Posted: Sun, 19 Jul 2009 09:33 PM - 8,388 Readers

By: Veronica Castelo

Twenty years ago Cosmo Raines was a scrawny Lake Travis High School kid with a dream to dunk a basketball.

"I decided that if I could just get some extra weight on me I could do some rebounding and eventually get up there," Raines said.

He turned to a bulky weight vest. It worked and he was able to dunk a basketball but the vest was very uncomfortable.

"It bounced around on me and caused a whole lot of contusions and all sorts of bad stuff on my body," Raines said. I had bruises everywhere."

Twenty years later, Raines is cranking out an alternative weight vest under his company Hyper Wear. The Hyper Vest is a comfortable fitted weight vest that easily increases the intensity of your workout, according to Raines. It was ranked one of Men's Health Magazine's top fitness products for 2009.

"Each weight pops out and so you can add or subtract as much weight as you want for whatever activity you are going to do," Raines said.

Raines didn't stop there. The success of the Hyper Vest is allowing the Hyper Wear team, which includes CATZ owner Dirk Buikema, to move on to other products like the SandBell.

"Life doesn't come with handles so why train with handles," Raines said.

The SandBell is a soft alternative to dumbbells, kettle bells, bar bells and stability balls.

Their latest product is the Hyper PreCool Vest. Raines said the vest keeps your temperatures down during those hot summer days so your body doesn't have to.

"Its stays at 32 degrees for 30 minutes to an hour," Raines said.

Orders for these products are coming in fast. The Austin Independent School District, the Austin Aztex soccer team, the University of Texas and Auburn University are just a few of the athletic programs placing orders around the country.

"That's a really cool feeling," Raines said.

It's been a slam dunk for a local entrepreneur whose scrawny high school days have given birth to what's quickly becoming a bulky business.

*  Story Contributed by: Veronica Castelo