Paul Widerman
Founder, Thinkfit
Inventor, SmartBells

Paul Widerman, founder of THINKFIT and the inventor of SmartBells, is responsible for developing the company's product and routines, as well training and curriculum development. He is also intimately involved in product development and all aspects of the business.

Over the past 15 years, he has developed the solo, partner and group exercises that are the foundation of THINKFIT’s SmartBells System. He sculpted the first SmartBell prototype in clay with the belief that form should follow function and uniquely received both a copyright for SmartBells as a sculpture and a patent as an invention. Going from "clay to company," Paul diligently incubated THINKFIT with an open mind yet uncompromising quality standards. Since the company’s inception, in an unrelenting quest to develop the best functional fitness product possible, he has presented SmartBell solicited feedback, from thousands of people, including fitness instructors and athletes of the highest caliber. For THINKFIT this involved the study of “movement” (our software) and evolving the SmartBells, the “object/tool” (our hardware). SmartBells are so different than conventional training methods new vocabulary had to be created. Metaphors from the realms of computers and jazz have been extremely helpful for our instructors and in user’s product literature.

Paul’s has dedicated much of his life and time to amateur wrestling. In high school, he was coached by the renowned Lou Giani and was a two-time New York State Champion, and academic class valedictorian, at Huntington HS (NY). In college, he was Co-Captain of the Harvard College wrestling team. As a college senior, he placed 3rd in the National Freestyle Championship and ran the Boston Marathon in the same weekend. One year later, he moved to Iowa, and wrestled for Dan Gable and the famed Hawkeye Wresting Club winning the National Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and becoming First Alternate on the 1984 Olympic Team.

Though retired as full-time competitor in 1984, Widerman continued to wrestle on for US National teams through the 1996 Olympic trials, where he finished 8th in his weight class and was proud to be the oldest competitor at the event. He was the Assistant Coach of the Harvard College wrestling team from 1985 to 1990 and then Co-Head Coach at Rondout Valley HS from 1991 to 1997.

Widerman is broadly trained in an array of artistic and mind/body diciplines. He has studied yoga, dance, and theater incorporating their principles into the SmartBells movements. SmartBells simultaneously facilitate the concepts that underlie peak performance, functional fitness training and healing. He is passionate about the importance of the mind/body effect, creativity and art as integral elements to personal development. With a curious mind and a passion for knowledge, he has been a lifetime student of fitness, movement arts, exercise physiology, nutrition, preventive medicine; and in other realms looking for inspiration in art, architecture, and spiritual practice.

Paul is a now a “three year veteran” of the Burning Man Festival bringing non-logoed SmartBells to the playa. Paul considers the festival “One of the most interesting human events happening on the planet artistically, scientifically and culturally—it gives me hope for our species and inspiration for my own work.”

He continues to present workshops with THINKFIT’s curriculum that include the SmartBells movements and ways to access creativity while blending with a partner or group. His presentations are adapted to the needs of each group. He improvises constantly to make accessible to anyone concepts that range from bodywork, to teamwork, to intellectual property.

He believes that one should smile, laugh, and learn while you move!