While walking with a pair of three-foot wood clamps in his hands during his senior year of college, David Kugielsky noticed an interesting resistance force applied to his arms and upper body as he moved his arms in a swinging motion.Challenging CareerSwing Weights are available for $24.99 through the recently launched website swingweights.com as well as through Amazon - Mr Kugielsky is pleased to see orders coming in from all over the country - and some specialty companies, including Hammacher Schlemmer.

That was in 2008, during his senior year of studying industrial design at Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design. Eight years later, and Mr Kugielsky, now 30 and living in Montclair, N.J., is responsible for people walking with Swing Weights in their hands, an invention he came up with thanks to that moment.

Mr Kugielsky, an athlete and designer, wondered why there was not a form of fitness product that enabled one to capitalize on natural arm motion, and began developing his idea soon thereafter. Following five years of prototype iterations and countless hours of tweaking his product, it is now available for purchase.

Mr Kugielsky, a Newtown native, explains that the industry standard for products is that they sell for four to six times the cost to manufacture. Some alterations to trim costs were made during the long process of creating the final product.

One of the changes Swing Weights went through was going from possessing flexible rubber lever arms, which was cost prohibitive, to a single injection molded ABS plastic body.

The weights are suspended below the user's hands. Swing Weights have cushioned wrist straps and foam handles for comfort, and wrist straps allow the user to tie his or her shoes or talk on the phone without letting go of the weights, he said.

Each weight weighs a pound and a half, an ideal weight for a variety of ages and levels of fitness, Mr Kugielsky notes. It may not seem like much weight, but the longer the walk or the more the person moves his or her arms, the tougher the workout becomes. University testing proved Swing Weights to be much more effective than walking with traditional dumbbell weights, Mr Kugielsky said.

"As you walk, you really control the intensity of your own workout," he said.

If the demand for Swing Weights increases, he may look into implementing different levels of weights over time.

Initially, Swing Weights were going to be marketed to runners. A lacrosse and soccer player at Newtown High, Class of 2004, Mr Kugielsky continued to play lacrosse in college. Noting that arm strength is important in lacrosse, he saw his invention as a way for athletes to get an upper body workout while running.

He soon realized that many more people walk than run, and targeting walkers would be a better business move.

"That's a much bigger market," Mr Kugielsky notes.

Mr Kugielsky likes what he does, but describes inventing products as a winding road of a career.

"It is enjoyable. Designing and being hands-on is what I enjoy," he said, adding that the low success rate for new products makes his career a tough one.

Only about five percent of new products historically have experienced some level of success, said Mr Kugielsky, so he's not banking on Swing Weights necessarily making it big. "I'm happy it's gotten to this point," he said.

"I developed a lot of resilience over the course of this product's development. In the early stages I was wide-eyed and overly enthusiastic. It took a few harsh lessons and rejections, but I started to learn with each failure. It opened new doors and avenues that were not visible without necessary failure. And ultimately, this project led me to my current career, which is developing and marketing new products on a daily basis," he said.

Mr Kugielsky, on top of continuously working on different prototypes, is involved with a small startup marketing business that launches new products. Interestingly, he got the job because one of the investors in Swing Weights hired him.

"It's still a very long shot," said Mr Kugielsky. He is optimistic, but considers working on this invention through the process of marketing it as a learning experience that will help him with future inventions.

Among those future inventions in the works are a standing desk and an outdoor adventure pack for children. He plans to launch a new modern pet product brand with his brother, Ben, in the next six months.

"The lessons and skills I learned developing Swing Weights will play into the launch, and will be integral to the company's chances of success," Mr Kugielsky said.

Thinking outside the box yields less success than coming up with a product that is a twist on an already existing item, he said, explaining that people like what they're accustomed to, or variations of things they're used to.

"When they see something new they're kind of unsure about it and that translates to [the invention] not selling," he said.

In addition to putting his mind into action with inventions such as Swing Weights, the Newtown native is active himself. Mr Kugielsky enjoys rock climbing and working out at the gym.

It's been a climb for Mr Kugielsky in his career as well.

The process of inventing something is "an uphill battle the whole way," said Mr Kugielsky. Some of his inventions failed, and his Swing Weights were turned down by multiple businesses.

"It was disheartening. It was important to persevere and never take No for an answer, and keep going," he said.

Ultimately, with time and alterations, Swing Weights made it.

Whether or not Swing Weights or Mr Kugielsky's other inventions take off remains to be seen, but he will keep plugging away, creating and refining his products along the way.

"You do chase for that golden goose and when you get there it makes it all worthwhile," he said.