fitness

Sensoria smart socks may do more than help you run better

A slew of fancy pedometers has hit the market in recent years, capturing a range of data to help people know how many steps they've taken, how far they've gone, how many calories they've burned, and even one's sleep quality.

Well move over Fitbits and Omrons, because a new kid is moving to the block. Redmond, Wash.-based startup Heapsylon is launching an $87,000 crowdfunding campaign

today on Indiegogo to wrap up product development and manufacturing of its highly anticipated Sensoria Fitness system, replete with smart socks, electronic anklet, and virtual coach mobile app.

… Read more

My life with the BodyMedia Fit activity tracker

Time to assess the last of the four activity trackers I've been living with for over two months, the BodyMedia Fit.

If you're serious about tracking every calorie burned as accurately as possible, this makes the other trackers look like toys. But it's also the least comfortable to wear, and monthly subscription fees may also put some off.

BodyMedia sells two versions of the Fit. The "Core" version for $120 lacks Bluetooth and so can't talk directly to apps on your iPhone or Android device. The "Link" version sells for $150 and … Read more

Review: Fit Radio provides numerous thematic radio stations for your workout

Fit Radio takes one of the more popular features of other radio curation services and builds an entire app around it. The result is a stripped-down music discovery and radio app that works perfectly for those who are heading to the gym and don't already have their own playlists.

The purpose of Fit Radio is to create and curate playlists of songs that are perfect for anyone going to the gym or working out at home. It combines a number of features in terms of DJ-supported playlists and custom songs to give you a choice among dozens of possible … Read more

Meet the advanced Basis Band fitness gadget

The $199 Basis Band from Basis Science puts a new spin on the personal health monitor. Like many similar products on the market, such as the Jawbone Up, Nike FuelBand, and Fitbit Flex, this watch-style gadget functions as a pedometer to track steps and basic activity level. Additionally the Basis can measure how long and how well you sleep, a trick both the Up and Flex manage as well. What really sets the Basis Band apart from other fitness devices is that it also keeps an eye on heart rate, skin temperature, and perspiration. The gadget can use several criteria … Read more

Meet Fitwall, where tech and elite fitness get off the ground

Beautiful, active people with overflowing pocketbooks make La Jolla, Calif., a San Diego beach town, the perfect place for an upscale fitness craze to take hold.

At least that's the gamble Josh Weinstein and his three business partners are making with Fitwall, a branded fitness studio where members strap on heart rate monitors, find their assigned Fitwall, and monitor their workout exertion with an attached iPad.

The Fitwall studio in La Jolla, which opened to the public this week, is the first of 100 technology-driven fitness studios that founders Weinstein, Doug Brendle, Ethan Penner, and Anthony Westreich plan to … Read more

Honda heats up EV battle with reduced lease price

Tesla may have muddied the waters when it used tortured logic and financing agreements to come up with a $500-per-month price for the Model S, but Honda sets out to clear things up with its own simple lease plan for the Fit EV. The company announced today that it would offer its Fit EV for $259 per month on a three-year lease with no down payment, unlimited miles, and included insurance coverage.

When Honda introduced the Fit EV last year, it offered similar lease terms at a price of $389 per month. Along with the new, reduced price, Honda is … Read more

Get a SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8GB MP3 player for $19.99

Is there still a place in the world for the lowly MP3 player? Absolutely there is. It's a great companion for the gym, the hiking trail, the 5K you're training for, and so on.

And for 20 bucks? How can you go wrong? Today only, and while supplies last, DealFisher has the refurbished SanDisk Sansa Fuze+ 8GB MP3 player for $19.99, shipped. I'm not sure I've ever seen this particular player priced this low.

Indeed, this is not the tiny Sansa Clip you often see selling in this price range, but rather the more robust (… Read more

Fit Radio streams up-tempo tunes to motivate your workout

The more I run, the more I realize my regular playlist isn't cutting it. Even with some 150 hand-picked songs, I get bored hearing the same ones over and over. And although they're among my favorite power-pop tunes, they're quite diverse when it comes to tempo. I need songs of at least 128 beats per minute (bpm) to keep me running strong.

Enter Fit Radio, a free app (Android|iOS|Web) that streams up-tempo playlists designed to amp up your workout. It's like Songza for sprinters, or maybe Pandora for bike peddlers.

The app is divided … Read more

RunKeeper for Pebble (hands-on): What the Pebble should have been all along

When the Pebble watch unveiled its first Kickstarter videos, it seemed like a magic device. Some features, like health-tracking apps, played a major role in that perception. They haven't been available, however, until today, when RunKeeper finally updated its iOS and Android apps to support the little wearable device. It's a small moment for RunKeeper, but a big moment for Pebble.

I reviewed the Pebble smartwatch about a month ago. I was a little hard on it. Why? Because, for all the hype the Pebble watch had received, the actual device couldn't really do all that much. … Read more