Under Quarantine, Vintage Soloflexes Are Getting a Workout

Back in 1984, Steve Ockerman was a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps, stationed at Quantico, Va., when he noticed an ad campaign for Soloflex, the resistance-based home exercise machines. The ads featured model Scott Madsen, shirtless and ripped, with a price-conscious tagline that dubbed his torso “The $495 Body” (about $1,229.71 in 2020 dollars). Wowed by the ads, Ockerman ordered a Soloflex and worked out on it “pretty consistently” for a decade, he says, carting it with him to Okinawa, St. Louis, and beyond.

Then he got married.