exercise

Shimano has begun selling a new automatic-shift bicycle gearing system--but these gears aren't for gearheads.

Instead, Shimano's Coasting system is designed for the easily daunted cyclist. The three-speed transmission works on flat or flattish terrain. It includes a built-in coaster brake--the kind where you backpedal to slow the bike--because Shimano found that a lot of people were intimidated by those crazy handlebar-mounted brake levers.

I'm not in the target market, but after a test ride I concluded the Shimano's automatic bike transmission has merit. The biggest hitch is that a bike costs $450 to $700--potentially … Read more

We generally try very hard not to think about exercise equipment when not at the gym (or even when we are at the gym, actually). But this is one fitness item that may be impossible for us to ignore.

If you've ever wondered what, exactly, your workout routine was doing for specific parts of your body, this intelligent scale from Tanita might interest you too. Far more than just indicate poundage, the new BC-545 model delivers "individual body composition readings for five body segments (each arm, each leg and the trunk area)," according to Gizmag. To get … Read more

Ever heard of Gary Small? He's the neuroscientist who wrote the The Memory Bible, the best-seller that claims to improve your memory with five mental exercises. But what if you forget what to do?

Dr. Small has an answer for that too with his "Handheld Brain And Memory Fitness Trainer," which includes the brain games necessary to execute his program. On its LCD, the memory-challenged can play games that "simultaneously exercise the left-brain (verbal memory and logical skills) and the right-brain (visual memory)." It also monitors progress automatically along the way--a good thing, because that … Read more

We almost couldn't bear to write this item because we're so sick of the image in the photo. We've spent more time staring down at the control panel of cardio machines like this than we can remember.

But Life Fitness, whose products we've become intimately familiar with, is taking a step that might lessen the agony at least slightly: It's adding touch screens that let you control your iPod without handling the device itself, according to I4U News. This may not sound like much but, if you're a regular at the gym, it could … Read more

Although it's very aptly named, we're not sure Interactive Health's iJoy Ride will primarily be used for physical fitness.

The idea is simple: You sit on it, and the $479 iJoy Ride gyrates willy-nilly like one of those mechanical coin-operated horses in front of the grocery store. Through its "pitching," "rolling," and "yawing" motions, it promises to strengthen your core muscles.

That may be true, but it's hard to believe it will strengthen your core muscles as much as laughing hysterically at the demo video will. Yes, the iJoy Ride demo video … Read more

It's usually a sign that we need to visit the gym when we start noticing items about odd and over-the-top fitness equipment. And, in this case, both categories apply.

The "Kinesis Personal," according to Cool Hunting, is a "soft gymnastics" apparatus that touts a "tri-dimensional movement system" and claims to make 200 exercise positions possible. (That's about 196 more than we need.) But we're most amused by its description as "blending seamlessly into homes," as well as offices or hotel rooms. We'd love to meet their interior designers.… Read more

If digital gaming can truly help people lose weight, as some claim, than this could be the equivalent of a personal trainer. The "Dream Machine" is a "personal simulation system powered by the computer game player's own body," according to Australian Simulation Control Systems. A better way to describe it is a cross between a game simulator and an adult version of those baby jumpers that hang from the door frame.

Either way, it's supposed to combine exercise with entertainment as you bounce and twist your way through gaming systems of any type with &… Read more

As the inevitable New Year's resolutions are almost upon us, exercise equipment makers are coming out in full force. But if there's a common thread among them--despite dubious claims of effectiveness--it's their penchant for odd designs.

The latest evidence of this trend is the "My5 Power Plate." (Is it just us, or does a weight-loss machine that includes the word "plate" in its name seem ill-advised?) But it's not just the look of this thing that bothers us; it's how it supposedly works. So far as we can tell, the basic … Read more

After having gotten suckered by more than a few infomercial exercise gadgets, we're hesitant to pay any attention to them. For one thing, we're convinced that many are marketed with planned obsolescence in mind, with a life cycle of only a few months each. But enough of our conspiracy theories (for now).

Even with all that skepticism and personal bile, we still can't resist pointing to the "Galileo Magnifico," if nothing else because of its impressive name. It also supposedly has a storied background, as described by Gadget Candy: "Developed in the Soviet Union … Read more