The Kickstand Desk is designed to function both as a stand up desk and as a desk that you can use while riding your bike mounted in a rear wheel trainer. This desk is created by cyclists who lacked the time in their busy days to get out and ride, but instead of quitting their day jobs to become a bike courier, they brought their bikes inside at work.

The Kickstand desk is constructed by hand using 2-inch square tubing for strength and weight. The desk stands 45-inches high and can raised or lowered by 6-inches using adjustable feet. The desktop measures 60-inches by 30-inches and is supported by two industrial strength sliders attached to the frame. Each of these sliders is capable of supporting 350 pounds per side and allows you to easily push the desktop 8 to 10-inches away from you to ease in the mounting and dismounting your bike.

The Kickstand Desk has a number of standard features and ranges in price from $2500 to $2750. You can choose from a recycled maple or tempered glass top and a raw steel or brushed finish 2-inch steel frame. Along with your choice of finishes, two types of footers are available – one for hard flooring and the other for soft surfaces like carpet. If those standard features do not fit your taste, the you can have your Kickstand Desk custom finished just about anyway you like.

Kickstand Furniture is planning additional accessories for their desks including stools and other bicycle-centric goods. If getting out for a ride just doesn’t fit into your busy work life, maybe the Kickstand Desk can help bring the ride to you.

Kickstand Furniture LTD Official Website

Coffee and smoke breaks – both of these are acceptable time periods during the day that employees take from an employer with no cost benefits in return. Frankly, the opposite is true. Hypertension, high blood pressure, cancer and death are all side-effects that drain our healthcare system and add increased costs to an employer’s balance sheet. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t feel just a little bit better after a stretch or walk around the block during the day and KEEN footwear thinks that getting away from your work area for just 10 minutes a day to do a little physical activity is worth making into a new ‘company’ policy.

KEEN has teamed up with Dr. Toni Yancey, author of Instant Recess: Building a Fit Nation 10 Minutes at a Time, to develop an online toolkit to help employers develop a program to take just a little time out of the day to reinvigorate and promote a healthier lifestyle for their employees through physical activity. The Recess at Work website is filled with presentation packages for introducing the concept of implementing a recess program to a management team, forms to track employee performance, lunchroom posters, score boards, workout videos and even a tool to calculate the return on the company’s investment into instituting such a program. All of the tools are designed to help a company kick-off their own ‘recess’ program and sustain one once it has been started.

As KEEN points out in their Manager Reality Check PDF from the Recess ToolKit:

Prolonged sitting increases the risk of premature death by 40%, even in lean people who exercise regularly. But by taking Recess breaks in your workplace, you can help protect employees’ physical and mental health. They’ll be more engaged, happier at work and more productive.

Implementing such a program may prove to be difficult, especially in these economic times as companies are trying to squeeze as much productivity out of their staff as possible. It is easy to say that the program only requires 10 minutes out of the day, but in reality it would probably mean 20 minutes out of the day. If you have worked in an office environment you know the staff will probably stroll of to the recess area for the first five minutes and have to use the rest room or grab a water before settling back into work after recess. The big question is does this cost in employee time outweigh the cost of a major illness or disease on a company’s health care costs.

Take heart disease alone – according to the Center of Disease Control (Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Addressing the Nation’s Leading Killers: At A Glance 2011):

Death rates alone cannot describe the burden of heart disease and stroke. In 2010, the total costs of cardiovascular diseases in the United States were estimated to be $444 billion. Treatment of these diseases accounts for about $1 of every $6 spent on health care in this country. As the U.S. population ages, the economic impact of cardiovascular diseases on our nation’s health care system will become even greater.

That is just one statement about one disease. Spend any amount of time searching the internet about healthcare costs and you will find more information than you could ever read on the topic – almost all pointing to the increase of health care costs on employees, employers and our country. A program such as the KEEN Recess at Work is not going to be the golden ticket for employers to eliminate health care costs, but it certainly is a worthwhile tool for employers investigating options to reduce these costs. As Ben Franklin quoted in his Poor Richard’s Almanack, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

KEEN Recess at Work Official Website

The game combines old-style side-scrolling action with the new genre of exercise games. The Kinect controller uses the camera and body-tracking to put the player on the screen. The player will be able to see and complete real-life combat movements, interacting with enemies and objects on the screen.

Several game modes keep Kung Fu High Impact exciting. An engaging story keeps you involved and makes it more likely you’ll keep up your sessions to stay fit. Kung Fu High Impact has survival challenges, a multiplayer mode and other challenging gameplay styles to help you test your fighting skills, burn calories and stay fit.

UTV Ignition Games
Black Bean Games

We’re sad to report that fitness guru Jack LaLanne died Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay, California. He was reported to be 96 years old.

We’d like to believe he lived to the ripe old age because of the decades he spent talking about the healthful benefits of exercise and fitness. LaLanne opened his first health spa in California in 1936, long before any fitness craze hit America. LaLanne was also one of the innovators of fitness technology, as he invented the first leg-extension machine.

Our condolences go out to his family and friends. The fitness world has lost a true icon.

One-in-three women will get cancer in her lifetime, yet nearly half of all cancer deaths could be prevented if women maintained a healthy weight through diet and regular exercise, avoided tobacco products and got recommended cancer screening tests. To support this practice, the American Cancer Society created the Choose You Movement. This initiative helps women transform their health-related lifestyles through social networking and online support.The organization plans to further promote the Choose You initiative with New Year, Choose You! to help women make, and keep, their resolutions concerning health and cancer prevention. To make New Year’s resolutions stick, women can use the Choose You Movement to turn their health-related resolutions into long-term behavior change to help them stay well and help reduce the risk of cancer.

New Year, Choose You! invites women to visit ChooseYou.com to share their health-related New Year’s resolutions and create a community of support to encourage loved ones to participate. Participation means making a Choose You Commitment, an online pledge to reach a specific, individual health goal in order to stick to their resolutions and ultimately achieve long-term behavior change. Participants can choose from different health categories including Eat Right; Get Active; Get Recommended Health Screenings; Protect Your Skin; and Quit Smoking. Participants can make a monetary pledge and ask friends and family for support in order to incentivize them to stay on track.

The American Cancer Society is offering an additional incentive for women to join New Year, Choose You! in 2011. Women who make a new Commitment via ChooseYou.com between December 27, 2010 and January 31, 2011 will be eligible to enter the “New Year, Choose You! sweepstakes for a chance to win a series of health-related prizes. One grand prize winner and a guest will win a trip for two to Los Angeles, CA to train with celebrity fitness trainer, Holly Perkins of Exercise TV. Five first prize winners will each receive a $250 gift certificate to SpaFinder.com; five second prize winners will each receive a $100 gift card to Walgreens; and 25 third prize winners will receive a Choose You water bottle.

American Cancer Society’s Choose You website.

The American Council on Exercise (ACE), a non-profit fitness certification, education and training organization, will start it’s My Body, My Life essay contest January 4, 2011. The contest is designed to uncover and share motivating stores of perseverance, hope and compassion behind people’s desire to live at a healthier weight. The contest is in conjunction with the organization’s national campaign against the obesity epidemic.To participate in the contest, individuals must submit a 500-word essay that explains the emotional and inspirational drive behind the desire to make a change through increased activity and weight loss and how that decision has changed or affected their lives. Entries will be accepted between January 4 and January 31, 2011. Two grand prize winners will each receive a cash prize of $250. Top essay submissions may be featured on the ACE website at www.acefitness.org/getfit.

For more information on the My Body, My Life Essay Contest and to submit your essay, visit www.acefitness.org/contest.

The American Council on Exercise

My Body, My Life Essay Contest

“Backed by degrees in both nutrition and fitness, Harley is the pre-eminent Hollywood trainer, responsible for some of the best celebrity bodies on stage and screen, including Katy Perry, Megan Fox, Lady Gaga and Rob Pattinson,” said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco Entertainment. “Harley’s appearances on Oprah Winfrey and Rachael Ray have helped drive the growth of his 5-Factor brand and convert millions to his distinctive nutrition and fitness program. His program is the type of holistic approach that translates perfectly into motion-based video games that let players take control of their own health in a fully interactive way.”

“I’m thrilled to be partnering with Majesco to create a ground-breaking fitness game based on the same   5-Factor program I use to train all my clients,” said Pasternak.  “I designed the program to get celebrities in top shape as quickly and efficiently as possible.  This game will give everyone access to the simple yet effective training techniques I’ve used to achieve phenomenal results for some of the best bodies in Hollywood.” 

Gamers can look to take it the fifth level in late 2011 with the official Harley Pasternak 5-Factor Fitness game.

5-Factor Fitness

Majesco Entertainment

Each one has a unique 8-digit code that is can be used to login into the GeoPalz website, which tracks the steps kids make during the day. As the users progress further in the GeoPalz virtual world they collect a “point” for every real mile they walk. These points can be redeemed for free items including hacky sacks, plush soccer balls and Frisbees. “Milestone” Awards can further be printed out and hung on the fridge or on a bedroom wall.

Advance settings with the computer world include the ability to time out after five minutes, to encourage the child to get off the computer and get outside again. Parents can add birth date, stride range for the user (from 12 to 48-inches) and even add weight so the pedometer can further calculate how much physical energy was used through the day. With the incentive of free prizes, kids might be willing to walk to school, uphill both ways just like their parents.

GeoPalz Official Website

It features eight different settings to allow users to monitor how fast they’re strolling, as well as maximum and average speeds and of course total distance. This data can be translated into calories burned as well. Just remember there is a baby in the stroller so no need to make this into a hardcore workout. Additionally, the Strollometer offers a clock – which might not sound like much, but this way users don’t have to reach into a bag for a phone or watch. And it even includes a temperature gage, so those doing the stroller can know whether a baby might need to be covered up.

The company also offers tips on getting started, provides buggy fitness tips and even offers a guide to getting up to 1.5 run as well as 5k training. In other words, it isn’t just about the stroll.

Strollometer Official Website

Students can use the Polar Active to measure and record their physical activity along, and the device can be used with PolarGoFit.com, an online service for teachers and students to monitor and track activity. The portal allows for easy documentation of activity data including daily and long-term progress as well as the ability to share reports with students, parents and school administrators. This can help encourage activity and motivate students to remain active for longer periods of time and maintain a healthy weight.

The device works as a wrist unit that students wear, and via a built-in accelerometer it can measure daily activity. As a user gets going the device tracks the activity level, and since the Polar Active is always on, it will know when a user is less active. But it can be used to track a variety of activities, including running swimming, jump rope, basketball and softball among others.

“Polar Active will forever change the ways teachers educate and students learn PE” said Jeff Padovan, President of Polar USA. “. “With the activity monitor, students exercise based on their individual fitness level, so it shifts the focus from athletic ability to personal improvement, which is key to developing positive lifelong habits around exercise.”

Given that today one in three children is consider overweight or obsess it is good to see that someone is coming up with a way for activity to be monitored in a way that can be positive without seeming intrusive.

PolarGoFit.com

Polar Active

Nor does she believe that there is good reason to fill the average home gym with a lot of gym equipment and lifting machines when the only real weight you need to lift is that of your own body. Gorsuch found a way to get the lifting in by essentially creating a brace for bodyweight training called the Power Platform.

“Bodyweight exercises don’t require weights, so they are ideal for people who can’t afford or don’t have time for the gym,” said Gorsuch. “In this economy, most people are of one of two extremes. They either have two or more jobs trying to make ends meet, or they are among the millions who are unemployed or underemployed. Bodyweight training is perfect for these people, because it’s neither expensive nor time consuming.”

This also seems like a good alternative for urban dwellers, as well as those who don’t have the desire to turn a basement or spare room into a dedicated home gym, as the Power Platform can fold up when not in use – a feature we really loved. It is also simple to use, which is also a major plus.

At $425 it isn’t the cheapest solution on the block, but it does offer a variety of workout routines and exercises. Like any “at home” solution, the key is not letting it collect dust.

The Power Platform Official Website

Smile you're on the Kinect camera for the Xbbox 360

Exercise games on the market still require you to grab or stand on a controller to get your workout in. Yourshape Fitness Evolved, just announced from Ubisoft for the Microsoft Xbox promises a much more casual yet engaging workout. Using the video and sound controls of the game console’s Kinect, you just have to make sure  you have space to move. The camera picks up your image and presents it as a polarized image or heat map-like image of you and captures all of your movements. Select cardio, toning or other activities and get to work. Yourshape Fitness turns some workouts into a game where you can kick and punch boxes that come into range. End your workout with a calming cooldown by doing Tai Chi and other relaxing exercises.

Check back all week for the latest fitness related news from the Electronic Entertainment Expo

March is National Nutrition Month, a time to look at what you eat and how you exercise.

This month is National Nutrition Month, a campaign created by the American Dietetic Association to raise awareness of our diets. It’s a time to learn to make informed food choices and reinforce your physical activity habits. This is low tech, unless you want to use the Web to research exercise, nutrition, and recipes. That’s all good. But we’re all for the diet and exercise the ADA is promoting here. So see it as a time to evaluate, and learn about what you can do to increase your fitness and overall health.

American Dietetic Association