The End of Guesswork in Coaching
For decades, coaches and physical therapists have wrestled with a familiar dilemma: how hard should an athlete train? Push too much, and the risk of injury rises. Pull back too far, and performance stalls. Even the most experienced professionals have long relied on gut instinct, observation, and occasional testing, tools that often left major gaps in understanding how the body performs and recovers in real time.
Enter True Force, a new technology built to close that gap.
Founded by Ben Durbin, a former Iowa State football player and veteran strength coach, True Force combines AI-driven analytics with precision sensors embedded in a barbell system. It’s designed to measure and optimize every lift, in real time.
From Intuition to Intelligence
Traditional performance tracking has always been reactive. A one-rep max test or timed sprint tells a story from the past, not what’s happening today. True Force shifts that paradigm by providing instant feedback on power, velocity, and fatigue.
Each rep becomes a data point, feeding into an adaptive algorithm that helps coaches and clinicians adjust training intensity dynamically.
“No matter how much experience you have, there’s always an element of guesswork in coaching,” Durbin explains. “I wanted something that could help me understand exactly how hard an athlete should train on any given day.”
That precision transforms workouts from broad estimations into evidence-based programs, tailored to each individual’s readiness and recovery patterns.
A New Tool for Coaches and Clinicians
The implications of this shift reach far beyond the weight room. For strength coaches, the platform offers a clear window into performance trends, allowing them to spot fatigue before it becomes an injury and fine-tune sessions for consistent progress.
For physical therapists and rehabilitation specialists, the system delivers measurable insights that can guide safer, more efficient recovery. Real-time data allows professionals to calibrate load, monitor form, and verify progress, not through perception, but through precision.
This crossover between athletic training and clinical care marks a new era of integrated human performance technology, one that bridges the gap between peak performance and long-term wellness.
Designed for Simplicity and Scale
Despite its cutting-edge technology, True Force is built for ease of use. The system integrates seamlessly into existing setups, delivering immediate feedback through intuitive dashboards. Coaches can visualize metrics, compare trends, and share data across teams and medical staff, creating a shared performance language that enhances collaboration.
“There’s nothing else on the market that does exactly what this does,” says Durbin. “We’ve built something that’s accurate, repeatable, and easy to implement.”
The platform’s adaptability also allows it to serve a wide range of users, from collegiate programs to rehabilitation clinics, without requiring massive infrastructure changes or steep learning curves.
The Future of Smarter Training
For Durbin, True Force represents more than just a piece of equipment, it’s a philosophy of data-informed coaching. By empowering professionals with real-time insights, the system encourages smarter workloads, faster recovery, and more balanced development.
“Coaches have always had to rely on instinct, and that meant some athletes were pushed too far while others weren’t challenged enough,” he says. “True Force helps reduce that variability, enabling a more individualized approach.”
As the industry moves deeper into the age of performance analytics, True Force stands out as a catalyst for progress, turning every lift into actionable intelligence and every rep into an opportunity for growth.
