Losing weight and staying fit is a goal for many. New technologies are always coming along to help us with our goals. With so many fitness gadgets on the market, the big question becomes which are good (because they can actually help you build muscle and lose weight), which are bad, and which are just plain crazy. Let's have a look at a few fitness gadgets these from each category.
The Good
The good can help you build muscle or lose weight. Some can even do both, depending on the gadget.
Nintendo Wii - If you though the Nintendo Wii gaming console was just another game machine you'd be wrong. This revolutionary game console offers some terrific fitness programs, including Cardio Boxing, Wii Fit, and Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum to name just a few. Yoga, Pilates, cardio, strength training, and sports are all just a disc away in your home. Many a couch potato has become a fitness buff since the Nintendo Wii.
Walk Vest - If you haven't heard of the walk vest, it's a heavy black vest that comes with eight pounds of weight up to sixteen pounds in the biggest vest. You increase the weight of the vest by placing weights in the pockets. It also includes a workout CD. It may not be pretty but it definitely makes your walk more effective.
IPod Shuffle - If you don't consider the iPod shuffle a fitness gadget you'd be wrong. It's a great way to take your mind off your taxing workout and keep you pushing on. After all listening to your favorite music can be energizing in itself.
The Ab Wheel - The ab wheel has you grab the handles located on each side and then you roll it along the floor as you stretch out. It's a simple idea. Whether there's any real value is debatable since the same benefit could be enjoyed from a crunch, but it may get a beginner going who might otherwise not get a great ab workout.
The Bad
While they may work, they just seem like a bad idea all around.
The Fitness Cube - The sales pitch is around how it will transform your body and take up little space in your home. It can be used as a chair, and hides a variety of accessories. Whether it's got any real value appears to be a negative, although the infomercial is pretty funny.
< br />The Perfect Pushup - If you thought the pushup was above being improved, you'd be wrong. The perfect pushup is a device with rubber bottoms and swivel handled mounts. The grip rotation lets you take your pushup to a new level. The question is whether there's any real fitness value and the answer is no.
The Crazy
What fun would it be if we didn't mention a couple of the crazy fitness ideas that have come to be.
iGallop - The iGallop is designed to simulate a horseback ride, working the thighs, lower back, and abdomen. That said Pilates are a much better workout.
Shake Weight - The object to Shake Weight is to have inertia tighten and tone your arms using vibration. Whether it works or not is really unknown but logic would say no. It is however one of the craziest devices we've seen.
There you have it. The good, the bad, and the crazy. It would seem that while fitness gadgets can certainly help build muscle and lose weight, they can also do nothing. Before wasting your money on something you won't use--or that will break the first time you try it--it's important to do some research. Read reviews online and follow your favorite health and fitness blogs. If you choose your fitness gadgets carefully, you might have a tool that can help you reach your goals; if you don't choose carefully, you'll just end up with more clutter that will end up in the garage.
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