Fitness

Obesity is a growing problem in the U.S. Just this week, researchers at the American Heart Association projected that by 2020, the vast majority of Americans will be overweight or obese, with more than half of the country either diabetic or pre-diabetic.

Amidst all the bad news, however, researchers at Johns Hopkins University are offering a small ray of light. Their recent study on telephone counseling by health coaches finds it to be just as effective a means of losing weight as more traditional in-person programs.

That's particularly important because in-person programs are, by nature, more time-consuming and … Read more

Do you hurt everywhere? Can't find any lasting solutions? Before you start popping pills, consider a little talk therapy--by telephone.

Chronic widespread pain, a condition called fibromyalgia, affects as many as 1 in 10 Americans, and is notoriously tricky (and expensive) to manage.

In the first six months following diagnosis, it costs on average $3,481 for medications, consultations, tests, and emergency room visits, according to researchers at the University of Aberdeen and the University of Manchester, both in the U.K.

So the researchers decided to investigate two less expensive alternatives: exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy (by phone).… Read more

With many of us spending more than 40 hours per week at work, you might be having a hard time fitting exercise into your daily routine, but a company called Revo Innovations thinks it has the solution with a contraption called the FitDesk.

The FitDesk is a foldable stationary bike that brings the gym to your office. Instead of traditional handlebars, the bike features a padded deck, where you can place your laptop and continue to work, surf the Web, or play games (in case you're not a treadmill fan), all while pedaling away the calories. Resistance controls also allow you to intensify your workouts as you pore over those Excel spreadsheets. … Read more

NEW YORK--Motorola is taking on Apple's iPod Nano with the Motoactv, an Android-based media player designed specifically for people who work out.

The company announced the new device at a press conference here Tuesday. Like the iPod Nano, the Motoactv has a touch screen roughly about 1 square inch. It has an FM radio. But it offers much more than music and radio.

It is also loaded with software that enables people to measure their heart rates and how many calories they're burning. People can map their workouts, and when they sync the device at home, the workout … Read more

In my neighborhood in Portland, Ore., the hipsters all like to ride minimalist fixed-gear bikes (aka fixies). Without a freewheel, a fixie generally requires pedaling forward to move forward and pedaling backward to brake. Brakes with wires are just so last year. Shoot, even handlebars are starting to look a tad frilly.

Good thing, then, that a team out of Saarland University in Germany has devised a wireless braking system that does away with those protruding brake levers and messy wires altogether. What's more, the mathematical calculations the team applied to determine safety--the same used in control systems for aircraft or chemical factories--deem the brake 99.999999999997 percent reliable.… Read more

If you're like me, a jog without music just drags. Visions of the proverbial gerbil on the exercise wheel penetrate the brain, and the miles go by achingly slowly. Add the right song, at the right volume, and suddenly the run becomes something akin to enjoyable.

Recognizing the value of a good workout station, Pandora today announced a new workout genre with 12 stations. And the winners are:… Read more

As anyone who has broken a bone knows, keeping up with physical therapy post-injury can be painful and annoying, and without a clear way to gauge progress, the regimen is as tempting to avoid as a bland diet.

Recent Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design graduate Pedro Nakazato Andrade hopes to keep people motivated--and thus improve recovery time--via a prototype cast that employs electromyographic sensors, which measure the electrical activity produced by a muscle when it moves.

Called "Bones," his cast prototype can keep a running tally of how much the injured area is being exercised.

The idea behind the design is rooted in the idea behind weight loss programs such as Weight Watchers: people who can track their progress using real, hard data are more likely to stay motivated and keep doing what they have been told to do.… Read more

Wearable, connected fitness monitors are a dime a dozen these days. But developers of NewYu, a monitor that will be available in September, claim they've got an edge on their competition.

The device, which is meant to clip to clothing on the torso or to a pocket, is purported to provide a more accurate view of calories burned by tracking, and differentiating between, all movements throughout the day.

In other words, NewYu knows if you've been running or walking, cooking or cleaning, shopping, or (presumably) mating...You get the idea. Actually, Van Krueger, CEO of parent company Wellcore, tells me they decided to steer clear of the "mating" category, but that it will register as low-, medium-, or high-impact aerobics, depending of course on the intensity of the, shall we say, heat of the moment.

Krueger says the fitness monitor is able to differentiate among activities by using advanced pattern recognition technology. This works much the way voice recognition does;… Read more

Some 24 hours into her journey from Cuba to Florida, distance swimmer Diana Nyad is using an electronic shark repellent in her attempt to break the world record for swimming the longest distance without a shark cage. The record is so tough it has been held for 32 years--by her, when she swam 102.5 miles from the Bahamas to Key Florida in 1979.

Everything about the swim is impressive. For starters, Nyad is 61. And then there's the fact that she didn't swim a single stroke for 31 of the past 32 years. Now she is … Read more