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.
I love the way my JawBone UP tracks my steps and my sleep, reminds me to get moving and functions as my alarm clock. I HATED needing to plug it into my iPhone to sync data and, thankfully, my new Jawbone UP24 fixes that. The UP24 syncs wirelessly and offers real-time updates and notifications. All that for just $20 more!
When I bought my second pair of Nike Free Run shoes last year, one factor was that the shoe had the slot for the foot pod that connected to my Nike+ GPS watch that hooked into my laptop to help me track my workouts. Under Armour lacked such a tie-in, so they bought MapMyFitness.
The Magellan Echo is the first smartwatch dedicated to running. It is also an International CES Innovations 2014 Design and Engineering Awards Honoree in the Wearable Technologies category. The Magellan Echo uses Bluetooth Smart to wirelessly connect with a smartphone and gives users control over fitness apps and access to running metrics on the go. Get it for $149.99.
If you practice Yoga anywhere other than at home, then you’ll need a bag for carrying your mat, towel, water, and clothes. Hotdog Yoga’s Rollpack manages all that and more; its exclusive design “packs like a gym bag, hangs like a garment bag, and carries like a mat bag”. It’s already available in onyx, and amethyst is coming soon.
I am a huge fan of sports, whether it’s watching professionals or playing myself. When the weather is right, I love playing tennis with friends. Unfortunately, I get too into the game itself and forget to keep score. Now, there’s a Score Band on my wrist to keep track for me; Score Band sells for $24.99.
This high quality documentary chronicles the annual paintball event and re-enactment of the D-Day invasion during World War II where players take the sides of the Allies or Axis forces.
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.
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…
Today registration for the Boston Marathon opens. Qualifying for Boston is an aspiration or goal for most long distance runners. While some debate if it’s ‘the best’, it is the most coveted and prestigious – and hardest to get into. But there are things more important to me than getting a BQ – I’ll list five. Naturally there are many people – thousands every year, in fact – who are fast enough to qualify for Boston. But as I have engaged the running community it seems nearly every running blog involves someone who has Boston as an eventual goal. I…
Do you use a treadmill or elliptical system for exercise? Do you read while on it? If so, you’ve probably encountered eye-strain as you were moving and trying to focus on the stationary e-device text. Run-n-Read from Weartrons seeks crowdsource funding to deal with this issue by tracking motion and repositioning text to keep it stable in your visual field. Run-n-Read uses a combination of hardware and software to stabilize text. The hardware tracks your head motion relative to the screen and text, and the software runs on your iOS or Android device to shift the text position in real…
Sony’s Action Cam HDR-AS30V weighs just three ounces and is ruggedized and waterproof. 35% lighter and 25% smaller than its predecessor, it has GPS, captures 11.9MP images and records full HD. Wi-Fi connects to mobile devices with Sony’s PlayMemories Mobile App and it works with Sony’s new Live-View Remote. It will be available this month for $299.99.
Hydration is a problem for everyone – office workers deal with dry environments from conditioned air and need to increase fluid intake to compensate. Athletes bodies use it more quickly and it is easier to get into a very dangerous place. As fall marathon season starts it is important to separate fact from myth to keep hydrated and safe. Through the years there have been a number of articles and guidelines put out about what we should drink, when we should drink and how much we should consume. Most of these have been pretty rough guidelines, and can generally be…
Most of you know that football is my life and how I make a living. It just so happens that one of my favorite hobbies is playing fantasy football. One of my leagues just drafted its 9th season and one problem is seeing the draft board. For just $20, PrimeTime Draft turns your HDTV into a live draft board. PrimeTime Draft is a Mac/Windows application which can turn a computer screen or television into a live draft board. With PrimeTime Draft there is no need for giant poster style boards that require someone to physically find the players’ names and…
If you are Facebook friends with anyone from northern New Jersey, you may have seen a recent link to a video about a place called “Action Park“. As a child of New Jersey who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, trust me: everything they say in the video is real. It really was that dangerously awesome. It has been well over 20 years since I last went to Action Park (I’m 32, so the last time I was there was probably when I was 11 or 12) but a few things stick out distinctly from the experience. One, I remember looking…
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…
Have you noticed that the skin under your eyes is a bit looser? Are your jowls beginning to sag a bit lower? Is your neck looking wrinkly? If so, perhaps it’s time you begin exercising your sagging facial muscles. Livestrong, which is known for advocating a healthy lifestyle, has an entire workout dedicated to strengthening your facial muscles to help fight against the signs of aging. So, as you continue reading through our site, feel free to pulse your eyelids, exercise your jaw, and stretch the corners of your mouth. We won’t judge. Here is the link to the full…
I have talked many times about how running has fueled my weight loss and maintenance through the years. Many people take up running but don’t lose weight – and this week I have had the same old report brought up twice about weight loss and exercise. Bottom line – losing weight is hard work requiring changes in eating and exercise. One of my favorite Bloom County comics involves Opus looking at an index of diet books and deciding how to reshape himself, with Milo offering the basic advice ‘how about eat less, and exercise?’. Here it is: Perhaps you have…