At a glance

• Organization: University of Kansas Recreation Services.
• Industry: Collegiate recreation and fitness.
• Products: Two ZeroWheel Studio Kits with anti-theft protection.
• Problem: Making core training accessible, adaptable, and useful in a busy shared facility.
• Solution: Open-floor access, adjustable difficulty, and portable equipment supported by demonstrations and posted instructions.
• Outcome: ZeroWheel helped personal training clients who struggled with traditional rollouts increase their core strength, while other students regularly incorporated it into their own workouts.
  

Supporting a campus community

The Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center at the University of Kansas (KU) serves a community with different abilities, ambitions, and reasons for showing up. The center recorded more than 373,000 visits during the 2023–24 academic year. Supporting that community means helping members build lasting fitness habits, whether they are starting a routine or developing one they already have.

Different needs on a shared fitness floor

For KU’s staff, making core training accessible meant offering equipment that members could readily access and adapt to their abilities.

Chris Wash, KU Recreation Services’ Associate Director of Facilities Management, explained that traditional ab wheels were kept at the welcome center for checkout. Checkout adds a step for members, but leaving portable equipment openly available without security measures can create a risk of theft or loss.

For Tiya Retchloff, KU’s Personal Training Program Manager, the equipment needed to accommodate clients with different abilities and give them room to progress. Clear guidance also mattered, so members could learn how to use the equipment on their own.

KU introduced ZeroWheel, a motorized training wheel with adjustable assistance and resistance. It gave the facility a way to keep core-training equipment available on the fitness floor and adaptable to different abilities, whether members trained with a coach or on their own.

Open access with added security

ZeroWheel’s anti-theft protection allows KU to keep its devices on the fitness floor without a separate checkout step. Wash described that placement as “more accessible” and “more convenient”: members can find and use ZeroWheel where they are already training.

“If I go out on the floor during our peak times, I’m almost guaranteed to see [ZeroWheels] being used.”

Chris Wash, Associate Director of Facilities Management, University of Kansas

In addition to making ZeroWheel available on the open floor, KU offered students hands-on instruction. At Rock the Rec, KU’s annual open house at the start of the fall semester, demonstrations let members experience the different modes for themselves. Retchloff reported a positive response to the demonstrations and saw more members using ZeroWheel independently afterward.

To support members beyond those demonstrations, KU posted step-by-step ZeroWheel instructions beside both devices, so members had a reference when getting started or returning for another workout. Wash called the instructions “user-friendly and easy to use.”

Training that adapts to the user

In her personal-training sessions, Retchloff picks up ZeroWheel and its knee pad and carries them to an open area that suits the workout, rather than organizing the session around a fixed machine.

The challenge is adjustable, too. Retchloff can adjust assistance to support a client’s movement or add resistance for a greater challenge, using the same device across different abilities and training goals.

“I like that ZeroWheel is versatile and can easily be tailored to each client’s individual fitness level.”

Tiya Retchloff, Personal Training Program Manager and Personal Trainer, University of Kansas

Building strength over three months

One of Retchloff’s clients played rugby and soccer but struggled to return from a traditional ab-wheel rollout while maintaining her form. Building core strength was a focus of their training.

Retchloff switched to ZeroWheel’s highest assistance setting so her client could practice the movement with support. When Retchloff explained that the device would also help her come back up, her client laughed, seemingly unconvinced. With ZeroWheel’s assistance, her client was able to return, and Retchloff immediately noticed better form: her client could maintain a neutral spine and engage her core.

That successful start became part of a consistent routine. Retchloff first increased repetitions, then gradually reduced assistance once her client could complete two or three sets of ten. Over about three months, her client progressed by several difficulty levels.

Her client also struggled to maintain balance when landing from jumps during power-focused workouts. With ZeroWheel incorporated into her broader training program, Retchloff saw improvements in her client’s balance and form.

“She's gotten to the point where she has better balance, and form is also improving on other exercises… She’s able to engage her core, and she knows what that feels like now.”

Tiya Retchloff, Personal Training Program Manager and Personal Trainer, University of Kansas

From avoiding core work to choosing ZeroWheel

While Retchloff’s client worked with a personal trainer, KU graduate Abraham Kamal made ZeroWheel part of his own core-training routine. He had previously neglected core exercises and disliked traditional ab wheels.

“Being able to change the resistance and making it easier for myself made ZeroWheel become a central part of my core routine.”

Abraham Kamal, Graduate, University of Kansas

As his strength developed, Kamal increased the difficulty. After breaks or time away, he could also increase assistance to keep completing full repetitions.

After graduation, Kamal missed having that adjustability at his new gym:

“I miss ZeroWheel’s flexibility.”

Abraham Kamal, Graduate, University of Kansas

Part of everyday training, with room to grow

Wash sees opportunities to build on ZeroWheel’s regular use through future demonstrations and trainer-led activities, helping more members explore the device and giving existing users new ways to train.

At KU, ZeroWheel supports both coached sessions and independent workouts. Its portability and adjustable settings give staff a tool they can use with different clients and across existing programs, while open-floor access lets members make it part of their own routines.

Bringing ZeroWheel into your facility

KU’s experience offers a few practical starting points for facilities considering ZeroWheel:

• Visible, secure access. Placing ZeroWheel alongside existing equipment can make it easier to find and use, while anti-theft protection helps reduce the risk of theft.
• A place in existing programming. Personal training and member-led workouts provide opportunities to introduce ZeroWheel without creating a separate program.
• Guidance beyond the first demonstration. Hands-on introductions and nearby instructions can help members explore the settings and return to the equipment independently.
  

Interested in how ZeroWheel could fit your facility? Contact our team to discuss equipment options, placement, and resources for introducing it to your staff and members.