What happens when two medical students, one Physiotherapist, four Pro-athletes and five Medical Doctors, all come together? They make training-wear smarter and more directly supplementary to your training than ever before. Welcome to VotWear, who offer training wear that aids you in reaching muscle hypertrophy faster, easier with lighter weights than ever before in the history of training apparel, playing a large role in the future of Rehab, training and de-loading phase of training as we know it.
Intrigued? So were we so we went to find out more…
Tell us about the journey that lead you to launching VOT Wear…
First time I heard of occlusion training was 2015 ago, it was constantly been called by different names at the time. Some knew it as blood flow restriction (BFR) training, others occlusion training or even kaatsu! And due to these high amounts of sources that presented these new findings came also a high amount of misunderstandings and strange misconceptions of the subject of venous occlusion training.
What is does for our physiology, the means of attaining the results we are expecting to attain and the tools of reaching those results never matched the knowledge that was embodied in the person. And the confusion is not getting less, but more.
There was more than enough research backing this science since the 1970s! But I found myself in a key position, having labs at my disposition and being an ex-pro athlete myself, I spent the following years researching and studying it firsthand. And my conclusion is the same of that of hundreds, if not the thousand of researchers that exist out there! I know venous occlusion training has a huge benefit to people who want to push beyond their limit at the end of their heavy weight workout, or to people who cannot lift heavy at all like rehab patients, senior citizens well beyond their age of fight, or for whatever other reason it may be that an individual cant succumb to heavy weight training.. But there was no safe, consistent and user-friendly method for the layman to include occlusion training into his own workouts.
And thus, the world’s first Occlusion Training Wear was born as a cornerstone to VOTWEAR, a Norwegian Luxury SmartWear company that specialises in the innovation of sustainable smart training apparel that directly has an impact on the user’s physiology.
What has been the biggest learning curve since launching the business?
The largest learning curve we’ve faced is the fact of not underestimating the “noise” out there. The internet is a massive place. And to be seen or heard is no longer “half the game” but it IS the game.
Do you have plans to expand your product range in the future, if so, what will you add?
We already have three more concepts of SmartClothing in the works. Besides the HTM1, which is the world’s first Occlusion Training Wear, a Muscle Hypertrophy Accelerating Wear that literally accumulates lactic acid using localised pressure, and thus increases the rate in the growth of muscle mass and strength.
These three will each have their own unique property or “superpower”, if you will.
Who is behind the brand and what role does each person play?
The core group consists of three brothers. Myself, Mehdi Ettehadulhagh, Nayyer Ettehadulhagh and his twin brother, Sina etterhadulhagh.
Nayyer has a masters in business and Administration, and the Sina (and I), are medical doctors. Sina is more in depth in demographic psychology for marketing and brand growth and we use the Super agency Virtue Clan to help us with the marketing. I mostly focus on the medical aspect of the products, which includes product design and innovation.
Looking back since launching the brand, is there anything you would do different?
Increase our level of patience. Don’t be in a rush to grow. One has to understand, things do take time. As they say, Doesn’t matter how many women get pregnant, you can’t make a child faster than 9 months. Certain things must take time.
Talk us through an average day in your life…
My days are very much structured and consistent.
7:30 up. 830 – 1630. Working as a Medical Doctor. 17-18:30. Daily workout of heavy weights, finishing with occlusion training. 19:00-21:00: Eat (first meal of the day) and work with Everything votwear related. Meetings over Skype for the day or physical. 21:00 – 21:30: strategies for the next day. 21:30-22:00: Meditations and devotions. 22:00 bed. This is the structure of a daily life. Hopefully you got out more from it besides the fact that I do eat once a day
How much has social media played a role in the success of your brand?
Absolutely. More than ever, social media and now podcasts, are playing a more vital role in developing brands and creating close knit communities.
That’s why we early on created our very own podcast channel for VOTWEAR called VOTCAST. Here, we focus on creating content, both video and audio, for Athletes, Entrepreneur and Artists that are in search for a community. In doing this, we expose our brand ideology and identity, which is a key driver to our growth.
What is your go-to quote when lacking motivation?
It’s not really a quote, but rather the philosophy of eradicating procrastination on your life. Who would you be today, if you never procrastinated a day in your life? That thought of my ultimate self drives me.
How has Covid19 impacted your business?
This pandemic affected us two folds. Primarily, due to all the gyms closing, the lock down forced people to purchase gym equipment for their home workouts, aswell as look more into this method of training called “occlusion training” using our HTM1 bfrwear. Who knew, that a covid19 was a catalyst to get people to embrace occlusion training quicker.
Secondly, we got affected positively in terms of getting a chance to give back to our community, by donating 20% of all our profits to the Seattle foundation fund for battling covid19.
What’s your ten year goal?
We focus on bringing value to the layman on terms of functional SmartWear clothing. Long gone will be the days where your shirt or socks do not have some sort of tech or “super power”.
The world needs a leading SmartWear company.
What does self care mean to you?
Service. The more you serve, the more you fertilize your foundation and stay true to your roots. For what could be more self care than never forgetting where you’re from?
Have you had to make any pivots to survive the pandemic?
Not as much pivots as lessons learned. The most vital one being, the world needs to feel united and safe, now more than ever. In today’s world, it becomes every brands responsibility to also lead in these avenues.
Where can people find out more?
You can find out more about me on social media @mehdiettehadulhagh
VOTWEAR is available on all social media platforms @votwear and to tune into the official Podcast channel for votwear, hosted by yours truly, you can find us on social media, Apple podcast, Spotify and YouTube @votcast.
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