workouts

Pst! Hey you! Yes, you...the lazy bum in the desk chair. This is your computer talking, and I'm getting pretty stressed out over here. I could really use a vacation, ya know? The weather is getting warmer, the air is getting balmier, the birds are getting chirpier...and yet your waistline seems to keep expanding. How about this: turn me off, go outside, and hit the pavement. Or get yourself a nice gym membership. Heck, even go to the local pool or the beach. I don't care how you do it, but I want to see that … Read more

Spring is almost here, and soon we'll be showing the world much more than just our heads and hands. That means it's time to get up off the couch and start doing whatever we can to get our bods ready for summer. Need advice on that? These sites can help.

Gyminee If you're looking for a way to track your workouts and get some dietary advice, Gyminee is a great place to start.

In a matter of seconds, you'll be able to join Gyminee and start creating a workout regimen that will help you lose weight, tone your muscles, or gain strength. And you won't need to do it alone. With the help of Gyminee, you can find exercises and create a regimen from pre-configured workout routines based on your goals. Gyminee does a fine job of helping you do whatever you want.

Gyminee's tracking tools are very good. Once you sign up, you can put your weight, resting heart rate, and measurements into the system to see where you stand today. As long as you keep inputting that information on a regular basis, it will show you a detailed graph providing your progress over the term of your workout. That's easily my favorite feature because it's a great motivation tool that helps me see just how far I've come since I started exercising.

While Gyminee does a fine job with workouts and tracking, I was disappointed with its dietary advice. It does provide a detailed analysis of required calorie, fat, and protein intake to get you to your goal weight, but it doesn't do much more. It doesn't tell you what to eat and how to do it. It doesn't tell you when you should be eating. It basically tells you that you need to have a certain number of calories every day and leaves it at that. For a full-featured health improvement site, that's weak.

Gyminee boasts extra features like a forum so you can discuss health considerations, and you can make friends with others and track their progress. If you want, you can also set challenges and see how close you are to achieving those goals. Gyminee offers good features and it's worth using even though it doesn't have enough dietary information.… Read more

Looks like that iPhone or iPod Touch you bring to the gym can do more for your fitness than just make your workout more pleasurable.

iTMP Technology, an iPhone hardware and software developer, announced Friday its launch of SmHeart Link, a new device developed to bring health and fitness tracking capabilities to iPhone and iPod Touch users.

Basically, SmHeart Link is a wireless bridge that collects data from distributed health and fitness sensors such as those found in workout machines and sends it to the iPhone via Wi-Fi. Users then can make use of the data via an iPhone application … Read more

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: an MP3 player is the perfect workout companion. There's nothing like a little music to get you motivated for a sweat session. Of course, some MP3 players even take things a step further by offering other fitness-friendly extras. Such is the case with Haier America's latest Ibiza device, the Trainer. This 2GB player includes a built-in heart-rate monitor, a pedometer, a calorie counter, and a stopwatch. Really, what more could you ask for from a gym-ready gadget? How about an FM tuner, you say? Why yes, there'… Read more

Are you disappointed that your iPhone still hasn't made you sexier in the eyes of potential mates? Hey, don't give up yet. AppleInsider has unearthed a series of patent filings that seem to indicate the company is working on a new "digital lifestyle" product to help track and manage a fitness routine.

In a move that could rival Google's upcoming health initiatives, the Apple screenshots show that health information could also be shared with a user's authorized physicians.

The filings were submitted on Thursday.

The product appears to be an application that would require … Read more

It was bound to happen, wasn't it? Zander Urquhart, a personal trainer from Glasgow, has reportedly come up with an official exercise regimen based on playing the Wii.

It's not as silly as it may sound. Research has suggested that digital games can help people lose weight, and at least one blogger says he lost several pounds playing Wii Sports 30 minutes a day. According to Newlaunches, a study by Liverpool John Moores University reports that 12.2 hours of Wii playing each week can burn 1,830 calories.

We have no personal knowledge of how well it … Read more

Dance Dance Revolution may very well be the future of working out.

Case in point: the MX9 Workout Master by Motivatrix is a full-body workout machine in which sensors on a platform and in a ring above detect a user's movements and input them into a monitor. There are a variety of games, exercises and choices of music to choose from, and the display will keep track of the user's performance. Sound like a video game? Well, that's the point.

"Your body is a joystick...this is a way to take those Nintendo kids and give … Read more

If you're thinking at all about fulfilling those New Year's fitness resolutions, here's one less excuse to stay on the couch. The "Syncwear Fitness Tee" from Malachi has three strategically placed pockets: one for your Nano, one for your headphones and one for your keys, gym ID or other essentials, according to Chip Chic. It even has loops that you can thread your iPod wires through. The $34 shirt is made of the same anti-moisture polyester material found in other overpriced workout apparel--not the cheapest shirt, but if it helps keep you from having a … Read more