Health and Fitness | Gear Diary

Health and Fitness, News & Features, Outdoors October 28, 2014

Blast Golf is Like a Golf Pro in Your Pocket

Of course a real golf pro in your pocket would interfere with your swing, but the new Blast Golf product is the latest addition to Blast Motion’s suite of sports and active life motion capture solutions that pair with your iPhone to deliver real-time motion metrics and smart video capture. Attach the Blast Motion precision motion sensor and go play! The sensor itself is the size of a quarter and weighs less than an ounce, but paired with your iPhone and the Blast Golf app data about your putting and swings is transferred via Bluetooth and can even be overlayed…

Health and Fitness, News & Features September 8, 2014

Timex Ironman One GPS+ Brings Classic Name to Smartwatch Game

In the early 80s we saw great leaps in watch technology, and I loved my Casio calculator watch. Every few years a new technology comes (remember the Fossil PalmOS Watch?), but now it seems smartwatches are here to stay. There are many approaches, but for fitness enthusiasts Timex looks to have a great angle with their Ironman One GPS+.

Health and Fitness, News & Features September 2, 2014

Wellograph, the First Sapphire Crystal Wellness Watch Launches!

Most fitness watches share a common element – not GPS, or heart-rate, or step-tracking, or Bluetooth sync. They are pretty uniformly NOT fashion watches. They might work as ‘Geek Chic’, but no one will mistake them for a designer product. Wellograph hopes to change that, with the first wellness watch with a sapphire crystal display and a gorgeous design.

Health and Fitness, News & Features, Outdoors August 8, 2014

Patchnride Might Just Save Your Tail on a Bike Ride

As the resident Gear Diary bicyclist, I usually get the first crack at investigating bike gear. Since I live and bike in an urban environment, flat tires are an unfortunate frequent reality of my cycling experience. That’s why I was excited to hear about the new Patchnride bicycle flat repair kit that promises quick and easy emergency rescues from flats.

Health and Fitness, Outdoors, Reviews June 18, 2014

Whistle, the Fitness Tracker for Dogs, Is Useful and Helpful

Have you ever wished you had a Fitbit for your pet? Something to track just how active they are during the day? I mean, not as they move from lying under the table to on the couch, but actual high-intensity activity? That is the premise of Whistle, and based on going from winter to spring to summer – it works!

Health and Fitness, Reviews June 12, 2014

Garmin Forerunner FR-15 GPS and Fitness Watch Review

Just two days before my first marathon in 2012, Garmin sent me their new ForeRunner FR-10. It’s an entry-level watch with the right amount of tracking features for most casual runners and racers. I jumped at the opportunity to check out the new entry-level Garmin Garmin Forerunner FR-15 GPS and Fitness Watch!

Crowdfunding, Health and Fitness, News & Features, Outdoors May 15, 2014

Amp Up Your Workout With TITIN Force Shorts

Professional couch potatoes can skip this one, but if you’re serious about your workouts and are interested in weighed wearables to improve performance, then keep reading. TITIN Force weighted compression shorts add five pounds of weight to your workout routine, focusing on your hamstrings, thighs, and glutes. Sounds like fun huh?

Health and Fitness, News & Features May 13, 2014

Garmin Introduces the FR-15 GPS Watch and Fitness Tracker

In fall 2012, Garmin introduced the FR-10 GPS Watch. I did a quick preview, took it on a marathon two days after it arrived, and then did a follow-up after several months of use. I still use the FR-10, and now Garmin has introduced the FR-15 GPS Watch, combining the FR-10 GPS and elements of the VivoFit fitness band.

Health and Fitness, News & Features May 12, 2014

Carrot Fit 2.0 Weight Loss App Launches Tomorrow

I’m a big fan of the CARROT apps for iOS. Whether you need help getting up in the morning (CARROT Alarm), getting things done (CARROT To-Do), or getting in shape (CARROT Fit), these apps have you covered. They’re not the typical shiny-happy apps, oh no — CARROT is an evil, malicious AI that will call you names and even threaten

Crowdfunding, Health and Fitness April 29, 2014

Make Brushing Fun with Grush, the Gaming Toothbrush

We all know that good oral hygiene is vitally important, but if you’re a parent you also know that it can be quite a challenge to get your kids to brush their teeth and do the job right every time. Grush, the Gaming Toothbrush for Kids, aims to solve that problem and is currently running a crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo.

Health and Fitness, News & Features, Reviews March 19, 2014

iHealth BP5 Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor Measures Up!

The iHealth BP5 Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor (electronic sphygmomanometer) measures your maximum (systolic) and a minimum (diastolic) blood pressure in a convenient system using a sleeved monitor shell device and free mobile phone app named iHealth MyVitals.

Health and Fitness February 25, 2014

Head Lice? Selfies Might Be to Blame!

This year at high schools and colleges there are more cases of head lice than any time in recent memory. While most years head lice are spread between younger kids, it is the increase in older teens with lice that sparked concerned. According to lice-treatment expert Nitless Noggins, there is a correlation between the rise of ‘group selfies’ and head lice.

Health and Fitness February 25, 2014

MyTennisCam Helps You Hone Your Court Skills!

If you are a recreational tennis player, chances are you wish you could improve your game but lack the time and/or money to join a club and get a coach. But now with MyTennisCam, you can simply mount a camera, switch it on and start playing! This IndieGoGo project promises to provide feedback and analytics to help you play better. Simply place MyTennisCam on the pole of the net and start playing. Three built in high-speed cameras and sensors track your movement and the trajectory of the ball in real-time. All of the game’s data and your stats are automatically…

Events, Gear Bits, Health and Fitness February 25, 2014

Heartbeat Analytics by Firstbeat Powers New Samsung Products

One key new feature announced with the Samsung Galaxy S5 was the heartrate sensor. Located below the camera on back, the sensor grabs data from your fingertip and analyzes it to give heartrate feedback. The sensor – also in the Gear Fit, Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo – is powered by Heartbeat Analytics by Firstbeat, and they’ve provided more details!

Events, Health and Fitness, News & Features February 23, 2014

Samsung Announces Two New Galaxy Gear Devices

Samsung is intent on claiming your pockets and your wrist. The original Galaxy Gear watch, designed as a smart watch companion to the Galaxy phones, received a mixed response. Now only a few months later, Samsung is announcing two new watches, the Galaxy Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo!

Gear Bits, Health and Fitness, Outdoors February 3, 2014

Lifestraw GO Delivers Clean Filtered Water Wherever You Are!

Imagine you are someplace where you need water but have none, and the only source is of questionable quality. Solving that problem is the basis of LifeStraw, a portable water filter technology used in third world countries and places with compromised water sources, that you can now buy for personal use in the form of the Lifestraw GO water bottle.

Health and Fitness, Reviews January 30, 2014

Magellan Echo Uses Smartphone Power to Become More than a Fitness Watch

The past two years I have tried GPS watches from Nike to Garmin(s) to Magellan to Polar. Each has positive and negative attributes. Ultimately the design comes back to ‘how much can we stuff into this and keep it wearable’. Magellan Echo answers this by offloading functionality to the smartphone we carry, and acting as a display and controller. Brilliant!

Health and Fitness, Reviews January 29, 2014

Wahoo Fitness Is My New Favorite iPhone Fitness App!

While reviewing the Magellan Echo, I needed a fitness app on my iPhone. There were a few supported, so I tried the popular ones. They didn’t expose much functionality, so I tried Wahoo Fitness, which was detailed in a document from Magellan. Turns out it the perfect partner for the Echo, and it’s the best fitness app I’ve ever used!

Health and Fitness, Reviews January 28, 2014

Get Fit and Heart-Healthy With The Polar RC3 GPS, Review

Polar built its reputation on heart rate monitoring technology starting in the late 1970s designed to let you REALLY listen to your body. I have friends who swear by their products, and with the RC3 GPS they offer up their latest hardware and software for tracking all of your workouts, and it represents some of the best technology for runners.

Health and Fitness, Reviews January 15, 2014

XSPIN Helps You Log the Miles When the Weather Is Rough

Sometimes, no matter how resolute I am in my intentions or intent I am in my resolutions, I just can’t drag my butt out of the house to exercise on a cold morning. I may have found the answer to this dilemma with the XSPIN from Pafers.com and their apps Cycle Rush and Cycle on Earth.

Events, Gear Bits, Health and Fitness, News & Features January 7, 2014

Scosche introduced new heart-rate monitor technology at CES 2014

Every morning before I head out for my run I have a routine, wetting my chest and the back of my heart-rate monitor and making sure it registers in the Wahoo fitness app before starting my run. Reliability and comfort are issues with monitors, but now Scosche introduced new heart-rate monitor technology at CES 2014 that addresses those issues!