OUR HERITAGE
A revolutionary in fitness equipment
Our Heritage
Drax Australia has been designing, manufacturing and supplying commercial gym equipment in this country for fifty years.
The business was founded in 1976 as Calgym, short for Caloundra Gym Equipment, by German athlete and engineer Manfred Meier, working out of Mackay and Caloundra in Queensland. In 1990 sports scientist and multiple world record holder Leo Young joined Manfred as a joint venture partner, with a single aim: to rebuild commercial gym equipment around real biomechanics rather than convention.
The work that followed was well ahead of its time. By the early 1990s the business was the first to produce upper body pin loaded machines with a compound converging and diverging arc and independent unilateral movement, alongside original designs including the seated leg curl and a multifunction dual adjustable pulley with adjustable back support. Movement patterns that were unusual on an Australian gym floor then are standard across the industry now. Those same design principles still run through the strength ranges we build today.
The business rebranded to Synergy Fitness in 2012 and kept engineering. That year brought patented Bilateral Stability Control across the pin loaded strength range, and a new generation of air displacement ergometers combining patented continuous variable transmission with unilateral crank technology. Together they cover the full spectrum of physical conditioning, from rehabilitation through to elite athletes.
In 2020 the business was acquired by DRAX Inc, South Korea's largest commercial fitness equipment manufacturer, and now trades as Drax Australia. It brought world leading South Korean engineering, manufacturing scale and research capability to a business that already knew this market better than anyone. In 2022 DRAX launched the HIRAX A.I. Wellness Club concept.
We are not a new name in Australian fitness. We are a fifty year old Australian business with a global manufacturer behind it, still selling the Synergy strength lines alongside the full DRAX range.
Designed by Science.
Where it all began
1976
CALGYM Equipment (Caloundra Gym Equipment), the parent company of Synergy Fitness was founded by German athlete and engineer, Manfred Meier, in Mackay and Caloundra, Queensland, Australia.
NEW AIM
1990
Sports Scientist and multiple World record holder, Leo Young, joins Manfred as a joint venture partner, with the aim of combining their efforts and unique skill sets to revolutionise commercial gym equipment biomechanics and design.
A SERIES OF FIRSTS
1991
The CALGYM/Synergy Fitness group was the very first to design and manufacture pin loaded machines with compound converging/diverging arc, unilateral movement technology, for all its upper body pin loaded machines, as well as designing the first Seated Leg Curl and revolutionary machines like the Omni Kinetic Ground Base Press (on which the Cybex Bravo was based decades later).
PATENTED INNOVATION
2012
Synergy Fitness develops more uniquely innovative patented products, including Bilateral Stability Control technology on our pin loaded strength products, as well as a whole new range of Air Displacement Ergometers, married with Continuous Variable Transmissions (CVT) and unilateral crank technology.
COMBINING FORCES
2020
DRAX Inc (South Korea's largest commercial fitness equipment manufacturer and distributor) purchase Synergy Fitness combining world leading South Korean engineering, manufacturing scale and research capability to a business that already knew this market better than anyone.
A.I. Wellness concept
2022
DRAX launches HIRAX A.I. Wellness Club concept. DRAXfit is the AI platform behind the most automated commercial gym solution. Built by DRAX in South Korea and powered by the sports science based AI engine RAX, it connects every part of a facility into a single system: IoT enabled strength and cardio equipment, access control, body metric testing, digital lockers, kiosks, payments and retail space, all running on one cloud platform. Members are assessed on arrival, given a personalised program, and progressed automatically as their data comes back through the machines, with no trainer required to rewrite the plan. Operators get a club that manages membership, access, programming and reporting on its own, and full visibility of what is happening on the floor. It is the same system running the HIRAX clubs in Seoul, and it is available here now.
Strength Expansion
2026
The demand for wider ranges of strength options continues to be the biggest growth area of the fitness industry and Drax continues to move faster in this direction than our competitors. With the release of almost 50 new strength machines across pin and plate loaded ranges with more on the way in 2027.
Unprecedented customer satisfaction
DRAX’s dominant market position, within the Australian fitness and sports industries has been earned on the basis of quality product lines, dedicated service and consultancy support, together with unmatched industry knowledge and expertise, resulting in unprecedented customer satisfaction.
In-house support
Our company has its own in-house product/service support team, as well as a first class distributor network, established to offer prompt and efficient customer service. Our Cloud based international service software system enables DRAX Australia to provide fast and efficient equipment repairs and preventative maintenance programs.
