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!
Everyone is speculating that the ‘hot new thing’ at CES this year will be ‘wearable technology’. Wearables include the Pebble watch, Google Glass, Samsung’s Galaxy Gear, Magellan Echo, and fitness monitors such as Fitbit Force, etc. New to the category is Spree ‘Revolutionary’ Fitness Monitor from Hothead Technologies, bringing heart rate and temperature to help you better understand your health!
Withings Aura Active Smart Sleep System combines an under-mattress sleep sensor and a unique bedside device in order to take into account your entire sleeping environment so that it can improve your overall sleeping experience. The color changing bedside device uses light and sound programs to “positively impact your sleeping conditions.” The sleep system sends all the data it collects to a free mobile phone app so that you can visualize your sleep and learn what wakes you up or helps you sleep. With the app, you can adjust your wake pattern as well. The bedside device emits different colors…
Most kids hate needles (and many adults do too!) How do you make it easier to handle your shots? Buzzy is a unique device that incorporates freezing and vibration to take the sting out of getting shots. New at CES is the Buzzy Mini, making it even simpler to apply the Buzzy while injecting a needle.
Do you regularly mix health or fitness supplements that you drink throughout the day? Tons of people do, including my mother. Umoro has created one of the best solutions I’ve yet seen for carrying and mixing those supplements; they call it the Umoro One. $28.99 gets you an innovative shaker bottle in either black or white. The Umoro One is BPA free, clump-proof, shatter-proof, odor-free, and spill-proof. It holds 20 ounces of fluid, and the supplement compartment holds up to 100cc or 50ml. The Umoro one is dishwasher safe (top rack is recommended for the agitator and the lid), and it…
Judie: I’ve used various electronic toothbrushes off and on for years, but since 2007 I’ve used Philips Sonicare toothbrushes exclusively. My first was their less expensive e-series model (liked it), which I replaced it with a HealthyWhite (loved it). Now that we’ve tried Sonicare’s DiamondClean toothbrush, Dan and I can safely say that we’ve both got the best toothbrush everrrrr.
The Activity Tracker market is getting crowded with new releases from Nike, Jawbone and FitBit offering more and more features and integration into our lifestyle. Is there room for another one? Polar hopes that by offering more features, they can expand the market further. So they have introduced the Loop – more than just an activity tracker.
WARNING: The products discussed may contain or use nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical; in many cities and a few states, you must be 21 to purchase vaping products and/or products containing nicotine. Please familiarize yourself with and obey the law in your location. Did you know that, in a typical hookah smoking session, you inhale up to 180 times more smoke than you would in a single cigarette? That’s… Bad. In addition, traditional hookah smoke contains the same carcinogenic components as cigarette smoke. One could simply avoid hookahs entirely, or one could check out the 21st-century BLOW Hookah.
Every year, the same thing happens in my house. We find a great deal for a large amount of produce, and we vow to start canning with it. And then we remember how time-consuming and specific canning is, and then we rush to eat a lot of produce before it goes bad. That’s why the new FreshTECH canning system has caught my eye! The FreshTECH system is an all in one canning appliance, so you don’t need to fiddle with water baths and boiling jars. The company says it has several safety measures in place, so you don’t have to…
Image courtesy Science Daily Several years ago I tore my ACL. I sat with the orthopedist and he showed me a model of the knee to explain where the ACL was, what it did, and how they took other bits of a tendon to replace it. I was left with the impression that surgeons know exactly what’s in there, but a new study indicates they’ve discovered a previously unknown ligament! Yes, apparently there’s another one in there, the Anterorlateral Ligament or ALL. The new theory is that this ligament causes the “pivot shift” sensation when you tear your ACL. Pivot…
Philips Sonicare is the #1 dentist recommended power toothbrush in the US, and now their DiamondClean comes in a sleek black color. Available for a limited time, it removes up to 7x more plaque compared to a manual toothbrush. It ships with an awesome inductive charging “glass” and a USB travel case. Judie and I will be going “teeth on” shortly.
The Penclic Mouse R2 is designed as an ergonomic alternative to the typical computer mouse. Designed in Sweden, the Penclic was created to coerce it’s owner to use healthy and natural movements to prevent Repetitive Strain Injury or RSI, which may be caused by regular use of a typical computer mouse. The Penclic Mouse R2 retails for $80.
Concerned about the quality of the meat at your local grocery store? Do you want to have a better idea of where your beef and chicken was raised and processed? Unfortunately, it can be expensive to try direct mail order meat, especially grass-fed meats. Luckily, Amazon Local has an amazing $99 deal for a huge kit of grass-fed meat!
Video games and exercise don’t often go hand-in-hand, although attempts at calorie burning games by major consoles have been made in the past. However, with the new Kinect 2.0 technology included with the Xbox One, Microsoft is trying to lure us couch potatoes off of our favorite La-Z-Boy by combining videos by popular fitness instructors with Kinect’s new ultra-sensitive cameras.
I like Fitbit clip-on trackers because they measure sleep, steps, floors climbed, and they integrate well with Android and iOS fitness apps. But after losing two to the washing machine, I’d given up and moved to more convenient bracelet-style trackers. As an early adopter of Fitbit’s Flex bracelet-style tracker, I feel cheated by today’s release of the Force. Here’s why.
If everything in life were only so simple! A new release from the University of Florida says that in those with Alzheimer’s, the ability to smell from “the left nostril is significantly more impaired than the right.” So cover your nostrils and breathe deep from an open jar of peanut butter, a “pure odorant”. How did you do?
A recent New York Times called ‘The Slowest Generation’ slams the younger generation for abandoning competition and running races ‘for the bling’. The article – and the ‘Dumbing Down, Slowing Down’ article that inspired it – contend that competitiveness is dulled in the aftermath of a generation raised on ‘everyone gets a medal’, and finishing is now its own reward. The articles point to an increase in average finish times for races, the increased popularity of non-timed ‘gimmick’ races such as color and mud runs, and the move to stop funding elite runners at races by Competitor Group. They say that…
A week ago, satire site The Onion posted ‘Nation’s Female Joggers Know They Will One Day Be Assaulted, Buried In Woods’, where women acknowledge this as simply part of the circle of life. All fun aside, as fall arrives it’s a good time to step back and remind ourselves of the need for enhanced safety on shorter, cooler days. I wrote about early morning running tips in the first part of spring as I started to see more people emerging from their winter cocoons, and now as school is back in session and the mornings are darker it makes sense…
Are you having a hard time finding the right pillow? Technogel thinks they have the right answer with their high-tech pillows, designed to keep you cool and support your body for a more restful sleep. The catch? They’re $169…each. Ouch, but if they work, it’s worth it, right? What sets Technogel apart is their technology. The pillows stay cooler than memory foam, and their density means they spread support better than foam as well. The idea is that the ergonomics and design make for a better night’s sleep than on ordinary pillows and memory foam, and a better night’s sleep is…
We recently talked with Heapsylon’s CTO Mario Esposito about impressive gear that can interface among the physical world and video. Esposito also co-founded Heapsylon in 2009, which concentrates on wearable body sensing technology. Heapsylon, a Washington-based start-up, has launched Sensoria Fitness, which consists of mobile applications, the first e-textile pressure sensing smart sock, and Bluetooth anklet. The mobile application monitor and guide you through real-time audio cues. The smart sock, completely made of fabric, can be washed or dried like a regular sock. The anklet magnetically snaps on the cuff of the sock and sends commands. Sensoria Fitness recently completed two successful campaign on…
Many kids across the country are already in class, with other states opening within the next week. It’s back to school time, and that means getting organized for a new year. This sense of a fresh start can apply to everything, so as we get our kids equipped and organized, it is worth revisiting our health and fitness goals. At the end of last year, I talked about using the ‘SMART’ system to evaluate your resolutions. I emphasized the importance of setting goals that would make you accountable for tracking and milestones, and that were specific enough to be measurable. One…