foam pits, a trend that continues in the gymnastics world. Well, our friends at Synergy didn’t just want to tip toe in to the world of air bags, they were ALL in – 5 new bags, one being the largest one to land in a gymnastics facility!

Our installation was a unique one in that we had to pick up and move their current gym and take it to the new gym on Day 1. Days 2 – 7 included the installation of all old and new equipment. Our days were tough, with 10 – 12 hours of labor followed by the few hours of office work we tried to catch up on. After that, a few Advil and off to bed to start it all again the next morning. All the craziness was captured on some really cool drone footage -a week of fun crammed in to a 3 min video…check it out!

If you need professional gym design services, please fill out a request form HERE

Brad Thornton

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Crazy Home Playhouse

Brad Thornton — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 22:00:04 +0000

We just wrapped up a residential home play center design for a client that you have to see to believe. This fun bunch reached out to us a month ago and told us what they had in mind for an amazing play facility for their grand kids. Relying on our expertise, our new clients asked us to design the full facility for them as well as make some of the recommendations for the activities. In addition to the already planned basketball/volleyball/badminton and trampolines, we decided to work in some rock climbing, Ninja obstacles, interactive electronic sports games and some inflatables – sure to get the kiddos excited. We are still in the early phases of the project as we still need to iron out all of the details on the building plans and equipment. However, this buildout is projected to be right around the corner in the first quarter of 2022. We are definitely looking forward to installing and having a little fun in this one. Check out the video below

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AG Brings Ninja Down to the Bayou

Brad Thornton — Fri, 13 Aug 2021 14:31:54 +0000

We just wrapped up a killer install with some new friends at Athletes In Motion down in Prairieville Louisiana. Early on, when we discussed this update to their existing program, they told us “we want something no one else has!” We love working with clients with this mentality. So, we took a virtual tour of their space to see what we were working with and to get the wheels turning. Turns out, they had a perfect pit configuration to allow for a Ninja course to be built around and over it. Heck yeah! With that, the fun began with the design phase of the project. In the initial design phases, we like to go crazy and come up with as many creative ideas as we can. Fortunately, our vivacious new clients were absolutely on the same page and ended up with super cool new course. Check it out:

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