The folks over at Apartment Therapy have rounded up nine stylish fitness- and sports-related products that look sleek enough to stand alone as furniture, even if you never actually use them.
As someone who has used one of the products, the Technogym VISIOWEB, I can attest it works as well as it looks. With its large 19-inch display that does TV and iPod/iPhone connectivity, this is one piece of exercise equipment that I absolutely drool over.
[Via Apartment Therapy: Resolution: Admire Good Design … And Workout More]
We’ve all heard the old saying “reduce, reuse, recycle.” Not everything can be as easy and throwing a can in the blue bin or reusing a paper bag. Frankly, not everything can even be reused or recycled practical manner. Take an old bicycle inner tube for instance: while it can be used as a tie down strap or to hang tools in the garage, it isn’t really practical, so most of us just chuck them in the trash. Green Guru of Boulder, Colorado is changing the way we think of trash and they are reusing old bicycle inner tubes and neoprene wet suits in their product line. 
This past December saw record smartphone sales, and some of you may be getting used to this new gadget in your pocket and the features it offers. There are a number of music options for these phones and countless apps to track your walk or run. But do you want to be hassled with carrying this device in your hand, or worse see that expensive new phone in pieces after you drop it? A running belt from iFitness may just be what you need to safely and securely carry your new iPhone or Android phone with you while out on your walk or run. 
This past holiday season saw a record number of smartphones and tablets sold, but this has some people worried in the bicycle industry. Amazon.com has released an app that allows people to visit a brick and mortar bike shop, take up an employee’s time to be fitted, scan the bar code and immediately order the product from Amazon – presumably at a discount. In response, Mike Sinyard, President and Founder of Specialized Bicycle Components, has sent out a letter to its dealer highlighting this new app and Amazon’s plunge into the bicycle market. 
If you have a threadless headset on your bike, you have John Rader and Dia Compe Japan to thank. After meeting at the 1990 Mountain Bike World Championship held in Durango, CO, Dia Compe became the exclusive licensee of the threadless headset system known as the Aheadset. A few years later, Dia Compe USA became a separate entity. In 1996, the North Carolina based company launched the Cane Creek brand alongside with the Dia Compe USA name. Most of the Cane Creek threadless headsets are manufactured overseas, but the top of the line model has been and is currently manufactured in America. 
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is tough country. The winters are long, cold and over 200-inches of snow can fall in a year. Not only are the winters long, but the days are short at a mere eight hours. The area was heavily settled by immigrants from Nordic countries so it is no surprise that residents of the Upper Peninsula (Yoopers) have a great affection for winter sports. The website 
There’s no shortage of fitness- and health-related apps for smart phones like the iPhone and those based on Android, but we could soon see apps that are approved by the U.S. federal government.
It is almost Christmas and if you are a typical male you might be aimlessly wandering through the stores trying to cross names off of your shopping list. The outdoor industry has no shortage of products that make outrageous claims and when the pressure is on to make a decision, you are left with recommendations from the sales staff or what is printed on the side of the box. If one of those names on your list likes to spend their free time hiking, biking, climbing, fishing, boating, snowmobiling or any other activity in the great outdoors or on the high seas miles from civilization, the line of SPOT messaging devices might be for them. 
A few weeks ago we wrote about the release of a series of 
Seattleites no longer have an excuse for skipping the gym. Fitropolis, a new fitness-oriented website, is looking to become the TripAdvisor of Seattle gyms cataloging every health club the city has to offer. The website is the brain child of Troy Kaser and Jenne Pierce, both former Expedia execs who are now turning their attention toward fitness. The site has over 250 profiles of Seattle fitness providers from big box gyms like LA Fitness and Gold’s Gym to local class offerings like Rock Body Boot Camp. Gyms, studios, and classes are all searchable by address, zip code or neighborhood. Searches can be as generic as “gyms in downtown Seattle” or as detailed as “gyms with pools and prenatal yoga.”