Athlete In The City

Nike is revamping it’s ipod add-on to add quite a few new bells and whistles. Additions include temperature + hydration monitors. Our past complaint about it being primarily a pedometer, missing a heart rate monitor as a very basic requirement, seems to be addressed here as well.

There is also some talk of GPS. We’re already enamored of Garmin’s Forerunner watch, which is a phenomenal training device, all around. I’d like to see how these hydration and temperature sensors work, and keep an eye on Garmin’s additions as well.

Hip factor - 10!
Function factor - 7!

Apple and Nike have joined forces to bring sports + fitness fanatics a new way to train.  A wireless piece plugs into your ipod, and a wireless sensor for your shoe.  Everytime you step, it transmits that information to the ipod.  It will also use that information to adjust your music accordingly, to get you to workout harder and so on.  It’s quite a cool concept.

The new device, available at the apple store, and partnered with Nike, is basically a very hip and cool pedometer.  There are many available, take a look over at Amazon.  How a pedometer works is it clicks and increments a counter everytime you take a step.  What good is that you ask?  Well you input the LENGTH of your stride after various estimations.  The problem is that your stride varies dramatically depending on how hard you’re working out, if you’re going up or downhill, if you’re tired, at the end of your workout, and so on and so forth.

Normally you measure your stride by say running 1/10 of a mile, and counting the number of strides in your head, and then dividing.  Really this is just an estimate, and an average of that moment of time.  Suppose it’s off by only one inch (2.5 cm).  A stridge might be 1 meter (3 feet).  Now if you run, and the device calculates you ran 5000 strides, that is 5km (3.1 miles).  But it is then off by +/- 12500 cm (5000 inches) which is 125  meters (417 feet).   If you just train casually you might not care, but if you’re training hard, and really pushing your times, it is difficult to get really accurate numbers with a pedometer.

But if your aim is to make workouts more fun, and to have a useful tool to help you, this is a great one.  If you’re looking for a more all-purpose training partner, I would highly recommend the Garmin Forerunner 305.

If you’re interested in buying any of the items I talk about in this piece, head over to my list at thisnext.com: Eight Training Essentials.

Ab Wheel

This is a simple, no nonsense piece of training equipment that everyone can afford, and find space for. What’s more with regular use, it *will* give you the abs of steel you’re looking for. I also find it a safe, and injury free way to work the abs.

Camelbak

Camelbak is a recent addition to my training regimen. Why do I like it? For one it keeps you hydrated, and that keeps your energy level up. For two you can load it with small weights to give you a makeshift weight vest. Three you can carry stuff like a jumprope, or whatever else you might want to train with. And four, it makes all the bodyweight exercises I do that much more challenging. 10x 5sets of pullups? Add 10 pounds and you’ll see the difference. Clapping, fingertip, and one-arm pushups with a 10lb pack are very challenging.

Jump Rope

Weighted jump ropes are a great full body workout. Work the ankles and legs without a lot of pounding on the heels, get a sprint workout without needing much space. Jump roping can be worked forward or backward, for 30 seconds, or 5 minutes. Throw in crossed arms, or swing the rope around twice in one jump for extra challenge.

I like to train with used climbing rope. Most climbing gyms rotate their ropes every 3-6 months. The old rope is no longer good for climbing, but it makes excellent weighted jump rope. Not heavy enough you say? Soak your rope in water, and you’ll feel the burn!Door Gym

Want to integrate pullups into your everyday routine. Here’s an easy way to do it. You’re not always at the gym, or the park where you can do pullups, and this doorgym can install in most any doorway. You can also use it for pushups, and as makeshift parallettes if you don’t have those.

Doorgym

Want to integrate pullups into your everyday routine. Here’s an easy way to do it. You’re not always at the gym, or the park where you can do pullups, and this doorgym can install in most any doorway. You can also use it for pushups, and as makeshift parallettes if you don’t have those.

Parallettes

Parallettes are a portable, practical way to do gymnastics type training in your home or apartment. You can do pushups, v-sit, l-sit, planche work, handstands, and all sorts of other core strength training using parallettes.

Yoga Blocks

Yoga blocks are not just for Yoga fiends anymore. These are indispensible training tools. Extend deeper into a pushup, work a v-sit or planche with a less stable base, or do your daily stretching, yoga blocks can help with all of these.

Forerunner 305

It’s the best runners watch I’ve found yet. Tracks your distance precisely with GPS, and also knows your speed constantly during your run. The heart monitor is better than most because it has a small watch battery as power source. Less interference with other radio devices etc. If all that isn’t enough, the watch plugs into your computer via USB, to sync a ton of data about each workout. Looking at all of this later reveals a lot, and the Garmin Training Center software is very good.

Fitness Ball

Nevermind the cheesy shows using the fitness ball on FitTV. This is serious exercise equipment. Ever try to do pushups with your legs elevated, and your hands on the ball and you’ll see what I mean. Or work the gymnastics planche with the ball providing minimal support. There are lots of very challenging exercises you can do with these.

Here’s a first look at the Mac OS X application that comes with the Forerunner 305 GPS Runner’s watch. I can’t say enough good things about this product.

I suspect avid runners will immediately see the usefulness of all this data. Most often when you go running, there are highs and lows, dips and peaks in your energy levels. Is it hydration? Is it my breathing? Or am I just running faster or slower, or at a gradient?

This kind of data will answer most of those questions. It’s amazing. You can see exactly where your heart rate is, and Mph speed.

Here’s an example. A few months back I was doing a week of Bikram Yoga. As an added bonus, on some days I would do a double session, and go running *after* the bikram yoga. I found that my heart rate was elevated, to around 152 bpm all the time, and yet my running speed was actually slower than usual. It just amounts to general exhaustion. Another example, when it is extremely humid out, I go running, and bring extra water. I run slower, but find my heart rate stays high.

Most watches with a heart rate monitor just keep the min, max, and total for the run. So all that time in the middle you know nothing about. Here the watch is collecting hundreds of little data points, and syncing them to your computer when you come back home. Graphing the whole thing is like turning on a light in a dark room. Now you can see everything!

It is really staggering how much there is out there on the web now. It’s so difficult to keep track of. I keep my sights fixed on fitness related content, so hopefully I can help you find some of interest.

Here’s one, the Fitness Toolbox from Mashables.com. It boasts 60 plus sites related to health and fitness. Yum yum!

Want to find out your body mass index? That’s easy go to Body Mass Index Calculator. Want some new workouts, head over to this site (yeah, I love the name too!) Gimme 20.

From health and fitness loggers and journals, to diet trackers, it’s all here. Enjoy!

One of the first things you should be doing when you start training regularly is keeping a journal. It is fairly fundamental. If you set goals for weight loss, muscle gain, or endurance, how else will you know when you reach them without a journal to look at?  Such a journal can be as simple or as sophisticated as you like.

If you are interested in real numbers, a heart rate monitor is really essential. Polar makes some great ones, though there are many other brands to choose from. I’d recommend one of these for everyone anyway, as it’s the best way for you to see how much your workout exerts your heart. It will also help you avoid under training if that’s your tendency or over training as some of us are prone to. Some of these heart rate monitors come with a history function, so you can save past performance profiles. The best ones even allow you to sync that information with your computer.

Well if that idea has piqued your interest, take a look at what Garmin has come out with. These Forerunner watches are the proverbial kitchen sink of workout data collectors. They’ve managed to fit GPS receivers in these babies providing you with precise information on how far you ran. They also feature AutoPause a technology which notices when you slow down or stop at a traffic light. Couple these amazing features with the usual heart rate monitor, and stop watch and you have an incredible device. But with these at-your-wrist computers, you can also set a distance and pace, and have the watch push you like a personal trainer would. Top all that off with a USB syncing feature that brings all this data into your computer, and you’ll have endless new training data. They even have a website Motion Based which will let you upload your data, and provide you with workout analysis.

If you’ve reached a wall with your workout routine, this device will surely assist you in pushing past it.

Thanks Noorin.

I plan to get started with weekly postings at least every Sunday or Monday, so here goes…

My long time friend and master of all of the physical training arts, pointed me to this great site for runners. It’s called Map My Run. It takes great advantage of google maps, to let you map out your exact running route. You simple click on your starting location, then map out all the intersections and points along the route. It gives you milepoints, total distance which is more acurate than you’d expect, and even allows you to put rest stops, bathroom stops, and water fountains in there. Once you’re done you can share your routes with friends.

I mapped out my very own battery park loop which is an 8.55 mile route. I average about 1:03 to 1:05 for this route but I’m pushing to get under 60 minutes. We’ll see.