This weekend KineticShift.com shares a very personal story – one that affects hundreds of millions of people around the world. Stuart Bates is one person who recently learned he has diabetes mellitus type 2, formerly known as non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes. At present there are approximately 285 million people with the disease worldwide, up from just 30 million in 1985. This shocking increase has seen a rise in parallel with obesity rates, which is thought to be the primary cause of type 2 diabetes in people who are genetically predisposed to the disease.
This metabolic disorder is characterized by high blood glucose in the context of insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. Type 2 diabetes makes up about 90 percent of cases of diabetes with the other 10 percent due primarily to diabetes mellitus type 1 and gestational diabetes. Classic symptoms are excess thirst, frequently having to urinate, and constant hunger. Long-term complications from high blood sugar can include heart attacks, strokes, diabetic retinopathy (where eye sight is affected), kidney failure (which may require dialysis), and poor circulation of limbs leading to amputations.
However, type 2 diabetes is initially managed by increasing exercise and dietary modification. If blood glucose levels are not adequately lowered by these measures, medications such as metformin or insulin may be needed. For those on insulin there is typically the requirement to routinely check blood sugar levels. Stuart’s First Hand Account after the jump
This winter’s mild weather has made for a slow ski season in many parts of the United States, but fortunately there’s a new destination winter sports aficionados can head to — Beverly Hills, CA. That’s right, the sun-drenched city know for its million-dollar celebrity mansions and fad diets is now home to SkyTechSport Ski and Fit, an indoor studio for ski and snowboard fans.
The club currently offers two ski simulators: the President Lux, an 18-foot-long ski simulator that’s paired with a 10-foot screen, and the larger Olymp simulator (pictured above), a 24-foot-long machine that’s paired with a panoramic display and 3D capability. (The facility is already looking to expand its offerings with a smaller 10-foot Leader Pro model to come later this year.) Read the rest of this entry »
The newly opened Yoga Room inside Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport (CBS/AP).
USA Today is reporting on a growing trend at U.S. airports: fitness. As an alternative to the food courts, shops, bars, and lounges for travelers stuck at airports during long layovers or for those who check in early, airports are adding fitness areas such as walking paths and yoga rooms. Airport hotels are opening up their fitness centers to travelers, as well, but for a fee. USAT also highlights the community-based website AirportGyms.com, which lists exercise options that are available around airports. Even if an airport lacks the facilities for a proper workout, there are ways to keep fit before you board your connecting flight. So, the next time you find yourself stuck in a long layover, check out what the airport might have to offer besides bad food and beer.
How important is sleep? For many the lack of quality sleep can mean being sluggish during the day, but it can make all the difference in the world between a good performance and a great performance. Now Zeo, a sleep management company, has announced that it has teamed up with Athletes’ Performance into a training program aimed at elite and professional athletes, as well as military personnel.
Zeo’s recent Sleep Like an All Star publication featured the results of a study conducted by sleep and sports expert Cheri Mah of Stanford University, which demonstrated that more sleep helped collegiate football players take 0.15 seconds off their 40-yard dash, basketball players increase their free throw shooting by 11 percent, and swimmers improve their reaction time off the starting block by 17 percent. Now the results will be seen for themselves. Read the rest of this entry »
Hey, where did everybody go? (Photo courtesy of Vagabond Shutterbug)
It’s February, we’re well into the year, and there’s no turning back. Which begs the question, how are your fitness goals coming along? Have you been going to the gym regularly since you signed up during the New Year? Have you stayed true to your resolutions? If you said no, you’re not alone. Most of us make unrealistic goals for ourselves, according to Purdue University.
It’s not rocket science: people give up on fitness because they have no goals to begin with, they make unrealistic goals, or they lack the knowledge, motivation, discipline or tools to achieve their goals without injury, according to Lane Yahiro, clinical professor and director of the A.H. Ismail Center for Health, Exercise and Nutrition at Purdue University.
Yahiro offers some very easy tips to stay focus if people wish to get fit. One, be accountable, and exercise with someone with a similar schedule to help you with accountability. “I am a firm believer in having accountability,” Yahiro said. “Having an accountability partner does wonders, especially if the partner is just as excited about exercising.”
Second, establish exercise goals that can be reachable. Yahiro says working with a personal trainer can help you create realistic goals. “Personal trainers should set up daily training session objectives that will help the client work toward reaching both short- and long-term goals. An accountability partner can also work with you in this way.” (In our experience, many personal trainers are expensive and lack the proper training. Before you work with a trainer, make sure they are certified and understand your needs.)
Third, keep track of your progress.
These aren’t bulletproof tips that will guarantee a fit body, but exercise requires motivation, so don’t set the bar too high for yourself.
FitOrbit, the online solution that provides 24/7 accessibility to certified personal trainers, is telling members to “Breathe,” by launching its new logging and tracking experience. “Breathe” offers users the ability to select meals and workouts online, and with a click of the mouse it lets the trainer know what you’ve accomplished for the day. This online tracking also allows for a “quick add” with an intelligent algorithm that identifies what users are looking for, and even remembers preferences and favorites.
FitOrbit’s “Breathe” allows users to talk to their trainer anytime and anyway, without even having log onto the Website, as it now offers an email app that can be used with mobile phones. Sounds like a breath of fresh air! Press release after the jump
A shirt can arguably “look smart” but now a team of engineering and graphic design students from Northeastern University has used their collective brain power to develop a truly smart shirt. The SQUID is in essence a wired shirt that can track and monitor muscle output and efficiency during workouts.
Working with an Android app, and connected to an interactive website, the shirt can track biofeedback and monitor a workout in real-time. While heart rate monitors and other devices can track results, such as calories burned and heart rate, this shirt can also track muscles during a workout, which in turn can help wearers fine tune their workouts and possibly even correct the form as necessary. About the only thing it seems that technology can’t do at this point is workout for you!
There is no arguing that Apple is a very competitive company, and hardcore Apple users could be considered also a bit competitive, so it is no surprise that last week it was reported that Apple is developing a new fitness technology that could be the biggest thing in competitive workouts since the first time some guy yelled “bring it.”
According to online reports, Apple outlined details in a patent filing dated from October that suggests the company is looking to create a head-to-head tracking system that could allow for real-time competition in workouts. For example two runners could wirelessly sync their respective devices – such as two iPods – together and go for a run, tracking each other’s pace, distance, heart rate, blood pressure and even calories burned. Imagine the possibility for digital bragging rights – “my heart rate was so much stronger than yours and I burned way more calories!”
Welcome to the Weekend Reading List. We moved the list to Saturday to give our loyal readers something new for the weekend, and as a way to catch up on stories that they might have missed. This week we being with Sh*t Barefoot Runners Say (video above).
We’ve seen all sorts of gizmos and gadgets that could be attached to a bicycle, including ways to power your mobile phone while you go the distance. But what if you need to juice up the handset yet have nowhere to go?
One solution is the new Power Box, a pedal powered generator, from K-Tor, which won a CES Innovations Design & Engineering Showcase Honor back in 2011. The new device allows users to pedal as they would on a bike to charge devices that require 20W and less. While it won’t offer as much of a workout as actually going for a ride, it could be more practical than those treadmill or bicycle desks that we’ve seen. This could be something put under a desk or table and basically turn a little burn into energy for the phone.
K-Tor also has introduced the Pocket Socket Hand Crank Generator, which as the name suggests is a hand crank that can power devices. The video below sums up this new product very well. Video after the jump
If you are an avid reader of KineticShift, you know we love our gadgets. With the newest GPS ‘this’ and latest fitness tracking app ‘that’ always being showcased, it might seem that technology is the only thing that motivates us to stay fit; but sometimes it is something as simple as taking our friend’s dog on a snowshoeing adventure that gets us motivated for a workout in the snow. We can dress for the cold and add layers as needed, but not all dogs are properly equipped to handle temperatures well below the freezing point with just their fur coat. This is where LoneWolf Dogwear comes to the rescue and offers custom dog clothing to help keep your four-legged friend warm in the snow.
LoneWolf Dogwear, based in New Ulm, Minnesota, is a company that manufactures a line of products exactly as the name implies – garments for canines. They manufacture dog clothing to keep your pooch warm, dry and/or highly visible. LoneWolf Dogwear knows that not all dogs are created the same and that the only way to produce a properly fitted garment is to custom manufacture them one by one, so each garment is made ‘to order‘. With each garment being made to order, it only make sense that they are all made in America to guarantee the quickest possible turn around times. Read the rest of this entry »
Feel the burn, that’s one way to know you’re doing it right. But Nike has another idea – the company has introduced the FuelBand, a wristband device that is designed to measure daily movements of the wearer, tracking steps taken and calories burned. But the device also features the NikeFuel, a fitness metric that utilizes the rate of oxygen consumption and motion.
The device is meant to be something that most people wouldn’t even notice most of the time – much like a Livestrong wrist band or similar decorative wear. But this one actually tracks what you do, and can provide data to the wearer in the way of LED lights that go from red to yellow to green based on your activity goals. Red doesn’t mean stop however, but is there to tell the wearer to step it up while green indicates an active day. And not all the movement can be tracked, notably for use on a bike – or even mowing the lawn – where the hands aren’t in motion, but it still could be a good device to track those “background activities.” Read the rest of this entry »
Kettlebell workout is one that’s been on a low boil for a few years. It has the makings of a trendy workout, but remains primarily among insiders. Perhaps that’s because as much good as kettelbells are for toning muscles, the wrists take a beating.
This weekend KineticShift.com shares a very personal story – one that affects hundreds of millions of people around the world. Stuart Bates is one person who recently learned he has diabetes mellitus type 2, formerly known as non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes. At present there are approximately 285 million people with the disease worldwide, up from just 30 million in 1985. This shocking increase has seen a rise in parallel with obesity rates, which is thought to be the primary cause of type 2 diabetes in people who are genetically predisposed to the disease.
How important is sleep? For many the lack of quality sleep can mean being sluggish during the day, but it can make all the difference in the world between a good performance and a great performance. Now Zeo, a sleep management company, has announced that it has teamed up with Athletes’ Performance into a training program aimed at elite and professional athletes, as well as military personnel.
FitOrbit, the online solution that provides 24/7 accessibility to certified personal trainers, is telling members to “Breathe,” by launching its new logging and tracking experience. “Breathe” offers users the ability to select meals and workouts online, and with a click of the mouse it lets the trainer know what you’ve accomplished for the day. This online tracking also allows for a “quick add” with an intelligent algorithm that identifies what users are looking for, and even remembers preferences and favorites.
A shirt can arguably “look smart” but now a team of engineering and graphic design students from Northeastern University has used their collective brain power to develop a truly smart shirt. The SQUID is in essence a wired shirt that can track and monitor muscle output and efficiency during workouts.
There is no arguing that Apple is a very competitive company, and hardcore Apple users could be considered also a bit competitive, so it is no surprise that last week it was reported that Apple is developing a new fitness technology that could be the biggest thing in competitive workouts since the first time some guy yelled “bring it.”
If you are an avid reader of KineticShift, you know we love our gadgets. With the newest GPS ‘this’ and latest fitness tracking app ‘that’ always being showcased, it might seem that technology is the only thing that motivates us to stay fit; but sometimes it is something as simple as taking our friend’s dog on a snowshoeing adventure that gets us motivated for a workout in the snow. We can dress for the cold and add layers as needed, but not all dogs are properly equipped to handle temperatures well below the freezing point with just their fur coat. This is where LoneWolf Dogwear comes to the rescue and offers custom dog clothing to help keep your four-legged friend warm in the snow.
Feel the burn, that’s one way to know you’re doing it right. But Nike has another idea – the company has introduced the FuelBand, a wristband device that is designed to measure daily movements of the wearer, tracking steps taken and calories burned. But the device also features the NikeFuel, a fitness metric that utilizes the rate of oxygen consumption and motion.
