For once, let’s not lie to ourselves about how we’re going to "take it easy" this Thanksgiving. Most of us are going to give thanks by indulging like gluttonous pigs. It’s okay, we can give ourselves a pass every now and then, but let’s be real: if we don’t want to have more chins on our chin’s chins by New Year’s, we’re going to have to work it off.
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The thing about exercise is that it’s hard to keep at it if you don’t have anything that’s motivating you to keep going. For some people, it’s fitting into a dress in time for someone’s wedding. For others, it’s simply a lifestyle choice.
Helping people on their path to stronger grips is Muscle Guy.
It’s basically a hand strengthening tool that comes with a comedic inflatable attachment. Each squeeze of Muscle Guy’s legs will transform an otherwise wrinkly-looking Muscle Guy into a figure with a buff and well-sculpted body.
Squeezing the handles to exercise the hand muscles causes air to fill an inner cavity. When the tool is used continuously, the muscle man fully inflates. He deflates when the tool is not used. This psychological hint should encourage regular exercise.
It’s neat in the sense that it gives you a preview of your rewards, should you choose to continue exercising. Muscle Guy is a Red Dot Design Award 2013 winner and was designed by Jia Siyuan, Zheng Dongping, and Xuan Xinle.
Getting detailed data about your workouts is great and all, except there’s so much cumbersome gear involved. A chest strap for your heart rate, your phone to track distance and play music, some headphones so you can listen to music in the first place and hear your training app’s voice prompts.
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If you are looking to get in shape and have a constant reminder of why you are bothering (the impending zombie apocalypse) try these awesome zombie head kettle bells.
They come in 18, 36, 54 and 72-lb weights and each has a different zombie head. If you are going to workout and get those muscles ready for swinging an axe or hammer at the undead, you might as well look at their faces while you are getting buff.
Bonus: If you don’t get entirely ripped from your workout with these kettle bells, or have just been too lazy to use them as they sit on your floor, you can use them as weapons. I’m sure that with enough force these will crack through the side of a zombie head like Gallagher smashing through a watermelon.
They will cost you $42.95 to $169.95(USD) each, or $406.41 for the complete set.
Fitbit, makers of the fitness tracking Flex wristband, announced Thursday that it will be releasing the Fitbit Force this fall. The Force is an updated version of the Flex with some additional features, most notably an OLED display right on the device.
The added display is a big advancement in the device. Not only will this allow the user to see their distance progress and calories burned as you might expect, but it can also see the names of incoming callers. The Fitbit Force will pair with your iPhone via Bluetooth and is the first of the wrist-worn devices to take advantage of the new Apple iOS 7 notification center. This way users on a run can track the calls that come in without having to pull out their phone and gives Fitbit a jump on the competition from Nike’s Fuelband and Jawbone’s Up. There is no integration for this with Android yet, but touching the Force to an Android phone (NFC equipped) will automatically launch the Fitbit application.
The Fitbit Force will track steps taken, distance, calories and sleeping habits as its predecessor did. It will also track stairs climbed through a built-in altimeter and total active minutes throughout a week. The Bluetooth 4.0 also supports pairing with your computer to avoid the need for the USB connection to sync up your data.
Fitbit already offers an small array of fitness tracking products including the Zip, and One that attach to your clothing, the integrated Aria smart scale and the Flex wristband. Fitbit is offering the Force for $129.95.
Not content with its current range of fitness wearables, Fitbit is set to unveil an updated version of its Flex tracking device called the Fitbit Force. As spotted by The Verge, the Force will introduce a number of features that were omitted from the Flex but are present in its popular One tracker clip. One such feature is an altimeter that calculates your current altitude and the number of steps you have climbed over a 24-hour period. The second is that the Force will offer a digital watch face, effectively turning it into a fitness-focused smartwatch. This feature will give it an edge over some of its wearable rivals — most notably the Jawbone Up.
Although Fitbit has yet to announce its new product, the company has been taking steps to update its website, uploading a sizing guide for black and slate models of the wristband, as well as early listings for replacement clasps (which have since been removed). We were able to access some of Fitbit’s promotional material, which highlights the Force’s different measurements metrics, and have included some of them in the gallery below. Apparently the Force will be priced at $129.95, $30 more than the Flex, when it goes on sale — but when that is, only time will tell.
Filed under: Wearables
Via: The Verge
Asics has had personalized training plans on its website for a while, but they haven’t been much help for runners who’ve already laced up their shoes. Those plans are now much more accessible courtesy of the company’s new My Asics 2.0 for Android and iOS. Like its web counterpart, the mobile app builds a schedule around a runner’s abilities and goals, adjusting the difficulty level based on feedback. Accordingly, a new plan view makes it easier to see what’s next on the agenda. If you’ve ever needed more challenge in your morning run, you can grab the updated My Asics app at the source link.
Filed under: Cellphones
Via: My Asics Team Blog
Source: My Asics
Strenuous activity wears you out
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Not content to simply motivate your workouts, fitness equipment manufacturer Precor is opening up its Preva API so other developers can integrate your sweat… err, data. According to the company, the Preva Developer Portal will allow devs to implement features like contests based around achievements and milestones — distance traveled, for example — based off the firm’s collected stats. It already counts wellness reward app EveryMove as a believer, and after linking your EveryMove and Preva accounts, your exercise info will automatically start earning you product discounts and other rewards. This could effectively allow apps such as Runkeeper to tap into your morning routine on Precor machines, thus giving you a more realistic idea of just how many calories you’re burning on a daily basis.
Source: Preva
Exercise-driven video tours are nothing new, but Active Theory may have a found a way to keep them interesting with its upcoming BitGym app for Android and iOS. The motion-tracking fitness title will now include Street View Hyperlapse videos that take athletes across whole regions, like New York City or a European country, in less than 40 minutes. Only six videos will be available to start, but the company won’t have trouble adding more tours when there’s plenty of places to go in Street View. Active Theory warns that Hyperlapse might disappear; Google’s terms of service for Street View reportedly leave such clips in a gray area, which could lead to a takedown. If you’re willing to take a chance on the concept, however, you can fund BitGym’s Kickstarter project today.
Source: Kickstarter
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