Gadgets and more for fitness fanatics
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BY RICHARD SEVEN / The Seattle Times
Two Seattle men are offering up a couple of unique gift ideas for the fitness fans on your gift list.
-- Michael Ross, a chiropractor and Seattle firefighter, offers the “Firefighter Workout,” a DVD that emphasizes functional fitness. He leads you through a series of challenging and often awkward movements, occasionally using a 5- or 10-pound medicine ball and traffic cones. Expect your glutes and hamstrings to be sore after all the lunging and dipping and reaching. The 45-second work intervals are spaced with 20-second rest periods. ($29.95, visit www.firefighterworkout.com)
-- Frank Forencich has written his second book on functional fitness, called “Exuberant Animal.” That about says it all. Forencich takes an integrated, holistic and anthropological approach, combining our history, culture and biology to get to the heart of health and fitness. What I like about his book, as well as his philosophy, is that he strives to help us find the natural joy of movement. He looks at the animal within us. ($18, www.exuberantanimal.com)
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While I can’t personally vouch for these other things, I can offer some quick ideas for fitness fans:
-- The CamelBak Bottle is spill-proof and features a closed tip that opens when you bite on it and allows you to suck the liquid. No need to tip the bottle. The hard plastic bottle is available in various sizes and colors. The .75-liter size retails for about $12, the 1-liter bottle for about $14. It’s available at Scheel’s in Lincoln and Omaha and CycleWorks in Lincoln. See www.camelbak.com.
-- The Fitness Challenge is an eight-week motivation program disguised as a game. Get a partner, pick goals and make wagers. Track workouts, rewarding points as you go. A scoreboard helps you keep track. Available online or at Target, Wal-Mart and amazon.com. ($29.95, www.fitnesschallenge.com)
-- The Intracell Stick is a deceptively simple device. It’s a stick, but it’s designed as a massage tool. Its makers say faithful, correct use can prevent injuries and improve flexibility and strength. It also purports to disperse lactic acids after activity and speed recovery. The Stick comes in various sizes and measures of tension. The standard stick retails for $39.95. (www.thestick.com)
-- The Sleeptracker is a wristwatch alarm that wakes you up — of all things — early if your body rhythm tells it to. Internal sensors from the watch can detect even subtle body signals. You can set not only the time you want to get up, but also a 30-minute window that allows the alarm to go off early if your body is saying it’s ready. All bets are off if you have a sleep disorder or have taken sedatives (including alcohol) that mask your “almost awake” moments. ($149, order at www.sleeptracker.com)
-- The NuMetrex Heart Rate Monitor Sports Bra uses a small transmitter that fits into a pocket in the front of the bra’s nylon/Lycra band. Textile threads act as conduits to the transmitter, which communicates to the system’s wristwatch. It connects with most fitness machines with integrated monitoring devices. See www.numetrex.com for details or to buy; the more complex “complete system” costs $145.
-- The makers of V-Moda Bass Freq and Remix modaphones claim they don’t just take your MP3 player sound to the next level, but you look cooler, too. The high-fidelity headphones come in eight colors. “Playlist” raves that the earbuds provide “surprisingly good bass response, richer mid-range than expected, and excellent detail.” The headphones are a definite step up from iPod standard issue. Available at their Web site, target.com and the Apple store online. ($50, www.v-moda.com)
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