PASSIVE METABOLIC HARDWARE

PASSIVE METABOLIC HARDWARE

Work unseen.

Work unseen.

Work unseen.

Sub-K is a concealable weighted vest system that is designed around peer-reviewed research in metabolic, musculoskeletal, and performance science — passive benefits, while you work.

Sub-K is a concealable weighted vest system that is designed around peer-reviewed research in metabolic, musculoskeletal, and performance science — passive benefits, while you work.

No scheduled exercise required. No behavioural change. Passive load, worn throughout the working day.

No scheduled exercise required. No behavioural change. Passive load, worn throughout the working day.

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THE PROBLEM

THE PROBLEM

The problem with how we move — and how we don't.

The problem with how we move — and how we don't.

Your body has a second weight regulation system. It has nothing to do with diet, hormones, or willpower. It lives in your bones — a network of load-sensing cells called osteocytes that monitor the gravitational force you carry through your skeleton every day. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg named it the gravitostat. Research suggests that when the system senses adequate load, it may suppress appetite and support fat mass regulation — an effect observed in peer-reviewed studies and currently being explored in human clinical research. When it doesn't — which is most of the working day for most adults — it goes silent.

Your body has a second weight regulation system. It has nothing to do with diet, hormones, or willpower. It lives in your bones — a network of load-sensing cells called osteocytes that monitor the gravitational force you carry through your skeleton every day. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg named it the gravitostat. Research suggests that when the system senses adequate load, it may suppress appetite and support fat mass regulation — an effect observed in peer-reviewed studies and currently being explored in human clinical research. When it doesn't — which is most of the working day for most adults — it goes silent.

Two people with identical gym schedules could differ by up to 2,000 calories a day. The difference is not the gym. It is what happens the other 23 hours — the walking, standing, posture, and incidental movement that researchers call Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. Overweight individuals sit an average of 164 minutes more per day than lean individuals. That gap is not motivational. It is biological. And no wellness programme addresses it.

Two people with identical gym schedules could differ by up to 2,000 calories a day. The difference is not the gym. It is what happens the other 23 hours — the walking, standing, posture, and incidental movement that researchers call Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. Overweight individuals sit an average of 164 minutes more per day than lean individuals. That gap is not motivational. It is biological. And no wellness programme addresses it.

The wellness industry's assumption is that you have time. Most people don't. Gym memberships, meal plans, and step challenges all require scheduled behaviour change that a 50-hour working week cannot accommodate. The problem is not motivation. It is structural incompatibility between what the wellness industry offers and how most professionals actually live.

The wellness industry's assumption is that you have time. Most people don't. Gym memberships, meal plans, and step challenges all require scheduled behaviour change that a 50-hour working week cannot accommodate. The problem is not motivation. It is structural incompatibility between what the wellness industry offers and how most professionals actually live.

Three mechanisms. One system.

Sub-K is built on peer-reviewed evidence across three independent physiological mechanisms. Each mechanism has an established research base. Together, they represent a passive wellness approach without precedent in the wearable category.

Sub-K is built on peer-reviewed evidence across three independent physiological mechanisms. Each mechanism has an established research base. Together, they represent a passive wellness approach without precedent in the wearable category.

Sub-K is built on peer-reviewed evidence across three independent physiological mechanisms. Each mechanism has an established research base. Together, they represent a passive wellness approach without precedent in the wearable category.

Gravitostat activation

EClinicalMedicine (The Lancet group) published a randomised controlled trial demonstrating that loading at approximately 10% of body weight — sustained across an eight-hour wear period — produced statistically significant fat mass reduction with lean mass preserved, independent of diet or exercise behaviour. Sub-K is designed to deliver this threshold passively, in a daily professional wear context. Clinical validation of Sub-K's specific protocol is planned.

Ohlsson et al. (2020), EClinicalMedicine. Jansson et al. (2018), PNAS.

Metabolic rate protection

Metabolic adaptation — the body's reduction in resting metabolic rate during weight loss — is the primary reason most dieters regain weight within two years. A 2025 pilot study (International Journal of Obesity) found the weighted vest group experienced a metabolic rate decline of just 16 cal/day versus 237 cal/day in the diet-only group, with significantly better weight maintenance at 24 months. Sub-K applies this loading principle passively, during normal daily wear.

Fanning et al. (2025), International Journal of Obesity.

Osteogenic loading

Bone is load-dependent tissue. Prolonged mechanical unloading — the default state for most desk-based professionals — is associated with progressive decline in bone mineral density over time. Multiple randomised controlled trials have demonstrated that sustained gravitational loading during normal daily activity produces measurable osteogenic improvements, with effects in trials of up to 12 months duration approaching those of structured resistance training protocols.

Beavers et al. (2025), JAMA Network Open. Jessup et al. (2003), Journal of Gerontology.

Designed to disappear.

Sub-K solves the problem that has made every weighted vest before it impractical: density versus depth. It is the first system to deliver a clinically meaningful gravitational load at a profile thin enough to wear beneath a business shirt.

Sub-K solves the problem that has made every weighted vest before it impractical: density versus depth. It is the first system to deliver a clinically meaningful gravitational load at a profile thin enough to wear beneath a business shirt.

The system is modular. Individual weight pods attach to a fabric vest substrate, distributing load evenly across the torso. Total system depth at the XS configuration: Approximately 7 millimetres and 6 kilograms — equivalent to 10% of body weight for a 60kg user, consistent with the loading parameters used in weighted vest research to date.

It is worn as a base layer beneath standard clothing — a business shirt, a suit jacket, an occupational uniform, high-visibility workwear. The people who would benefit most from passive metabolic loading are the people for whom no existing weighted vest has ever been practical. Sub-K is built for them.

The same system worn passively throughout the working day doubles as an active training vest. Gravitostat benefits during the day. Performance benefits in the session. One garment. Both contexts.

7mm

TOTAL SYSTEM DEPTH

6kg

XS CONFIGURATION

10%

body weight loading

Founding 50.

Sub-K is offering the first 100 customers founding access — priority fulfilment, founder pricing, and direct input into the product development process. Join the waitlist below.

Sub-K is offering the first 100 customers founding access — priority fulfilment, founder pricing, and direct input into the product development process. Join the waitlist below.

Sub-K is offering the first 100 customers founding access — priority fulfilment, founder pricing, and direct input into the product development process. Join the waitlist below.

No payment required. No spam. One update when we are ready.

THE FOUNDER

THE FOUNDER

John Borland
Founder, Sub-K

John Borland
Founder, Sub-K

Former semi-professional athlete. Former police officer. Currently an executive-level Health, Safety and Wellness leader in the infrastructure sector.
I spent years in environments where performance and occupational health mattered — and where no product existed that could bridge the two. Sub-K is the product I built because it didn't exist. It works while you work. That's the only kind of wellness tool that actually gets used.

Former semi-professional athlete. Former police officer. Currently an executive-level Health, Safety and Wellness leader in the infrastructure sector.
I spent years in environments where performance and occupational health mattered — and where no product existed that could bridge the two. Sub-K is the product I built because it didn't exist. It works while you work. That's the only kind of wellness tool that actually gets used.

"The people who most need this product are the ones the wellness industry has never been able to reach. That is exactly who Sub-K is built for."

Work unseen.

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Contact : john@sub-k.com

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