‘No Shoes, No Entry’ – Not with Adidas!

Summer is ending, and the days of going barefoot will soon give way to snow boots and parkas. That might be a stretch, but it is certainly going to be shoe weather soon. But now Adidas has a way to drag out the feeling of going barefoot with a new shoe – the adipure Trainer.

What makes this new offering from Adidas unique is that it is not designed for running, it is designed for use at the gym. The adipure Trainer promotes the ’natural movement’ of the body by harnessing the natural mechanics of your own body and uses that to strengthen the muscles, build balance and promote dexterity.

“A lot of engineering went into making your foot a high performance machine,” said Mark Verstegen, founder of Athletes’ Performance. “To achieve your full potential during a workout, focus on how your foot interacts with the ground in the same way you think about how your hand interacts with a ball or a bat. Using your foot’s natural power and movement will help you strengthen muscles you never knew you had in your feet, lower legs and throughout your core.”

(Video after the jump) Continue reading ‘No Shoes, No Entry’ – Not with Adidas!

Sound Protection

The sport of shooting requires that safety is addressed at absolutely all times, and this doesn’t just include gun safety in handling a firearm, but also in ensuring that proper protection is utilized for the eyes and ears. The problem is that many products that are offered to help protect the ears are uncomfortable, hot and just not effective. If sound is too greatly reduced, safety is an issue as shooters can’t hear their surroundings.

However, Starkey Laboratories has created a new in-ear protection that makes use of the same noise reduction technology found in quality headphones. The SoundGear by LaPierre provides electronic hearing protection in a instant fit device. It features digital processing to allow wearers to experience lower noise levels, with less feedback and yet have the ability to tune into the surroundings while protecting their hearing. It provides both sound enhancement and hearing protection in a single device. Continue reading Sound Protection

Smart Egg or Just Cracked Idea?

To prepare for the recently concluded USA Pro Cycling Challenge many European riders arrived days, even weeks prior to the big event to acclimate to the altitude. But what do you do if you are already at sea level, and can’t spend days in the mountains but still want the benefits of altitude training? You could climb into a really expensive egg.

According to reports from The Wall Street Journal, and now making rounds throughout the blogosphere, tennis star Novak Djokovic uses a special CVAC Pod every single day. He climbs into the egg-shaped pod, which sorts of evokes memories of Lady Gaga’s arrival at the Grammy Awards earlier this year, but whereas her egg was just for show, Djokovic’s $75,000 device – which is just one of only 20 in the entire world – is meant to compress the body’s muscles by using computer-controlled valve and vacuum pump to simulate being at high altitudes. Basically it is akin to a trip to the mountains without the need to be stuck in a tight and extremely uncomfortable airplane seat breathing recycled bad air.

On second thought, it seems the device is actually just like being on a coach airline seat, something Djokovic probably hasn’t had to endure in years. But the difference is he only has to spend 20 minutes at a time, and just three times a week – although reports suggest the tennis star is in the egg daily. All things considered it does seem to be more of a compression rather than decompression device, but if it helps his game he might prove to be one smart egg.

[Via Wall Street Journal: Novak Djokovic’s Secret: Sitting in a Pressurized Egg]

Nike Golf Goes for the Dunk

Nike Dunk Golf Mens

We normally think of Nike’s basketball shows when we think of “dunk,” but Nike Golf is unveiling its latest Nike Dunk (NG) Golf shoe, which will make the rounds on the PGA Tour this fall, and will be available to golfers starting in the New Year.

The shoes do have a link to the court, not the greens. The original Nike Dunk was created as a basketball shoe in 1985. After it was introduced to the world, the Nike Dunk started a commotion when basketball teams began wearing them to match their uniforms. The shoes caught on, and have and Dunks have become the prized shoes for sneakerheads as well as fashion statements for anyone looking to add vintage style to their shoe collection. Nike even kept original Nike Dunk shoes that were created 25 years ago, to ensure that the Nike Dunk NG feels just the same as the Dunks that people have grown to love. And as the shoes move from the courts to the fairways, Nike ensures that these will do so without compromising performance for golf. Continue reading Nike Golf Goes for the Dunk

Sproing Into a Lower Impact Workout

If you love running on the beach, but don’t have a beach right out of the door you don’t have to settle for running on a regular treadmill to get that same style of soft on the feet running. Occupying just a little more space than a commercial grade treadmill, Sproing is a new soft platform training machine that promises a lower impact ‘run’ while burning more calories and providing a more intense workout. It is thus ideal for anyone who suffers from consent knee pain that might otherwise also keep you from running.

Though the Sproing appears to be a treadmill at first glance, this new machine has no moving parts. Instead, Sproing has a soft pad ‘running’ surface and uses bungee resistance instead of a moving platform to hold the user in place. The resistance of running against the bungee forces you to run on the balls of your feet instead of landing on your heels; and with no moving platform, the risk of falling off of the platform is virtually eliminated.

(Video after the jump) Continue reading Sproing Into a Lower Impact Workout

Burn Calories, Make Electricity

SportsArt Fitness, a designer and manufacturer of cardiovascular and strength equipment for home and commercial use, has a machine that will let you burn calories while making electricity in the process.

The SportsArt Fitness S770 Pinnacle Trainer continues the “greening-up” of exercise equipment, by producing its own power to run the machine for exercising at a gym or at home.

The S770 features include a self-generating design that requires no outside power to operate. The machine features forward/backward and medial/lateral motion, which can improve core stability and balance and engages multiple muscle groups, also produces electricity to power it, including a heart rate monitor.

Here is a device that is good for the heart and good on the wallet as it won’t cost anything to run it.

SportsArt Fitness Official Website

Made in America: Paragon Machine Works

Paragon Machine Works is a name that may not be familiar to you, but one of their products might be right in your garage. Machined from aluminum, steel, stainless steel and titanium, Paragon Machine Works manufactures and stocks precision made components for bicycle frame builders. They stock the largest variety of titanium bicycle frame building components in the world, plus they offer design development and high volume manufacturing capabilities allowing them to offer competitive pricing.

Founded in 1983 by Mark Norstad, Paragon Machine Works had its humble beginnings in the Marin County basement of his parent’s house with just a lathe and mill. From that basement, Paragon Machine Works has grown into a 6,000 square foot operation in Richmond, California, employing ten full and part-time employees. Continue reading Made in America: Paragon Machine Works

PVC-’free’dom While Kayaking

Most outdoor enthusiasts are knowledgeable and sensitive to the impact that plastics can have on the environment. There are a growing number of consumers and retailers that want to see products that are kinder or at least more benign to Mother Mature. This comes down to a reduction of key plastics and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) is one of those materials on the hit list.

While PVC is still used in many applications, Innova Kayak of Burlington, Washington is starting to release PVC-free inflatable products.

These include the Swing I and Swing II, which are designed to meet the PVC-free standards that progressive dealers and consumers demand, while still offering the performance benefits of a decked boat.

The result is one that weighs less than half that of many comparable hard shell boats; where the 10-foot, 6-inch Swing I tips the scales at 22 pounds and the 13-foot Swing II, a double, is 26 pounds. Continue reading PVC-’free’dom While Kayaking

Get a Grip

Having a good grip on a firearm is not only better for comfort, but also safer. With older, and more favored firearms this can be an issue as owners might not want to make cosmetic changes, or risk damage. But now gun owners can get a grip, as in the Tuff 1 Grip Covers, which are made of highly-elastic and robust rubberized material imprinted with a variety of unique patterns that provide just the right amount of hand grip traction.

The Tuff 1 grip Covers can easily be fitted to revolvers, semi-auto handguns, molded grips and even AR and AK rifles and shotguns. These come in a one size fits all, and are made of a proprietary formulated rubberized material that has incredible stretch (up to 200 percent) and shape retention and will not alter the shape of the firearm’s grips. The grips also will help reduce recoil as well. They roll on like a pair of socks, and roll off the same.

The grips further provide a bit of individuality too, featuring multiple surface patterns, including boa snake, double cross and a skull and cross; and are available in black, olive drab, desert tan even hot pink. These are made in the U.S.A., and have a limited lifetime warranty. Not bad for $14.95. So now you just need to get a grip.

Tuff1Grips Official Website

GoPro HERO HD Covers Up

Super heroes tend to put on a “disguise” if you will, a cap, a mask or some other sort of cover to hide their identity, and in some cases even provide a little protection. Now another HERO is getting the covered up treatment, and this time it’s in HD. The GoPro HERO HD, which is that camera that can mount to a helmet or handle bar and capture those moments of triumphs (and hoping no one’s final moments trying something truly dare devil worthy), now has the new Hooded Silicone Cover that protects the housing from scratches and impacts, but also helps with battery life in cold conditions.

The cover, which is available in a variety of bright colors, can stretch over HERO HD, while leaving the lens and LCD screen unobstructed. It is available now for $29.99 with opening for LCD screen; or $19.99 for those without the LCD option. Continue reading GoPro HERO HD Covers Up

Keeping the Creepy Crawlies at Bay

After a long hike or day on the bike making it to your campsite, the last thing you want to do is fight off the bugs while relaxing. Dousing yourself in ‘deet’ is a solution, but there is a family owned company in Tucson, Arizona who has come up with a different solution. The Hammock Bliss company has recently announced a new product to keep the bugs at bay while relaxing in your hammock – the Sky Tent.

The new Sky Tent, is as the name implies, a tent that is elevated off of the ground, and turns a properly sized hammock into a cocoon protecting you from bugs while providing room for your gear and sheltering you from the rain. The netting used in the Sky Tent has 2,100 holes per square inch which keeps the smallest of bugs out along, while reducing “the chilling effect of the wind.” The coated rain fly is constructed of oversized 75 denier polyurethane providing complete protection from the rain for your hammock and your gear.

Along with the bug screen and rain fly, the Sky Tent, which is available for $119.95 in blue or black, includes and attached waterproof stuff sack for storage and easy access to your “sky space” with YKK double pull zippers. 80-inches of 6mm climbing rope per side to is included to hang the Sky Tent and 100-inches of cord at four corners secures rain fly to the ground.

The Sky Tent is measures in inches 138x73x43 and weighs only 45 ounces. You will need to supply your own hammock which Hammock Bliss, as you probably guessed, also sells and can be ordered online at the same time the Sky Tent is ordered directly from them. If you love the freedom of hanging on a hammock, let the Sky Tent keep you from bugging out of your next hiking trip!

Hammock Bliss Official Website

Is Plywood the Next Big Bicycle Material?

Bonobo Bicycle

This year we’ve seen bikes that have simulated wood grain and even bikes made of bamboo in a variety of form factors. Now words comes that a couple of manufacturers are working with plywood, a very odd choice for frame building at first thought, but isn’t plywood technically a composite material?

Well, it isn’t carbon fiber but plywood has advantages in that it is strong, can be made into shapes that typical wood boards can’t, and it has a springiness as well. Polish designer Stanislaw Poloski has created a one-of-a-kind bike called the Bonobo, which is made of curved, laminated layers of plywood. The bike, which weighs about 16 kilograms, is fitted with a single-speed drivetrain and disc brakes. Continue reading Is Plywood the Next Big Bicycle Material?

The FDA to Regulate Apps

If you have a pulse and are familiar with Apple’s iPhone, you’ve heard the slogan “there’s an app for that.” With the number of apps exceeding 350,000 for just the iPhone and iPod Touch iOS platform, and ten of thousands of apps for the Android, BlackBerry and other smartphones, there are countless medical apps available. And just like Apple’s well known modern slogan, there is also another phase which is much older, scientia potentia est or “knowledge is power” – this is the phase that worries the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA is now proposing guidelines to regulate a small number of medical apps and oversee those that they deem could be dangerous to the general public if the information presented is wrong. All of these apps are medical related and will only be regulated if the information presented could put an individual at risk if the apps does not work as intended.

The policy advisor to the FDA, Bakul Patel, states that some of the apps have a simple goal of helping consumers manage their own health and wellness, for example the National Institutes of Health’s LactMed app, which gives nursing mothers information about the effects of medicines on breast milk and nursing infants. While there are other apps help health care providers improve and facilitate patient care – the Radiation Emergency Medical Management (REMM) app gives health care providers guidance on diagnosing and treating radiation injuries. Continue reading The FDA to Regulate Apps