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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if you jog or bike after dark, you doubtlessly know the dangers of being out on the streets with traffic. Drivers can’t see you well, especially at twilight when the eyes are struggling to adjust to rapid changes in available light, so it’s important to aid them by making yourself a little more noticable. You can spend lots of money buying reflective vests, anklets, belts, dangly sticks, etc., but this Jog-a-Lite Cut’n Peel Stick-On Tape tape from REI is an inexpensive way to modify your existing exercise gear.
Just cut off a strip and tape your outfit with any marks you want (it also works on bicycles and helmets). The reflective vinyl tape will help drivers to see you better, and the product description promises it will stay stuck in cold and wet weather. It’s also supposed to be resistant to abrasion, so it’ll last for a good long while. Of course, at $5 it’s not that expensive to replace.
The reflective tape is available in white or lime green.
Let’s face it: too much roadkill goes unused and wasted on the side of the highways…
Here’s a wooden bicycle made by someone who put those throw-away antlers to good use (fortunately those seem to be the only “roadkill” parts in the bike). I’m not sure antlers make for terribly ergonomically-friendly hand grips (Ouch! Got the point again…), but I’m sure people will talk when you ride by. I’m not sure you’ll want to hear what they have to say, but I’m sure they’ll talk.
I don’t suppose there’s anything gadget-y about a yoga brick, but this one’s supposed to be environmentally friendly, so I’m giving it a post. I’m not sure what regular yoga bricks are made from, but they do tend to feel a bit plastic-y, and who knows what chemicals are used to create all the color options you can choose from…
This Gaiam brick is made with cork from a “certified sustainably harvested resource,” and it’s supposed to work just as well as the regular ones, offering good texture and traction (important for when you’re squeezing it between your feet and doing those torturous legs-in-the-air ab exercises). The brick is available from Amazon for $14:
If you’re feeling run-down during the day and that you’re not sleeping well enough during the night, here’s an interesting idea. These body purifying herbal foot pads from Gaiam are supposed to “boost circulation” and help remove toxins from your body such as nickel, arsenic, and mercury.
You place them on the arches of your feet (this location supposedly maximizes the effects since it allows them to work on the major reflexology organs) and wear them while you sleep (8-10 hours). Apparently feet are the conduits to the rest of your body. Whether you believe this sort of thing works or not is up to you. The footpads come in a 10-pack and can be purchased online for $24.
One of the hardest parts about skiing or snowboarding is sitting in the wind and cold on the lift rides up the mountain. With other winter sports such as snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, your body is always working, so it’s pretty easy to stay warm. That’s not usually the case with downhill skiing or snowboarding though. Even if you have good gloves, the wind always seems to sneak in around the wrists. That’s why some bright person invented Wristies Wrist Warmers.
These fingerless gloves are longer than usual, extending halfway up your forearm. They’re thin enough to be used as inserts beneath your regular waterproof gloves, but heavy enough to keep your wrists nice and warm and protected from the wind. $11 gets you a pair from the Snow Shack. (Kids and adult sizes available.)
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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