I don’t really like it.

It’s uncomfortable on the arm and I feel dorky with the thing strapped to me all day. I also don’t like the idea of having to pay a subscription fee each month just to use a device I’ve already spent a small fortune on.

A new gadget, in a similar vein, was displayed at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco. Called the FitBit tracker, it sits in your pocket and keeps track of your movements throughout the day. It’s small, unobtrusive, and cheaper than the Body Bugg. The software & website that FitBit uses are free (though they may eventually add an enhanced subscription version.)

It’s available in December and if FitBit sends me one, I’ll be happy to let you know how well it works.

Wii can provide some fitness benefits and help with weight management, but the key comes down to simulating the movements used in the actual sports, says Porcari. “If you want to get as good a workout as you can with Wii Sports, you really need to mimic the real movements as closely as possible.”

I don’t know about you, but when I pull out the Wii, I’m not using the same motions I would if I were, say, actually playing tennis. I’m using shorter, more abbreviated versions. (Actually, I’m probably not playing Wii Tennis at all, I’m probably just giving myself carpal tunnel jamming out on my little plastic guitar.)

You’ll still burn off more calories (and probably get a better rounded workout) with actual exercise rather than the Wii, but it still beats just staring at the television.

Just don’t kid yourself into thinking you’re getting much of a workout.

(Study).

The only thing I knew about the shoes from Swiss Masai is that they were a) odd looking and b) expensive. I’ve never actually seen a pair in the wild, though I do know that walkers are raving about them. I suppose that if I sat outside the house at night and watched the legions of neighborhood walkers go by, I’d probably see a pair or two.

Ditto for the park downtown, where runners and joggers congregate en masse.

Did you know we’re not walking properly?
Recently, I’d be reading some articles and research about how modern shoes do not allow us to walk naturally - the way our bodies were intended to.

The idea that our mode of walking is caused by the shoes we wear and isn’t necessarily optimal for our bodies is interesting, but I’m not likely to wander out into the woods and re-learn how to walk and stalk.

Maybe I don’t have to though.

The shoe developed to more closely mimic natural walking

The specially constructed sole of MBT shoes is designed to mimic going barefoot through springy moss or a sandy beach. That gives the foot a less stable platform to walk upon, working more muscles in the legs.

The Swiss Masai USA site references a number of studies into the effectiveness of their shoe technology. Without doing an exhaustive reading, it looks like most of them say “yeah, you walk differently in them and there’s a good chance that’s an improvement over the way you currently walk, but we need to keep studying it to really know.”

We walk funny and that’s bad - we can walk funnier and that might be good
So, on one hand, we’ve got people telling us that our modern gait (the “cow walk”) is bad. On the other, we’ve got a shoe company telling us that their shoe will help. I’m still not sure I’m ready to plunk down $200+ dollars for a pair of walking shoes though. I love my legs and my feet and all, but I also love not spending $200.

Let’s see what others think

I took a look around the net to see what other people thought of their MBT shoes.

Desiree Stimpert of About.com wrote a generally positive review of them.

After a few minutes in the shoes, I actually began to like them — a lot. I did feel like I was getting a mini workout, but they also gave me an oddly energetic feeling.

Despite liking the shoes, I wouldn’t and I haven’t worn them every day. This is mainly because I’m a bit of a slave to fashion, but also because I view them as more of a piece of equipment, than a pair of shoes. In these shoes, I feel that a trip to the grocery store could almost qualify as a workout.

But until a time when I actually need some of the benefits that MBT shoes have to offer, I’ll leave them to the real athletes and people with foot or leg problems, like my husband.

That sounds like code for “I’d probably wear them more if they weren’t so odd looking.”

Desiree’s husband, Chris, suffers from a variety of foot and leg maladies and wrote his own review.

I have three points of pain. My heel, the back of my knee, and my hamstring. For two years, doctors have not been able to give it a name or fix it, but the MBT shoes have certainly helped.

Although the pain in my hamstring will not completely leave, I assume due to so much sitting at the computer, the back of my knee is virtually pain-free. My heel pain has been so greatly reduced that I often forget about it.

Driving was very painful before, but the thick soles of the MBT really help alleviate the pressure. I also find that I wake up with less foot pain in the morning and that walking the perimeter of Target no longer needs to be followed by “rest the old leg” time.

That’s a pretty strong endorsement. Wear MBT shoes. Less pain. But, again, like Desiree, he spends time talking about the looks of the shoe and how they really don’t look like orthopedic shoes.

Of course it borders on ridiculous to talk about cosmetics when actual physical well being is involved, but it is the human condition to what to look our best. Fortunately, MBT shoes are fairly easy on the eyes.

At first glance, and perhaps second and third, you would never think that these are orthopedic shoes. Furthermore, they are actually rather attractive. Not only in a “Hey, these don’t look half bad” way, but in a fashionable hip way. They even pay homage to the current trend of partially mesh uppers.

Ok, call my crazy, but I have my doubts. Last night, my wife made potato salad using cauliflower instead of potatoes. Calling it “fauxtato salad” she promised me that it really didn’t taste like what it sounded - it tasted great - just like potato salad! That’s what she said, anyway.

It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t potato salad either. I think she was just trying to kid herself that she was eating delicious potato salad instead of some sort of cauliflower concoction (not that there’s anything wrong with cauliflower, but it ain’t potato salad.)

What do customers have to say?

Moving on from the Stimpert’s of About.com, I decided to take a look at what the customers of Zappos.com thought. Realizing that these reviews were from people that bought the shoes and don’t represent people who didn’t, I was still surprised at how generally positive the tone was.

Some people think they are gorgeous, “The Best Shoes in the World!! These shoes look great, are extremely comfortable, and FUN to wear. ”

Other opinions weren’t so generous about the appearance, “My husband says I can’t go out of the house with these shoes on because they are so unattractive.”

Given the focus on “instability” with these shoes, I wondered how they would fare with exercise more vigorous than just walking. Apparently, not that great. “I was doing the Tae Bo workout and my shoes came off my foot and I almost broke my hip.” She did go on to compliment Zappos for expressing their concern about her accident though. (I love Zappos.com, by the way.)

A few other reviews
Dr Jenny Sanders didn’t love the shoes either. Heavy, expensive, and poor choices for wide or narrow feet was her thinking. She also noted that the research studies done were commissioned by the company and that they generally used healthy college students as the subjects.

Sadly though, the Manolo has not rendered an opinion on the shoe, as far as I can tell.

Where does that leave us?

So, the shoes are odd looking. Some people find their look attractive and some people don’t. Some research seems to indicate that they work well but a practicing physician takes issue with that. A LOT of people who wear them seem to love them though, so perhaps there is something to them.

At $200+ per pair though, you’d better tread softly. (Get it?) Zappos.com would be a great place to start because if you get them and don’t love them, returns are easy, quick, and painless.

Have a pair yourself or thinking about buying some? Leave a comment and talk about them.

Avacore Glove

They’ve developed a special cooling glove that uses a slight vacuum to pull blood to the hands even faster, resulting in more cooling.

The cooler the core, the more blood can be used to feed energy starved muscles - which leads to increased athletic performance.

The device is called “The Glove” and is from Avacore. (As far as I know, they are not related to the diet drug by the same name.)

The San Francisco Chronicle just ran a story about the 49ers using it during a recent football game.

There’s also a YouTube video showing a weight lifter extolling the gadget.

Tried this? Has it made a difference? Leave a comment and let us know.

This new aqua fitnees machine achieves is beneficial for cardiovascular fitness and also enhances strength and flexibility training through a unique melding of swimming, isotonic resistance, and the Pilates method. Their device also allows you to stay stable and swim in place while you do the exercises using and inflatable belt and resistance bands. 

This system is simple, sleek and self contained and easy for anyone at any fitness level to use.  Aside from giving you the regular aerobic benefits of exercising in the water you also get the toning and stretching that creates such a beautiful body for those who practice Pilates.

Riders on the S2U can coose to ride in different off-road and fantasy  environmenst that they can view onscreen. For instance, there is one program called Proving Grounds that allows you to cycle through a fantasy world based in gaming. Combining video and exercising like this has even coined a new term – exergaming!  Many people get so into it the fantasy element of riding on a fitness bike like this that an hour exercising seems to go by effortlessly. 

This Expresso S2u is expected to be on the market November 1, 2007.

Of course the Gamercizer only really suits people who are good multi-tasking as it involves exercising and playing video games at the same time.  If you have a couch potato for a child this could help motivate him or her get off of the couch and start exercising.

The phone, unveiled this week at the CEATEC electronics show outside Tokyo, has an inbuilt motion sensor that detects body movement and calculates how many calories you burn.

The sensor can tell whether you’re walking, running, climbing stairs, or resting, and counts the calories accordingly to tally daily totals, Tobita said.

“It’s with you wherever you go, like a portable personal trainer,” he said.

NTT DoCoMo doesn’t sell their phones outside of the Japanese market, but expect the technology to arrive elsewhere in the coming months.

Stability balls, which are durable vinyl spheres, are now a serious part of fitness and exercise programs in gyms and fitness clubs nationwide. They are used in Pilates classes, in aerobics classes, in weight training, and by personal trainers for a host of exercises - from stretching to relaxation to strenuous all-around workouts.

The stability ball didn’t move beyond the realm of physical rehabilitation and enter the fitness scene until the late 1980s, and then only on a limited basis. Mike Morris, president of the Resist-A-Ball, Inc. was one of the first to use stability balls as a fitness tool in the United States. He rolled out his Resist-A-Ball at fitness trade show in 1993.

Experts say that the balls are an excellent, low-impact way to improve existing workouts. The balls are found health clubs and are small and sturdy enough to be used at home.

Stability balls ranging from 21 to 24 inches in diameter are suitable for most people, although people more than 5-feet-7 inches tall might choose a larger diameter ball.

When a person does a basic sit-up on the ball, his or her back is pushing into the ball and forcing the exerciser to work harder. It’s a big improvement over a floor sit-up, when a person’s back naturally tends to rise up off the floor.

(Quoted material from The Monitor.)

“We literally cool the body from the inside out, rather than from the outside in, which is the conventional method,” explains Senior Research Scientist Dennis Grahn, who developed the cooling device with H. Craig Heller, the Lorry I. Lokey/Business Wire Professor in Human Biology and Environmental Biology.

The device works by creating a local subatmospheric pressure environment, Grahn says. “We stick the hand in a rigid chamber with an airtight seal around the wrist, and then we draw a bit of the air out of the chamber,” he explains. “This causes blood to be pulled into the hand. Then we cool the overlying skin surface of the palm of the hand [by circulating cool water through a closed system on which the palm of the hand rests], which cools the blood in the hand’s vascular heat-exchange structures. Arteries deliver blood directly from the heart to these vascular structures, and veins then carry the blood from these structures back to the heart.”

Read the entire article…