Sunday, April 22, 2012

New Gear and Gadgets!

Who doesn't love getting new stuff?! Over the past few months, I've bought some new items to help me get more fit and healthy.  Now I want to share with you! 

Nike running shorts: I bought this pair at a Nike outlet when I was shopping with my sis.  I love the pops of pink! I've never owned real running shorts, mostly because they're so short and I've always assumed they'd be creeping up during the entire run.  I figured that since I've been running so much lately, I could try them out... and they were on clearance.  The pair I picked has spandex under them, which I figured would make me feel more secure if they did start to ride up.  They're so light weight that I feel like I'm not wearing anything.  Unfortunately the looser fitting outer layer does creep up.
Lovely pink running shorts
Nike+ for iPod Nano: I heard about Nike+ a few years ago and thought it was so cool. But, since I don't wear Nike running shoes (they're too narrow for my feet), I never thought I'd be able to use the technology. Recently, I was reading this article (I'm sorry, I can't find the link!) that reviews the Nike+ and found out you can use it without the compatible shoe.  Several readers reported that they LOVE the Nike+ for the iPod Nano.  I looked it up and it's only $20 and it's sold at Best Buy, where I had earned $10 in rewards.  So, I bought it!  The sensor is inserted in the Nike+ compatible shoe, or a pouch can be purchased to connect the sensor to the shoe.  I had neither.  I decided that nestling the sensor in my shoe was just as good.  It stayed put in my shoe and I calibrated it to my running.  When I was done, 55 minutes later, I checked the distance.  This is what my iPod read:
Yep.  According to Nike+, I ran 1.47 miles in 55 minutes. (The 5 miles that reads at the top was my goal.) I tracked my route on SparkPeople and I had actually gone 4.62 miles. I don't know if the sensor wasn't secure enough or if the calibration didn't work properly, but I returned the product. It had some really cool features, but I wasn't going to spend the time figuring out what went wrong.  I'm just going to keep using SparkPeople.

Kinect for Xbox 360: For my birthday, in January, my husband got me the Kinect sensor for our Xbox 360.  Included was the Kinect Adventures game.  It's so much fun! Although it's not designed to be a workout game, it really gets you moving (jumping, dodging, kicking, etc.).  The only problem is that it's so quickly beat.  And, once you get to the advanced level, you don't really want to go back to the beginner level.  The next game I got was Jillian Michaels Fitness Adventure.  I love Jillian, but this game did not meet my expectations. The sensor could not track the floor work, so I had a difficult time moving on to the next level and, in general, it was really slow-going.  (A full, accurate, no holds barred, review can be found here.) If you're looking for a good fitness game though, I found it! When I returned the Nike+, I instead purchased Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012.  This game is awesome.  There's so much variety in the workouts (from "Running the World", where you run through major cities in the world and past famous landmarks, to Cardio Boxing to Hip Hop Dance Routines to toning specific trouble zones).  The feedback on your accuracy is so much better than in the Jillian game. You earn points, burn calories, and get tips on making your workouts better. You can even get a breakdown of your stats online. I'm addicted to the Wall Breaker game, where you punch blocks. Each broken block adds more blocks to a wall. When you've finished the wall, you then punch a final golden block that knocks out the wall.  I don't know why, but I find this one so fun!

Gear I look forward to purchasing: new running shoes, Zumba Fitness Rush, more running shorts, heart rate monitor, food scale.  These are the ones I can think of for now.  Do you have any favorite fitness/health related gadgets or gear? Share! :)

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