To our ADEX family,
Before the Black Friday questions pile up any higher, we owe you an honest update on where Adex is, how we got here, and where we're headed. It's a longer read, but you deserve the full story.
Adex began in a garage as a rehab project. After a shoulder injury, I needed a tool to rebuild my strength, so I built one. That side project became something none of us expected: equipment now used around the world for rehab, prehab, and serious training.
Every club, mace, and kit we've shipped has been made in the United States, and I've personally put my hands on every one. More than 17,000 clubs have gone out worldwide. Only four have ever come back for a defect, and each one was replaced under our lifetime guarantee. If you doubt I've threaded every one of those handles myself, shake my hand. The grip will tell you.
We've also worked hard to push this sport forward. Adex was first with microloading, first with an adjustable steel club, first with the martini-glass design where the weights meet the handle, and first with a powder-coated grip built for high-rep, time-under-tension work that won't chew up your hands. That grip alone has gone through about 15 generations. With help from coaches like Mark Wildman, Frank DiMeo, Rik Brown, Chris Gilbert, Jorge Moral, and so many others, steel clubs and maces have grown from a niche into a real community, and we're proud to have helped pave that road.
Here's what we haven't said publicly: the last 18 to 24 months have been rough. U.S. manufacturing labor costs have climbed sharply over the past five or six years, and many months we've broken even or lost money. Adex can't run as a nonprofit. This business supports my family, including my daughters and a grandchild on the way.
We also know how frustrating it is to see "only 10 left in stock." It frustrates us too. We read every comment and every email. But it's just two of us in the warehouse every day, Sebastian and I, and we can't keep up with demand this way.
Put simply: if nothing changes, Adex won't make it…
To keep Adex alive and keep products on the shelf, we're adding an internationally sourced line alongside our American-made clubs.
This is not an Alibaba copy job. We visited these facilities in person, chose manufacturers our industry friends already trust, sat down with the people running them, and put the product through five generations of samples until it met the Adex standard. We even shared our patented thread-set design, the locking system I spent years perfecting for your safety and something we've always guarded closely. That was not an easy call.
What this means for you:
• Same ADEX standard. Quality-controlled to match our U.S.-made clubs.
• Knurled handles. You've asked for knurling for years, and it was never possible at U.S. labor costs. Every internationally sourced club will have a knurled handle.
• Fully interchangeable. U.S. weights fit international handles, and vice versa.
• More affordable add-on and Mastodon kits. These have been very expensive to make here. Overseas production lets us offer them for much less, so as you outgrow a 27–28 lb club and move toward 40–45 lbs, a +20 lb add-on kit is within reach, no matter which club you own.
When heavier kettlebells became widely available here, people got stronger because the tools finally existed. We want add-on kits to do the same for clubs, and that only happens if we can keep them in stock.
AMERICAN-MADE ISN'T GOING ANYWHERE
We'll keep building U.S.-made clubs. Both lines will be priced so we can stay in business, keep inventory up, and keep serving you. We're a business, and we won't pretend otherwise.
You've asked, so here's a straight answer: there won't be a Black Friday or Cyber Monday sale this year. We know plenty of brands are discounting. Right now, we can't.
This is an open letter, and we mean it. Reply to this email and tell us what you think. Mad, happy, somewhere in between, we want to hear it. Our goal is to keep making Adex products through 2027, 2028, and well beyond, and we can't do that without you.
Thank you for everything.
Donnie & Sebastian
Adex Clubs
10/24/2026