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Published: 26/08/2008 - Filed under: Archive » 2008 » September 2008 » Lifestyle » Features » Features » Lifestyle » Features » Lifestyle » Technology »

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Need to get fit? Mark Prigg trials the latest gadgets so you don’t have to break a sweat.

Working out used to involve investing in little more than a new pair of trainers and a gym membership (both of which invariably got used once and then forgotten about), but now there is a whole host of gadgets that will help you lose weight, tone up and even make your mark as a professional sportsperson.

They range from games which you play by leaning on boards, to GPS units for bikes and mobile phones that will tell you exactly where you are going wrong.

While they may not quite be able to replace a personal trainer, they can certainly help you get the most out of your run or gym visit without breaking the bank. As with all technology, it really pays to shop around as these products are often heavily discounted online.

Polar F55 HRM watch

£130
polar.fi

Polar specialises in heart-rate monitors, but the F55 claims to be an entire fitness trainer in a watch. It’s really simple to use and set up, as each time you go to the gym it will work out your heart rate and, via an online fitness-training tool, tell you which exercises you should be doing. The data can then be uploaded to the Polar website to track your progress.

The watch works by wirelessly talking to a heart-rate monitoring strap worn around your chest, and it’s incredibly accurate. The strap also works with most gym equipment, so you’ll be able to see your heart rate on a machine’s display in most cases.

Overall, the F55 is a decent tool for the beginner who can’t quite stretch to a personal trainer, particularly as various websites sell it at cut-price rates. Being able to see your heart rate at any point is really useful, and the watch will even beep at you if you’re doing too much, or not enough.

If all the exercise gets a bit much, there’s also a surprisingly effective five-minute relaxation mode, which helps reduce your heat rate by guiding you through a series of breathing exercises. The watch itself, although a little on the chunky side, is certainly wearable every day, especially if you’re particularly keen to show off your commitment to your fitness regime.

Pros Simple to use
Cons Basic features

Nintendo Wii Fit

£69
nintendo.co.uk

The Wii Fit is the perfect answer to those who argue gaming is only for the sofa-bound. The chunky board, which is simple to set up and works wirelessly, can tell exactly where you’re standing and measures your balance accordingly. The first time you use it, you take a simple balance test, and it measures your weight and estimates your body mass index. You can then choose your goals – losing weight, improving balance or increasing strength.

Like Nintendo’s brain-training software, the further you progress, the more games and exercises you unlock. Activities are divided into stretching, aerobics, balance and games – for the yoga-like stretches, you follow the movements of an onscreen instructor, and the board is surprisingly good at working out exactly how you’re doing.

Each session is logged, and you can build up a fitness diary tracking your progress. However, the really fun part of Wii Fit is the games, with everything from tightrope-walking to ski slaloms. The only real disappointments are the cardio games – jogging on the spot with a controller in your pocket just doesn’t quite cut it.

Wii Fit is never going to replace the gym, but for those who would never consider going in the first place, it’s a brilliant way to improve fitness. There are questions over its longevity, but with several new games promised for this year, this is easily the best fitness gadget for the unfit.

Pros A groundbreaking game that makes exercise fun
Cons Still tough to get hold of

Nike+ Sport Band

£40
nike.com

There’s fierce debate in exercise circles as to the benefit of music, and this little wristband lets you use the Nike + iPod Sport Kit (see page 43) without having to carry an iPod.

The band contains a USB stick which records your data as you run, allowing you to simply plug it into a PC when you get home. It may seem an odd product at first, but a lot of people don’t want to hear music or spoken instructions wherever they go.

So if you want to track your run without having music blocking out the sounds of nature and approaching traffic, it’s worth a look, because the website is well thought-out with some excellent community aspects.

The Sport Band is simple to use – just press and hold the main button for three seconds to activate it, once more to start, and again to stop. The same sensor is in your trainer but that’s it. While it does tell the time, there is no backlight,so it’s really not a watch replacement.

There’s also some software on your computer to read it, meaning that you don’t have to load Apple’s iTunes every time you want to upload your data.

Pros Small and easy to carry
Cons No music

Samsung/Adidas MiCoach

From free with contract
micoach.samsungmobile.com

The MiCoach is Adidas’s answer to the Nike + iPod Nano Sport Kit and uses a mobile phone rather than a music player as its base.

The handset is a pretty decent all-rounder, with a two-megapixel camera, although it only has 1GB of memory, so don’t expect to carry your entire CD collection with you.

Available in seven colours including pink, red, dark grey, sapphire blue and silver, it’s a slim, 14.5mm-thick slider unit with a two-inch LCD screen and textured back to offer better grip.

Along with the handset, you get a heart-rate monitor which goes around your chest, a stride sensor which attaches to your trainers, and an armband for the phone.

The coaching aspect of the kit is impressive. Like the Nike+ Sport Kit, there’s an excellent website on which you set your goals and see your progress. During a run, the phone will also tell you whether to speed up or slow down, which is very useful.

However, the MiCoach is let down by the rather average handset. It simply doesn’t have the storage and, compared with Nokia’s N82, it lacks features. It’s a decent first effort from Adidas and Samsung, but just not a phone you’d want to use every day, which really defeats the purpose.

Pros No need for a separate mobile and music player
Cons Limited memory

PumpOne iPod workouts

Around £25 (free trial available)
pumpone.com

These are a series of video-workouts which you download to your iPod or mobile phone and watch while in the gym, working along with the fitness trainer onscreen. There are several to choose from and the video-quality is excellent. Moves are shown onscreen, then you simply press pause and have a go yourself.

However, one problem is the “irritation factor” associated with the virtual coaches themselves – they are all gung-ho American fitness “experts” with Valley girl/boy accents. After one listen, they become really annoying, so the prospect of workouts three times a week is, frankly, enough to drive anyone to the pub.

There is also the problem of needing to keep pressing pause so that you can actually go and do the workouts, which also means you can’t listen to music while exercising.

Yet despite these flaws, and the relatively high price of the workouts (around £25 each), they are a well thought-out set of routines and will certainly be cheaper than shelling out for a real personal trainer over time. We’d prefer to hold out for a less annoying British version, but for total beginners scared they may be doing themselves more harm than good, it is a great bet.

Pros Easy to use, great routines
Cons No flexibility in workouts, on the expensive side

Garmin 705 Bike GPS

£240
garmin.com

While in-car satnav is now a common sight, on-bike satnav is still a relatively new phenomenon. Yet in many ways it makes perfect sense, and both Nokia and Garmin are attacking the market with a range of products.

Garmin’s 705 is an impressive piece of kit. Aimed squarely at the more serious cyclist, it tracks your heart rate, your speed, and even how fast you are turning the pedals. Crucially, this all fits into a gadget small enough to sit on your handlebars.

The screen is bright and easy to read, and navigation is simple thanks to a joystick under it which controls pretty much everything, along with two large buttons – all easily operated even with cycling gloves.

Switch it on, and you can flip through several displays tracking your performance, or real-time maps showing exactly where you are. You can programme routes and even race against other people who have uploaded their routes to the web.

The system is surprisingly useful around town, but it’s for serious cycling that it really comes into its own. It’s possible to plan your training routes before you go, and then see clear instructions onscreen when you ride. Once you’re home, you can analyse every part of your performance, and even share it online.

Pros Superb features
Cons Maps are expensive

Nokia N82 + Sports Tracker

From free with contract
nokia.co.uk

For the cyclist about town, it’s the ultimate gadget – a handlebar-mounted satnav which can not only guide you through the streets, but also make phones calls. It’s actually Nokia’s latest GPS phone, paired with some neat mapping software.

The software, which works on all Nokia’s latest handsets, turns your existing mobile phone into a mobile guide. The unit attaches to a handlebar mount, and then displays a map onscreen, which is constantly updated with your position.

You can set a destination and use it as a satnav or, for more serious athletes, use the Sports Tracker software. This can store location, speed and altitude for each ride, and upload it to a website. Friends and family can even monitor your route to work in real-time, while a coach can keep track of your progress. However, there is no link to heart-rate data, which is key for many exercises.

The N82 is also a great everyday handset, with a 3.2-megapixel camera, as well as the latest games and map software preloaded. For frequent travellers, the GPS alone makes it worthwhile, as when you land in a new city it will automatically download maps online for you as you walk, so you may never get lost again.

Pros A useful, everyday mobile
Cons No heart-rate tracking

Nike + iPod Nano Sport Kit

£19
store.apple.com/uk

The coming together of two of the world’s most recognisable brands, Apple and Nike, was always going to result in a slick product.

The Sport Kit is a small sensor which fits into your Nike+ trainer, and a receiver which plugs into your iPod Nano (only the Nano is supported, unfortunately). The gadget is then able to let you measure distances, set targets, get vocal feedback on your progress, and upload stats to the Nike+ training log.

Before hitting the road, you need to decide two things – the type of workout you want to do (one with a time, distance, calorie target or unlimited “basic” type) and what your “power song” will be.

The system is incredibly easy to use and, although it has been available for almost a year, has already seen some major updates – the newest version of the iPod Nano, for instance, makes the system much more intuitive.

Far more impressive is the recent update to the accompanying website, where you can view your runs, compare scores with friends, join groups and set goals. There is even a “virtual trainer” to recommend programmes and automatically download them to your iPod. The only problem is that it is purely for running. However, Apple has partnered with several fitness-machine makers, so expect it to pop up soon in a gym near you.

Pros Simple and useful
Cons Only for runners

Mark Prigg is the Science and Technology Correspondent of the London Evening Standard

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