Fitness goes retro-tech with updated hula hoops. An article on Tampa Bay, Fla news site 10Connects touts a fitness version of the yesteryear fad of hula hooping. Today’s hoops are weighted with about one or two pounds, and are said to keep you slim and trim. The activity engages both your core and leg muscles. If you get enough of a spin going you may boost your heart rate to an aerobic level as well.
SuperFly hula hoops
One source, BodyHoops.com, sells SuperFly, a one pound hoop, for $15 plus $3 for each additional hoop. Many gyms, including Crunch Fitness, offer hula hoop-based workout classes. There’s examples of a few classes on YouTube.
Commitment to working out is time consuming in itself. Just suiting up can take 10 or more minutes. That’s where 10 Minute Solution, a workout game for the Wii, really shines. A pair of five-minute, routines lets you squeeze in cardio time, and even a little ab workout to boot. The Wii version takes the popular 10 Minute Solution DVDs with fitness personality Jessica Smith to an interactive level. The start menu lets you select activities such as cardio boxing, step routines, and mixed games to get you into condition. Each program lasts five minutes, and the benefit of the Wii over the DVD version is the routines are anything but. The instructor selects moves dynamically rather than a practiced routine so it doesn’t get old.
Step things up with the Wii Balance Board to get you more active. The peripheral is not required, but gives you a platform to step on. Without the board the 10 Minute Solution doesn’t score on certain woukouts, but you’re in it for the cardio benefits, not a bunch of numbers. The Wii version also contains an ab workout, which is video taken from the DVD series and is talked about as a bonus. 10 Minute Solution for Wii has enough activity to get you in shape. The 10-minute workouts let you squeeze time in around your busy schedule, or between your kid’s game of Mario. Available at the end of May for a budget price of $19.99, a special bundle with one-pound weighted gloves will be available only at Costco in June.
Snowboard teams will be using WAVE (Whole-body Advanced Vibration Exercise) technology. While it has the promise of something you’d expect to hear in a late-nite infomercial “by working out on a WAVE platform only 15 minutes a day, three times per week, users will see benefits including strength gains, increased circulation, flexibility,” etc., we say if it is good enough for those hoping for gold in Vancouver it must be good for everyone else!
More importantly, unlike those fly-by-night gimmicks, this technology is actually being used by wellness centers, universities and even in rehabilitation centers as well as fitness studios and spas. Whatever works to win gold and warm up for the big day.
What does a turntable, a bar, and a padded cushion do for your fitness? If it’s the Frank Sepe Fitness Disc, it provides cardio and strength training, and maybe even some toning to your core. The system’s foundation rests on its turntable. Not unlike the lazy susan you might have in your kitchen cabinet. This one is much stronger, with the capacity to hold up to 300 pounds. Stand on the turntable and twist back and forth for the foundation of your workout. To aid in resistance training, the Fitness Disc also comes with a bar that is weighted at 4 pounds, and can be separated into two- two pound batons. The bars count as part of the Fitness Disc workout, but also aid in balance while twisting.
It’s not just a twist, it’s said there’s over 100 exercises you can do with the Disc, and there’s four DVDs included in the box, along with a padded disc that you can use for floor work such as crunches. The Fitness Disc, like many home workout equipment, is gimmicky. This one just may have some strength in that it’s a low impact cardio and strength workout. A quick demo with Frank Sepe showed what you can do with the bar, and got our heart rates up. We look forward to spending a little more time with the Fitness Disc at home to try its effectiveness.
Frank Sepe Fitness Disc the Premier Workout System information page
Frank Sepe Fitness Disc the Premier Workout System product page on Home Shopping Network
