We Americans are obsessed with flat abs (at the same time as we’re obsessed with fast food… go figure), so there are lots of gadgets out there that target the mid-section, home of your potential six-pack. This Multi-Core-Flex Excel Body Gym (mouthful, isn’t it?) looks like a lot of the other gadgets, but there’s a bit of a twist: it’s supposed to massage your back at the same time as it works out your abdominal muscles.
“You can rock your way to a stronger, healthier body in just minutes a day. It’s perfect for exercising your inner and outer thighs, your abdomen and your quads, all the while giving you the most relaxing back massage you’ve ever had. Its comfortable rounded pads enable you to stretch your entire upper body as well as your back for total relaxation. Its head pad cradles and supports the neck for maximum comfort.”
Well, it sounds good anyway. The downside is this contraption is going to be too big to fit under the bed when you decide you don’t feel like using it any more.
You can find it for $70 at Gadget Universe.
Walking is a good way to burn a few extra calories, but it can be hard to make it an actual cardio workout (getting your heartrate up into your target range) just walking around the neighborhood.
One way to make your walking workout a little more challenging is to use weights. Holding barbells gets old quickly, and most of the ankle weights I’ve seen are clunky and awkward, but these “anatomical leg weights” from Gaiam look like they might work well.
The leg weights are ergonomically shaped, weighted sleeves that you can slip on under your clothes. You can wear them to walk around the neighborhood or you take them to work or put them on just to do chores around the house. They weigh 4 pounds each and come in three different sizes, so you can get a set that fits nicely. The weights cost $80 for a set.
The nice thing about pushups is that they are something you can do anywhere, anytime. You don’t need a bench press setup and a stack of weights. This basic exercise is a great way to work your pectorals, and with a narrow hand-placement you can hit your triceps nicely as well. It’s certainly one of the simplest exercises to learn, but are you getting all the workout you could be getting from your pushups?
This device, which is called the Perfect Pushup, is supposed to engage more muscles while taking some of the stress off your bones and joints.
The base provides stability and also elevates the level where your hands grip. This allows you to get a deeper pushup than you could simply by pressing against the floor. The large rubberized handles should be comfortable to grip, and since they rotate, you can easily change angles to engage different areas of the chest and arms.
The Perfect Pushup looks like a handy addition for anybody who is trying to build an efficient home gym that doesn’t take up a lot of space.
It costs $39.95 and is available online at the Karate Depot. The Perfect Pushup comes with a poster and an instructional DVD to help you get started. If you’d like more information, or to see the device in action, there’s a 60 second video you can view on the site.
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I’ve always seemed to get the best workouts when I went to the gym (despite having and using a Bowflex for a year, I never felt I got the same kind of workout I did at the gym where I had rows of machines and free weights to use), but let’s face it: you don’t always have time to go, especially if you work full time and have a family you’d actually like to see. Or if you travel a lot, you aren’t always going to be at a hotel with a full gym on the premises. That’s why it’s nice that there are some solutions out there that let you work out from home or on the road and that don’t take up a lot of space.
Ripcords Resistance Bands are a much more compact alternative to the Bowflex and other home gyms. If you’re an athlete (or have been at any point in your life), you’ve probably encountered bands and tubes being used for resistance training. There are all sorts of exercises you can do (virtually working out any muscle group) with them, simply by adjusting the way you pull and create tension on the bands. Of course, if you haven’t had a personal trainer walk you through their use, you might not be quite sure how to work them to build strength without injuring yourself. That’s why something like the Ripcords system is nice; the product comes with instructional videos to walk you through workouts that build strength for the whole body.
Prices start around $25 for a basic set of bands or $37 for the bands and a DVD video (probably a good idea to get the video). Considering how much home gyms cost (I remember paying over $1,000 for a basic Bowflex), this is one exercise system that seems worth the money.
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If you don’t have time to make it to the gym, but you want to make sure you get your cardio workout in every day (okay, three times a week), you can buy a piece of home exercise equipment for the job. Treadmills are probably the most common thing out there, but there are a lot more options than that today (despite the popularity of the treadmill, many people prefer cardio machines that offer an upper body as well as a lower body workout). If you want to work arms and legs, you could get an elliptical trainer or something like the Cybex Total Body Arc Trainer.
This device is designed to work all the major muscle groups for a complete workout. It looks like a cross between a stair stepper and an elliptical trainer. I know from personal experience that both of those kinds of machines are great at burning calories (much more so than the old plodding treadmill), so I imagine the Total Body Arc Trainer would be similar. As you’d expect, the Cybex machine has lots of training programs you can choose from and monitors your vitals (heart rate) and progress (steps, distance traveled, etc.).
Okay, here’s a fitness gadget I’d actually be tempted to get for myself. The Reebok Coreboard is a device for improving balance and core stability. You step on the surface and it twists, tilts, and springs back in reaction to your movements. I think it’d be great for practicing karate kicks, but you could also just do steps or side-to-side stuff on it to improve balance. You can combine it with a medicine ball, aerobic bar, tubing, or dumbbells to really challenge yourself. The best thing is you can do this stuff in your own home where no one can watch (I always feel a bit silly using those Swedish balls at the gym…). The Reebok Coreboard costs $160 from Power Systems.
The Nautilus Treadclimber (made by the same folks that bring us all those Bowflex commercials) has been out for a couple years, but I just got a chance to use one today, so I thought I’d write a quick review of it. I’d seen it described as a cross between a treadmill and a stair climber, but that’s not exactly right.
It’s like a treadmill that’s split down the middle, so you have to keep your feet exactly on their sides of the machine. Each section goes up and down independently, so it’s kind of like you’re climbing a slope, but you have to be careful where you step. The idea is to keep your steps in sync with the up and down motion (it took me a few minutes to get used to it), so you don’t lose your balance.
The movement of the treads makes for a little more interesting workout than you get on a treadmill or stair climber. There’s definitely more core-muscle stabilization required, especially if you use the machine at a decent speed with a decent incline (I maxed the incline and walked at about 3.5 mph; this allowed me to burn just under 300 calories in 20 minutes). It should be noted that the Treadclimber is only designed to work with walking, not running or jogging. I got a good workout just walking though (and I workout everyday, so I’m in pretty good cardiovascular shape).
Though the calories burned ends up being similar to what you get on an elliptical trainer, I felt the Treadclimber was actually a better workout. The whole balance issue makes you work a little harder to keep your stride even and to keep your heels from brushing against the boundaries in the back. You’re constantly adjusting your stride to stay in control, especially if you walk with your hands swinging at yourself instead of holding onto the rail.
Overall, I found it to be a good workout, and I would definitely choose a Treadclimber again over the other standard gym cardio machines.
