fitness
Latest
Wii has health potential
New York Times columnist, David Pogue discusses the Wii's fitness potential in an online post. After witnessing his family burn calories while gaming, he thinks the Wii is one of the best possible indoor activities for kids. Pogue also has no sympathy for the "nerds who haven't moved their bodies in years" who claim muscle aches and broken furniture.We like this one-two punch from the mainstream press -- albeit, not in print -- exploring the health benefits of the system and dismissing the over-hyped Wii injuries. We look forward to fitness being a byproduct of active games like DDR; where's the Wii version of Samba De Amigo? Exercise games may have less appeal, but they may also work well; will we see Wiimote ankle holders to measure footwork?[Via digg]
Wii Sports: Training and Fitness modes documented
We've been spending tons of time with Wii Sports and we never took the chance to check out the Fitness and Training modes. In correcting the situation, we found that each are fairly straight forward and just how you would imagine them; Fitness is a kind of Brain Age semi-clone, yet instead of a brain age you are given a fitness age, and with Training you are taken through several scenarios in each of the sports. Fitness mode is a good deal more in-depth, so initially you'd want to head into Training mode before checking that out so that you can train up before committing yourself to a fitness age the system is looking to label you with.Continue reading for our first ever Wii Sports Fitness mode trial!
Gymkids busts out Step2Play, frustrates lazy children
While it's no surprise that children are gaining weight at an alarming rate these days, there's always the Dance Dance Revolution workout or the entirely more evil MealpayPlus route, but now Gymplay is offering up a fitness-based middleman to keep kids' heart rates up while gaming away. Crafted solely for Sony's now antiquated PlayStation console, the appendage acts as a liaison between the controller and your system, requiring the child (or adult, actually) to continually exercise at an "adjustable rate" determined by the lieutenant parent in charge. The Step2Play will only allow the controller to function if the youngster onboard is keeping those paddles moving at a satisfactory pace, and supposedly targets the "calf and leg muscles" -- but we can envision a good bit of hostility being created when little Johnny finds this accessory waiting under the tree. Although we can't imagine any sane child enjoying this torment as much as the (presumably staged) children are in the photo above, you can give your offspring the gift of motivation for a staggering £115 ($218).[Via Uber-Review]
Playing Warcraft for fun and fitness
It's not often you see World of Warcraft mentioned in the same sentence as physical fitness -- at least not in a positive sense. However, someone has managed to bring Warcraft into their fitness regimen in a positive way -- since you do tend to stop noticing the passage of time during play-sessions, why not do something useful with that time? Greg lost 41 pounds in 3 months and attributes some of his success to his "warbiking" cardio routine.[Via Joystiq]
Overtime Fitness gym for teens includes video games
One day in the future, we're sure that everyone will be strong, good-looking and above-average. But today, given that 16 percent of American children aged 12-19 are overweight according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have to be ways to get kids into more healthful habits. As we all know, everyone's supposed to be exercising regularly in order to stay well and fit -- thankfully, kids have a new type of fitness center in Mountain View, California (home of Google!) which aims to appeal to the children of Silicon Valley reared on a steady diet of gadgets. Overtime Fitness, which opens tomorrow (and restricts membership to kids 13-18) includes a regular workout equipment area, a "study center" with PCs, Macs and free WiFi (for the Linux laptop-toting set?), a DDR-clone called "In The Groove 2" and the Cybex Trazer, a virtual reality-type game that maps physical movements to the on-screen action. If all that gear wasn't enough, there's always the Xbox hooked up to something called a Kilowatt Sport, which includes a "resistance rod" to merge the real world with the virtual, or as Ars Technica puts it: "if you're playing Madden '06 and want to run a fullback dive, you're going to have to lean hard against the resistance rod to break through the defensive line." Our only question is this: exactly how are parents going to react when they find out that the $60 monthly fee is being spent so that their kids can play even more video games?[Via Ars Technica]
Bluetooth SIG drafting Medical Device Profile
Your Bluetooth-enabled PC or handset will soon be able to do more than just stream audio and sync data, as the SIG responsible for the wireless protocol has announced a forthcoming profile that will enable pairing with health and fitness monitoring equipment. Although several proprietary monitoring solutions are already on the market, the so-called Medical Device Profile will allow third-party manufacturers to release hardware with guaranteed interoperability, which should help grow this nascent use of the technology. Scheduled for completion sometime during the first half of next year, the new profile will allow users to both track pertinent statistics on their Bluetooth devices and easily send that data to doctors, coaches, or trainers. Luckily for us heavy Bluetooth users, the profile will also be compatible with the upcoming Ultra Wideband (UWB) standard, meaning that the fitness-related bits traveling to our smartphone won't have to fight for bandwidth with the tethered GPS receiver and A2DP tunes we rock during our workouts.[Via MedGadget]
MyFoodPhone diet aid app comes to Sprint
Dieting just got a little easier (or a little harder to cheat at, depending on how you look at it) for Sprint customers with cameraphones, thanks to the company's exclusive rollout of that MyFoodPhone service we first spotted nearly a year ago. Although the cost is much lower this time around -- only $10 per month compared to the pricey $150/month it once was -- the service works essentially the same as before, by providing customers with video feedback based on photos they snap and upload of each and every meal or snack they consume. Besides the bi-weekly vids from nutritional advisers, subscribers also have access to an online food journal, where they can log the all-important dieter's stats of weight lost, exercise performed, and calories burned. Sprint is positioning MyFoodPhone as only one part of an overall health and fitness regimen where your Vision-enabled phone can be of assistance, joining other services such as BIMActive exercise tracking, skynetMD medical info, and Hitech Trainer guided workouts.[Via picturephoning]
