Stuck in a small office all day? Chained to your desk? That makes it hard to lose weight and get in shape, unless… you have a cardio kung fu program meant to be preformed in a small space.
This non-impact exercise program can give you a good cardiovascular workout, and you never need to leave your office. Why go to the gym when you can push back your computer chair, step away from the desk, and get right into your routine?
“Cardio Kung Fu is based upon Shou’ Shu, a soft style form of Kung Fu. Because it is based upon a soft style it’s motions are soft and flowing rather than jerky and erratic. Having soft and flowing motions while using predominantly larger muscle groups, allows for a fantastic workout without the harmful effects of typical aerobics.”
This is one of several workout programs offered by the folks at Break Pal, a company that specializes in keeping office and computer workers healthy. Aside from Cardio Kung Fu, they offer Desk Yoga, Office Yoga, and Qi Jong. These programs are all designed to get people active, even if they usually sit at desks all day.
Need a new gadget to keep your workouts fun? Check out the Adidas miCoach.
This is another heart rate monitor with lots of bells and whistles (and if you don’t want all that, check out our previous post on affordable heartrate monitors). The miCoach Pacer measures your calories burned, speed, distance, and stride while providing “real-time audible coaching” (yup, it actually barks orders at you, just like a real coach). It can also give you personalized workout suggestions and feedback via the online Adidas miCoach site.
There are plenty of pricey heart rate monitors out there with more bells and whistles than most of us will ever use (or even find on there), but there are affordable heart rate monitors too. If all you care about is monitoring your heart rate (imagine!), then you don’t need to spend a fortune. After all, if your primary use is jogging on the treadmill or playing some racquetball, do you really need a GPS feature? It’s hard to get lost on the way to the locker room!
Here are a few affordable options with good consumer reviews:
The Omron HR-100C Heart Rate Monitor is one of the more popular monitors at Amazon. While the list price is $60, it’s selling for $35 as I write this. The simple watch-like device tracks heartrate, shows time, and has an alarm feature.
The Timex T5G941 Heart Rate Monitor Watch is another affordable option that comes in under $40. “The large, easy-to-read display recalls your activity time and average, peak, and minimum heart rate, and it includes 12/24 hour time and month/date display.”
While the Polar company isn’t known for its cheap heart rate monitors, the very basic black Polar FS2C can be purchased for less than $60. “The watch starts by wirelessly reading your heart rate, with measurements for your average heart rate, maximum heart rate, and exercise time. The watch also includes audible and visual alarms that tell you when your heart rate exceeds or falls under your target zone.”
Whether you’re biking, jogging, hiking, or something else, it’s fun to keep track of your heart rate, calories burned, distance traveled, and other stats. Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver and Heart Rate Monitor can do all that and more.
Here’s the review from Amazon:
“Just when you thought Garmin had cornered the market on powerful, affordable, and effective wrist-mounted GPS devices, here comes the Forerunner 305. The release of this device is a major achievement from a design and technology perspective. This isn’t just marketing-speak; the Forerunner 305 is the most accurate, most reliable wrist-mounted performance and GPS tracking tool we’ve ever tested. Yes, it’s that good. While no device this compact can do everything (yet), the 305 pushes the boundaries of what is possible from something strapped around your wrist. The 305 model includes wireless heart rate monitoring and it can also be connected to Garmin’s wireless bicycle speed and cadence sensor.”
Most of the customer reviews for the popular gps receiver/heart rate monitor are positive, too, so if you’ve been looking to go high tech with your workouts, maybe it’s time to pick one up.
I might just have to put this on my Christmas list. Santa, you’re reading, right?
If you’re a fitness buff, you’ve doubtlessly heard about interval training. And if you haven’t, here’s the short wikipedia definition:
“Interval training is a type of physical training that involves bursts of high intensity work. This high intensity work is alternated with periods of rest or low activity (the intervals in interval training).” It can be helpful for improving cardiovascular fitness, and studies have suggested interval training can be better for weight loss than steady-pace jogging, biking, etc.
While you can simply use a watch or the timer on the treadmill to figure out your intervals, the gadget lover in you may prefer the GymBoss Interval Trainer.
“This quality interval timer will make any workout easier to plan and execute with more accuracy and consistency.” The pager-sized fitness gadget features include:
- one or two different time intervals from 2 seconds to 99 minutes
- an auto mode that keeps repeating through intervals
- the ability to set up to 99 rounds
- a manual “countdown timer” mode
- a stopwatch function
- an alarm to alert you when it’s time to switch from high to low or vice versa
Pick one up for $20:
If you get a kick out of tracking everything from your heart rate while you’re in the zone to how many calories you’ve gulped down over the day, here’s a gadget you may want to add to your fitness-and-diet arsenal:
Fitbit is a sleek little device that clips onto your clothing (sounds a lot easier than those heartrate monitors where you have to wear straps around your chest!). It allows you to track your movement, sleep, and calories burned throughout the day and night (admit it, you’ve always wondered how many calories you burn sleeping). Based on an internal motion detector, it can tell how many steps you’ve taken and even how well you’ve slept at night.
Fitbit makes it easy (and kind of fun) to gauge how high your activity level is (I bet I wouldn’t impress it much as I sit here to write this blog post…).
You can pick it up for around $99.
I love my iPod, but I hate those stupid wires attaching it to my head when I’m at the gym. I have to be careful around the weight equipment or I end up getting them caught and having the headphones yanked out of my ears. That’s why I would love to have something like the Plantronics Pulsar 590A wireless headset.
According to the manufacturer’s site, the headphones work with cell phones (I could care less about that aspect… I don’t call people in the middle of my bench press routine) and mp3 players (now that’s what I’m talking about). For those who want to know where else they can use the wireless headset, it also works with laptops, tvs, DVD players, etc. so you wouldn’t need to dedicate them to gym use.
I think something like this would be good for runners, walkers, and anyone who works out with their iPods or other mp3 players as well as body builders (I just know that the weight room is the only place those wires have really bugged me). Unfortunately, the price for the Pulsar 590a is $250, which means I probably won’t be getting a pair. That’s a little too much for something I might break at the gym. It might be worth the investment if you like to roam around the house while you talk and listen though.