Love it or hate it, cardio workouts are a must if you’re trying to tone up or lose weight. But if you’re like most people, the thought of spending 30 minutes on a treadmill is a motivation zapper. Fortunately for iPhone users, there’s an app that can help.

Created by Beau Taillefer, Forumla 55 ($4.99) is an iOS-based app designed to keep your cardio sessions fresh by pushing you out of your comfort zone. Formula 55 workouts incorporate squats, sprints, hills, and more to ensure you never get stuck in a cardio rut. Just plug in your measurements, select your goals, and the app automatically does the rest.

The app also lets you import playlists so you always workout to your favorite tunes, and once you’re done you can blast your workouts through cyber space thanks to the app’s built-in Facebook integration.

Formula 55
[via ABC Action News: Group of amateur athletes get ripped using unique app]

Now, those things don’t exactly sound like the go together, and that’s probably because they don’t. At nearly $80 this is a lounge chair that is expensive and looks totally uncomfortable. As a workout device it seems to be far from sturdy, and offers routines that don’t seem practical.

Our advice, get in a run, go for a bike ride and then afterward settle into a real lounge chair instead.

Kinetic(Mis)Shift are products that we think deserve to be called out for their utter lack of fitness benefits.

Fitness guru David Miller knows that people like to take the easy way out all too often, but now he’s going to let it slide – or rather let people use his new “Slidercise” technique to help increase upper body fitness. Miller, who says he was tired of spending $110 a month on gym membership and gas, not to mention the hours it took at the gym, developed the Slidercise Training System.

The system, which includes workout DVDs, instructional charts and inspirational websites, essentially is built around pushups. We’ve seen more than a few gimmicky products, and the truth is that pushups alone probably won’t have you looking quite as ripped as Miller or the other models that you’ll see on his site, but this does seem like it would offer some true variation to the traditional pushups. Of course it might take time to build up to the 30 minute, not to mention the 60 minute workouts. But the system provides something that short of an army drill sergeant would provide – and that’s some serious motivation. So in that way we think Miller is on to something.

David Miller Slidercise Official Website

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.

 Kinetic(Mis)Shift are products that we think deserve to be called out for their utter lack of fitness benefits.

“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

“There’s never been a combination of technology and passion for fitness like this before,” says Deep Silver COO Geoff Mulligan, whose company developed the game. This is as close as you’re going to get to having a personal trainer in your own home. We’re incredibly proud that Get Fit with Mel B is the first fitness title available for the PlayStation Move platform and that critics are already hailing it as the best option for getting fit with an interactive program.”

In addition to programs the game also features social networking integration so users can share their workout results and accomplishments with friends via Facebook. It is almost as good as having Mel B as a close and personal friend.

Get Fit With Mel B Official Website

The problem with many machines is that they don’t quite capture the same type of physical activity as actual rowing on water. Worse still the best rowing machines do the job, but then take up so much room that even health clubs are reluctant to utilize them. Some boats seem only slightly bigger.

WaterRower is hoping to change that with the Indo-Row Machine, an indoor rowing device that is lightweight, portable and can be stored vertically. This rower also uses a special WaterFlyWheel that was designed to emulate the dynamics of how a boat moves across water. This helps make it easer for users to row with an even technique that is nature and fluid with each stroke.

The Indo-Row will be available soon for individuals to purchase, and the price will be around $1,200. While not exactly cheap it is more affordable than moving to Boston to row on the Charles River. Plus, you won’t get wet unless you count the good sweat you’re likely to get from a half hour of rowing. Best of all, while in real rowing you can’t see where you’re going, with this you can sit back, watch TV and row, row yourself to better health.

Indo-Row Official Website

While the Philips Activia is going to go head to head with the iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano and iPod Touch, it has some features that the iPod simply can’t touch. The Activa will keep track of fitness progress and while there is some musical shuffling of sorts, it actually picks songs to provide vocal feedback and plays music to match the tempo of your workout.

The device can keep track of your exercise, noting whether you’re running, rowing or even cycling. It can track your progress and motivate you through the TempoMusic. The feature analyses the music stored on the device and actually picks songs that have a tempo to match the speed of your current workout. After the workout users can also download the analysis to a PC to track progress and burn rate.

We haven’t heard about price or release date but this will be one to watch, and listen for in the coming months.

Philips Activa

[Via Laptops.co.uk: Philips Activa to compete with iPod Nano]

FitClick.com iPhone App Official Site

And price isn’t an excuse either, as the workout pack is available now for just $19.99. As with the video workout version, the Wii edition offers users the choice of cardio boxing, mixed games and step aerobics at varying levels. There are nine workouts that are also compatible with the Wii Balance Board too – but this accessory isn’t required however. The game even provides health and wellness tips from fitness spokeswoman Jessica Smith.

10 Minutes Solution for Wii is rated E for Everyone, and is recommend (by us anyway) for those gamers who can’t find the time to squeeze in a workout. Now that there is this solution, you have no excuses.

Activision official site

Anchor Bay Entertainment official site

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

Dumbbells are just not intelligent. You have to lift them, lower them, and know how to use them in order to get results. The Shake Weight is one part gimmick, one part intelligence for your workout. It’s shaped like your typical dumbbell, but has an accordion gasket on each of the weighted ends to give you Dynamic Inertia, which claims to increase muscle activity by as much as 300 percent compared to traditional weights. A Shake Weight workout is also completed in six minutes compared to half an hour of toning and sculpting.

Pick up the weight, give it a little jolt and hold it while you jiggle the Shake Weight in one of a number of positions. Hold the weight with both hands in front of you and tone your triceps, biceps, and chest. Weights come with a DVD that shows you several moves to tone your targeted areas such as your upper arms. Other workouts such as the firm — with controlled, slow movements, promised to do more for your fitness in the past. This one may also overpromise. But it’s a but welcome to see an update to the classic dumbbell.

Shake Weight