Sports imPULSE

Winter Workouts In the Sun - Part II

Can’t afford the trip to Tahoe? Already sick of springtime? Here’s the second of our three part series on technologies to help you live out your frosty-weather fantasies

Newron Trainon 4.47 Skates

Unless you’ve got a frozen pond in your back yard, the opportunity to ice skate outdoors is limited to your local Rockefeller Center in the dead of winter. But inline skates from Newron Sport Technology  make it feel like you’re on the ice while eliminating the “roller stride” associated with normal inline options. The Newron Trainon 4.47 ($379.99) have their front two and back two wheels connected through axes that allow them to pivot in tandem. They also boast a suspension system that makes cracks or pebbles on the sidewalk a bit less dangerous for beginning skaters. Testing conducted at the University of Quebec shows the skates better replicate the exact stride used in ice skating and offer a 10% faster start than other inline options. Three different modular brackets for connecting the tandem wheels offer variety for different skill sets. A replacement chassis ($179.99) that’ll lock on to your favorite ice hockey boot is also available, meaning there’s no need to break in a new pair for summer training.

Winter Workouts In The Sun

So, you wanna play in the snow, but you live in sunny, southern Florida where it’s warm and muggy outside. While we offer no sympathy for those plagued by the monotony of perfection, it’s fair to recognize that there are limits to environmental bliss—namely, the inability to easily access winter sports. Over the next few days we will highlight three technologies that can help you live out your frosty-weather fantasies.

Flowboard

From the top, this thing looks like the skateboard you’ve been riding since fourth grade. But flip the board over and you’ll immediately notice a crazy-looking excess of wheels.  Flowboards are built with seven wheels strung along each of two curved axles. The result is a 14-wheel ride that allows up to 45 degrees of carving—in other words, the rush of a snowboard ride, even when you’re hundreds of miles from powder.  Created nine years ago, Flowboard has picked up momentum recently with nearly $15 million in sales this year.  Boards range from 32 to 50 inch with prices starting at $79.99 and higher-end options reaching $199.99.  While hills like those in San Francisco, where the company started, offer the best opportunity for Heavenly-like rides, even on flat ground the Flowboard feels different and is a great conversation starter.

Pulse Gear: Muve Gruve Reminds You To Get Moving

If a person can be reminded throughout the day to be active, he or she could keep their metabolism from shutting down and therefore be able to lose unwanted weight.  Makes sense, the question is how to be reminded.

The challenge was to create a system that could calculate an individual's metabolic pattern and measure calorie burn throughout a day's activity and then relay targeted caloric intake to the user

Worrell design and Dr. Jim Levine of the Mayo clinic have been developing the Muve Gruve to help athletes monitor their exercise daily. A tri-axial accelerometer is used to monitor athlete movement throughout the day and indicates their progress against their pre-measured metabolism. An indicator located at the top of the device shows an individual's progress by LED color. The data collected is ultimately synced to an Internet portal to synthesize caloric intake and personal progress.

But what happens when a person falls below the metabolic rate?  The Gruve uses vibration to notify the user it is time to get moving.  Now that is a healthy nudge!  I wonder how long it will be before we see these devices on The Biggest Loser or some other contest.

Protection For The Weekend Warrior

What do you do about those bumps and bruises from weekend games with the guys?  Wear what the pros wear - Nike Pro Combat.  Formerly introduced at the NBA All-Star weekend, Nike Pro Combat is a lightweight baselayer that protects today's basketball player, pro to weekend warrior.

The Nike Pro Combat line was first tested by several members of the USA Basketball team throughout the Beijing Games, the Nike Pro Combat Men's Basketball Shorts have what it takes to be trusted as your first layer of defense for tough competition.

• Dri-FIT fabric to wick sweat away and help keep you dry and comfortable
  
• Floating foam protection in key areas
  
• Refined ergonomic fit and pad design
  
• Compression fit

Nike Pro apparel is designed to provide the specific support and comfort you need for your workout. Pro Compression offers lightweight support, Pro Vent keeps it cool, and Pro Thermal brings the heat. A snug fit minimizes bulk, increasing comfort and range of motion.

Now it certainly won't help you with your jump shot, but at least you won't hurt as much.

Pulse Gear: Watt Bike

Sports Intelligence is something we take pretty seriously around here.  The ability to collect real data and then make use of that data for performance optimization or organization development, this is how elite athletes train and how leading teams and organizations implement effective player development initiatives.

Wattbike is a great example of sports intelligence.  Wattbike is a user friendly exercise bike that feels as close to real cycling as you can get. It can be used for every kind of cycling from rehabilitation to Olympic training to online racing, is suitable for riders of all abilities and ages and provides accurate and consistent performance data.

What makes Wattbike unique isn't just it's realistic ride.  Wattbike captures performance metrics up to 100 times per second across 29 parameters.  Now this is sports intelligence!  And because every bike has comparable data and has software that grows with each performance, it means you can now compare your performance wth the elite athletes out there.

Pulse Gear: Never Go Out There Alone

What if something happened to you while you were on your long weekend run, or logging in the serious miles on your bike?  XTREME SPORTS ID  was created for the "what if" scenario.  This product was designed to link athletes to the people we care about the most and, at the same time, provide medical data in case of an emergency.  In short, the emergency identification wristband provides access to detailed information about the wearer.

The process is simple. The user locates the unique 8-digit ID number on their wristband, clicks on the “Register” link on the company’s website, and then follows the step-by-step guide to enter their ID number and vital information. Details like name, emergency contact numbers, allergies, and medical history are instantly accessible with a call to the toll free number.

The “Where Am I” feature on the company’s website may be the most widely used. Allowing the wearer to leave notes for friends and family containing details such as flight information, directions, or simply the remote location of the day’s hike.

The durable silicone wristband is available for purchase online here and also at select retailers across the country. For $8, the wearer receives the wristband and a one year subscription to the interactive service; the annual renewal fee is $5.  This is a really, really great deal, especially for children.

At some point, everyone’s out there solo. Having some additional peace of mind can go a long way.  As their motto says "Never Go Out There Alone".

Pulse Gear: Weighted Agility Gloves

If you want stronger and quicker hands then you must train to have stronger and quicker hands.  For sports where hand and forearm speed and strength are important, these weighted agility gloves or WAG, developed by Draz Athletics, could help.  The glove was designed for better strength, quickness, agility, and dexterity of fingers, hands, wrists and forearms.  All muscles groups are actually exercised, particularly fingers.  What makes these gloves intriguing is the specially curved weights that go all the way down the fingers, which allows for constant resistance during any sport specific motion while allowing full movement of the fingers, such as dribbling, catching, rebounding, grabbing a hockey stick, baseball bat or tennis racket.

Wags are used today in over 40 sports and at all levels from pro to youth leagues.  We do come across a large number of sports gear applications and have to say these do hold promise.  As many of you athletes and coaches know, if you want to have the best hands on the field, in the gym, or anywhere sports are played, then you must train to have the strongest, quickest, most gifted fingers and hands.  Just like any other body part or discipline.

Pulse Gear: Looking For That Smooth Swing?

Yes we're in the middle of winter, but it's never too soon to be thinking about how to improve your golf game.  As our focus is sports technology, we've found a golf club that uses the principles of physics to improve your game.

As you can see in the photo, the golf club has a tiny wheel inside of it. I’m not really certain what powers it, but this wheel can spin at a dizzying speed of 20,000 rpm. The spinning motion allows the user to “feel” the correct shot. 

How can this work? Some of you might remember a little experiment that you did in a high school or college physics lab where you spun a bicycle wheel, and then you could miraculously balance the axle end on the side of a desk, as long as the wheel was spinning.  OK, maybe you just copied it from the smart kid in class, but you get the idea.

In short, spinning a wheel within a golf club removes any shaky movements that the golfer can unintentionally put on it. The result is a smoother swing that will strike the ball at a correct angle.

Don't know if it will work,yet.  But will certainly give it a try.  If you want to try it out it can be purchased on the SKLZ website for about $200.

Pulse Gear: Shock Absorbers For Your Legs

While the Ski-Mojo might look like a device capable of giving you super strength, I’m afraid it won’t make your Iron Man dreams come true.  However it will help you maintain a proper bent-at-the-knees posture when you’re out skiing, as well as provide some extra support to your legs so that you can keep that squat position a lot longer.   Although I am a winter sports neophyte, I have to rely on Those Who Know, accordingly, I'll quote from the press release, because, although clearly partisan, it says more than I ever could and is quite well written:  "Worn under your ski pants and effectively working as an extra pair of thigh muscles, the Ski-Mojo is a ...device which takes up to one-third of the strain from your thighs and knees, and gives your legs an additional power boost of up to 50% by storing the free energy you gain as you bend your knees and then releasing that energy as you strengthen your legs".

Enough said.  We're all getting older and any assistance in extending one's skiing career or at least to enjoy a full day on the slopes is well worth it.

Run, Synch and Store

Long runs, tempo runs, speed drills. This past year I became intimate with multiple workouts as I trained for my first marathon.  Accordingly, as I picked up my training, my expectations increased not only from what my body can do but from my training gear. 

Meet Garmin Forerunner 405. This GPS-enabled sport watch tracks your training, then wirelessly sends your data to your computer. This does take training technology to a new level.

Loaded with serious training features, Forerunner 405 continuously monitors your time, distance, pace, calories and heart rate (when paired with heart rate monitor). Each run is stored in memory so you can review and analyze the data to see how you've improved. You can even download recorded courses to compete against previous workouts or race a virtual partner - nice.

Once you’ve logged the miles, innovative ANT+™ wireless technology automatically transfers data to your computer when the Forerunner is in range. No cables, no hookups. The data is just there, ready for you to analyze, categorize and share.

Now, I need to go and put my miles in this morning to compensate for the holiday party this evening.