Air(o) on the Wrist

AIROAiro Health has released its AIRO, a next-generation health-monitoring device that can be worn as a sleek wristband to automatically monitor nutrition, stress, exercise and sleep. It can also analyze caloric consumption, stress patterns, daily exertion and sleep quality to help wearers obtain better overall health.

It can monitor nutrition by looking at different wavelengths of light to look into the blood stream and detect metabolites as they are released while and after a user eats; while it also measure calorie intake and determines the quality of meals consumed. From here it can provide recommendations on how to improve one’s diet.

On the stress end AIRO utilizes heart rate variability (HRV) to monitor micro-fluctuations in stress throughout the day, and can notifies users when their stress level is on the rise. It can work like other sleep monitors as well, as it looks at the autonomic nervous system to notice distinct sleep cycles; and from here can recognize when the body is in deep sleep, light sleep or REM sleep and can calculate how much of a user’s night was restorative.

As an exercise tracker the AIRO monitors daily exertion through heart rate and caloric burn, and from here it uses these metrics to detect how intense the activity has been, and even checks to see how the body has recovered from activity over the course of the following days. Video after the jump

Nintendo Gives Wii Fit U to You

Wii-U-FitOwners of the Nintendo Wii U who own a Wii Balance Board accessory and have access to a broadband connection can now download a trail version of Wii Fit U from the Nintendo eShop. This promotion will run from now until the end of January, and will work for 31 days from when it is first played. That should be enough for users to decide if the Wii Fit U is right for you.

Wii Fit U Official Website

Happy Halloween – Enjoy the Treats But Don’t Over Do It

HalloweenHappy Halloween from KineticShift.com. Some tips from around the web to help you survive the holiday:

From Men’s Fitness: Exercise Equivalents of Halloween Candy
Do you know how much gym time you’ll need to burn off your favorite Halloween treats?

From Men’s Fitness: Best and Worst Halloween Candy
Treat your sweet tooth without wrecking your diet

From Fitness: Fitness-Inspired Halloween Costumes

From Shape: Halloween Costumes Inspired by Fitness Icons

Snap to It

Hip-SnapsForm is a big part of golf, and Dr. Jenni Martin MS DC LPGA Class A teacher and club professional could help players get more snap in their swing. She has long provided a three hour full Gapper Golf Swing analysis that has attracted players from around California, but now Martin is introducing a series of online fitness exercise clinics.

Martin’s passion is to help golfers, young and old, new and seasoned, high and low handicaps, fit and perhaps… not so fit. She sees that understanding an individual’s goals, physical needs, limitations, body, and swing is the only way to make permanent, goal-oriented, and effective swing changes and improvements. Martin’s method is thus designed to be fun, entertaining and informative.

The Golf Gapper is a comprehensive golf swing and body positioning analysis system. The use of State of the Art evaluation equipment provides a customized and easy to understand way to empower your golf game. Golf Gapper methods will immediately improve consistency, distance and overall swing as well as create body awareness within the physical abilities and goals of the golfer. Continue reading Snap to It

Tips and Tricks

FitTripTablets are truly revolutionizing the way people work out, and Shane Schieffer of Gusto Technologies is looking to Kickstarter to develop the FitTrip App that merges games with fitness.

This is hardly the first time we’ve seen some “cross pollination” but the FitTrip app ties together an iPad, a heart rate monitor and can create a virtual experience. When used with an exercise bike, rowing machine or treadmill it will let users get engaged and push themselves by transforming the workout in a game, where effort actually works as the controls.

The idea is to transform each workout into an exciting trip, and the only downside we see is that users are limited to such a small screen to enjoy the journey. Video after the jump

Get INDO Yoga

INDOYogaBoardThe words safe and unstable don’t usually go together. But the makers of INDO Yoga Board describe it as “a safe and user-friendly unstable platform.” The INDO Yoga Board recreates the practice of stand-up paddleboard yoga on dry land. The board rests on top of several discs that give the board its instability. Users must concentrate on their yoga poses in order to stay in balance. This helps improve stability and works the core muscles. Video after the jump

Weekend Reading List (08.24.2013): Upcycled Roof, Kobe Goes Anti-G, Cycle Cross

Upcycled Roof

Metrodome

From Gear Junkie: Metrodome Stadium Roof Material Made Into Luggage at Duluth Pack
In 2010, after a major accumulation of heavy snow in a storm, the roof of the massive Metrodome stadium in Minneapolis collapsed. More than three acres of the roof material, a Teflon-coated fiberglass fabric, had to be replaced. The material was headed to the landfill. But two people associated with the team made a deal to purchase the material for future use. Unveiled this past week, Minnesota brand Duluth Pack will construct a limited run of bags from the old Metrodome roof. Continue reading Weekend Reading List (08.24.2013): Upcycled Roof, Kobe Goes Anti-G, Cycle Cross

Skate India Thanks to Levi’s

Skate-IndiaWhile there are groups that supply bicycles to those in need in Africa, and we’ve heard about various efforts to get skateboarding to those in Afghanistan, we heard about new efforts by Levi’s – the San Francisco clothing maker – to help build a skate park in Bangalore, India.

Levi’s looked to help make the Holy Stoked skate park, which is a collaborative effort that included local skaters, pros and even construction specialists from Germany, a reality and flew in the various experts and pro skaters. This also coincides with Levi’s launch of the First Global Skateboarding Collection. Video after the jump

Finding Zen(sorium) Through Tinké

Zensorium-TinkéThe iPhone can help users reach their inner peace thanks to the Tinké with Lightning connector. This uses optical sensing technologies to capture blood volume changes and quantifies the user’s fitness and relaxation levels into indexes for easy comparison.

The Vita Index can help users keep track of fitness levels, even during times when not engaged in physical activity. At rest the Tinké can be used to measure, monitor and trend heart rate, respiration rate and even blood oxygen level; while the Zen mode can be helpful for practicing mindful breathing to energize and calm oneself during stressful situations.

Built for today’s fast paced lifestyle, Tinké’s Zen measurement enables users to breathe better and measure your level of relaxation at the end of a 60-second practice.

Plug in, tune in and peace out.

Zensorium Tinké Official Website

Biosensor in a Tattoo

biosensorMany athletes sport tattoos these days, and other than looking good (or stupid depending on your point of view) that “art” only goes skin deep and truly doesn’t do much. However, a new study conducted by a team led by the University of California, San Diego’s Prof. Joseph Wang has created a flexible electrochemical biosensor that looks much like a “tat.”

Unlike other tattoos that merely are ink, this one is actually a flexible electrochemical biosensor, and when applied to the skin the sensor can be used to continuously measure lactate levels in the athlete’s sweat. It can thus tell when an athlete is about to “hit the wall.”

That’s a lot more than most tattoos can do, and best of all it can be removed post-workout or game.

[Via American Chemical Society: First human tests of new biosensor that warns when athletes are about to ‘hit the wall’]

Weekend Reading List (08.03.2013): Serrota Off the Road, Be the Coach, Hawk and Games

Serrota Off the Road

Serotta

From Bicycle Retailer: Serotta lays off 40% of workforce, planning shutdown
Serotta has laid off 40 percent of its workforce and is planning to shut down production in the next two weeks, CEO Bill Watkins told BRAIN on Wednesday. Continue reading Weekend Reading List (08.03.2013): Serrota Off the Road, Be the Coach, Hawk and Games

Zumba Kids are Alright

Zumba-KidsMajesco Entertainment’s popular Zumba Fitness video game franchise keeps on going, and this holiday the latest version will arrive for the younger crowd. Zumba Kids will arrive later this year on Kinect for Xbox 360 and the Wii, and feature a range of dance styles, creative mini-games, customization and chart-topping hits from Justin Bieber and Willow Smith. It is based on the global dance-fitness brand, but is aimed at kids aged seven to 12, providing that “exercise in disguise” gameplay. Continue reading Zumba Kids are Alright

Weekend Reading List (07.27.2013): Pure Cycling, Speed Thrills, Fat Breath, EVO-lution, ING Out

Pure Cycling

BikePure

From Bicycle Retailer: LeMond Revolution sponsors Bike Pure team
LeMond Revolution is becoming a supplier and co-title sponsor of the Australia-based anti-doping organization Bike Pure and its road racing team. Continue reading Weekend Reading List (07.27.2013): Pure Cycling, Speed Thrills, Fat Breath, EVO-lution, ING Out