As a strength and conditioning coach I’m a big believer in efficiency and durability. Every piece of equipment, every athlete, and every training space must be designed and ready for function. I’m a big believer in this and anything less only serves as an irritant to me. I don’t have the time or the patience for distractions. Several weeks back QALO had approached me with their product and was curious if I would take the opportunity to test their rings out. At first I was reluctant because of my minimalist and demanding nature to maintain a high level of function when in training. I’ve never been one for wearing jewelry and have even gone to great lengths to discourage jewelry from being worn by my students. People these days have a difficult enough time maintaining focus and the last thing I want is for them to be fidgeting with any clothing, or jewelry item when I need them to focus on pulling some weight off the floor. After some time I figured the best thing for me to do was to test out the ring for myself. I was quite surprised at how well it blended into the intense nature of my training. To see just how well it did you can view my experience on how I tested it out right here. To my surprise it’s not only a handy piece of jewelry that is totally functional inside the gym, but I also have my reasons as to why I enjoy the piece and continue to wear it outside of the gym as well. To highlight my experience with the QALO ring I came up with 5 reasons here as to why the QALO ring is solid both in and out of the gym. 1. In The Gym: For me the QALO ring does not get in way during training. Because it is made of a type of synthetic rubber material it doesn’t snag on barbells, dumbbells, or any other type of equipment. In my case it stays tight on the finger in an almost unnoticeable way. Since I’m a minimalist this is crucial and totally suits my taste. Outside The Gym: I’m just as much a minimalist outside the gym and I don’t like wearing jewelry, or clothing that requires a lot of maintenance and attention. To me the QALO ring is a great replacement for metal jewelry. The reason why I don’t like traditional type jewelry is because of its weight and I’m sensitive to the feel of it. To me it’s just uncomfortable. In my experience the QALO ring eliminates this uncomfortable feel. 2. In The Gym: The QALO ring doesn’t elicit a worrisome distraction in the sense that it might be damaged during training. I’m personally not a materialistic type of person. I don’t need a lot of things, but the things I have I want to be of good quality. I want them to last and therefore I tend to want to take care of them. When testing out the QALO ring in training I quickly realized that I could stop worrying about damaging the ring. As a matter of fact my intentions in training transitioned over into trying to damage the ring and it held up to the challenge nicely. Outside The Gym: The QALO ring is easy maintenance. There is no added cost to going to visit a jeweler for some sort of expensive repair. The ring doesn’t scratch or blemish. I’ve put it through the harshest conditions so just trust me on this one. 3. In The Gym: On a bit of a different note the QALO ring is a great conversation starter. Granted these conversations should take place after the training day is over if you get what I mean. Nevertheless, it’s a great way to start up a nice conversation with someone and make new friends. Outside The Gym: For me this was a great conversation piece not only by affording me the opportunity to talk about the ring, but to also open the door for me to talk about what I do for a living. Being an independent contractor (strength coach) it got people’s attention when I was able to expand on the durability of the ring when simply doing my job! This was not intended, but this ended up creating a nice little networking opportunity for me personally. 4. Inside The Gym: I know I’ve touched on the durability of the ring, but it also doesn’t stain very easily either. A few times in training I got some grime or dirt spots on the ring from handling barbells, kettlebells, and having my hands on the ground. Obviously given the nature of what I do this is inevitable. I quickly found out that this wasn’t a big deal. Fortunately I am a big believer in soap and water and this is pretty much all it took. As a matter of fact I purposely would just try a bit of water before adding the soap just to see how easily the ring could be cleaned and it was always immediate in my experience. Outside The Gym: I have had experience with wearing traditional jewelry in the past which is why I know I don’t tend to like it. I’m a fairly rugged individual and I’m not high maintenance if you catch my drift. Having cleared that up for whatever reason in the past when I’ve had traditional jewelry it had at times caused minor skin irritations with me. This was odd because I would always keep things clean, especially myself so I always found this to be aggravating. From what little experience I have had with jewelry…certain metals would just cause my hands and wrists to get irritated from wearing those pieces in the same places (wrists, fingers) for consistent amounts of time. After nearly a month of wearing the QALO this hasn’t been an issue at all. 5. Inside The Gym: Even though I pride myself on being a minimalist in training I still believe in looking good. I mean functionality carries the most weight in my opinion, but I think it’s important to look good as well. I mean I’m no fashion expert, but I’m ok with folks feeling comfortable in their training attire. The QALO ring is certainly not an eyesore. I have the grey ring and it blends well with most anything I wear. I did look at their other color options and they do a great job of designing these rings. Outside The Gym: After a month I haven’t removed the QALO ring from my finger. I mean aside from a bit of cleaning I haven’t taken it off to set it aside for even a day. It doesn’t look like an item that I just wear when training. The QALO is fun to wear out and I have actually enjoyed it. I honestly never thought I’d say that about any type of jewelry piece. I’m not saying this to sound like a salesman. You can ask any of my students, friends, or family and they will tell you that I like things to be simple and to function at a very high level. This is my personality. This has been an honest depiction of my experience with the ring. The point is this…unless you’re into something shady like robbing banks, if you can find something to wear and it is able to perform and function with your lifestyle then you have found a winner. This day and age it’s hard to find things that meet up to those standards. Despite my initial hesitations I’m just happy that this piece ended up being one of those things. Initially I had many questions for the folks at QALO when they approached me about this item. I truly wasn’t sure, but they challenged me and a month later I’m looking back and glad they did. Stay strong, be better, and train smart! To learn more about coach Brandon Richey, his site, and training programs make sure to visit him at:http://brandonricheyfitness.com