Tools For A Fun Workout
The fitness industry is always coming up with new devices to keep customers coming back to the gym, because half of all Americans who join health clubs stop going before their one-year membership expires. CBS News Fitness Reporter Bonnie Kaye has the latest on some new toys gyms are using.
The Netpulse Fitness Network allows you to flip through channels on your own personal TV monitor, and access the Internet during your workout.
"You can send e-mail, check your stock quotes, anything you can possibly do on the Internet you can do now at the gym for free," says Adam Handelsman, a spokesman for Netpulse Communications.
The device allows you to read newspapers without the mess of having the paper get crumbled and sweaty. In addition, the monitor still keeps track of your workout time, calories, distance, speed, and level of intensity. You can even send and receive e-mails by using this sensitive to the touch keyboard instead of a mouse.
 Cycling and surfing on the Netpulse fitness network. (CBS) |
Another new device is called the "Smart Key."
"It records your workout by putting it into the Techno-Gym system, it records everything that you do on the system," explains Charlie Morris, a trainer for Crunch Fitness Gyms. "It monitors your heartrate. It monitors the progress your making. And it just allows you to track your own workouts."
It's part of the Techno-Gym, three pieces of equipment designed especially for triathletes.
A second part is the ergometer, which helps you strengthen your arms and shoulders for swimming.
The road bike has real gears and simulates real race conditions, like wind, hills, and other racers in a pack. Finally, the Techno-Gym includes a cutting-edge treadmill.
"It's the fastest treadmill I know of. It goes 18 miles per hour. It has an incline of 25 and a decline of minus five. So for instance, you can actually run up a hill and down a hill," says Morris.
For those who want to work out their swimming muscles, the Aquaciser is an innovative tool.
"If you like to jog, but don't like all the impact on your bones and joints, the Aquaciser allows you to jog underwater on a treadmill," Morris says.
The water provides 12 times the resistance as jogging on land, yet the buoyancy of the water makes for a gentle landing on the treadmill, easier on your knees and ankles. Your arms pump underwater.
If you want to improve your agility and reaction time in your favorite sport, The Reactor by Cybex can help. A video screen shows you where you need to stand on the mat. The object is to move as quickly as possible to the circles correspondng to those displayed on the screen.
Also used for physical therapy, there are Cybex programs designed to help rehabilitate ankle, knee, and other injuries by improving muscular and joint stability. And if you're looking to improve your baseball, basketball, or tennis game.
"The various drills will be geared toward the type of foot speed and agility drill that you're trying to accomplish," says Michael Laitman, Fitness Director of the Sports Center at Chelsea Piers.
You can compete against your own time, or other people who have tried the same drills. Who knows? It may improve your tennis game.
Reported By Bonnie Kaye