Fitness hacks for geeks

On the assumption that geeks like tech gadgets, there's never been a better time for geeks to get fit (or stay fit... an ongoing battle). And given that the healthier and fitter your body, the better your brain works, the best thing you can do for your head is work the rest of you.

Here are my favorite fitness/gadget hacks:

1) Use an iPod.
Lots of people use music during exercise, but the time you really need it is to get the energy up in the first place! Make a list of the music that you absolutely cannot sit still for. The stuff that gets you off your ass and dancing (or at least tapping your feet). No matter how tired you are, if you're not sick, the right music can charge you up. Only you know what works for you. If I need motivation to get past the I-just-want-to-stay-here-at-my-computer thing, I drink something with a lot of caffeine and listen to the right music.

But here's another way to use an iPod--to listen to your personal trainer, thanks to the mp3 gym. I haven't tried it (I'm pretty picky about how I do my workouts) but it's an interesting idea.

2) Use a heart rate monitor. They just keep getting better and better over the years, so if you tried one many years ago and it sucked, you might want to try again. Although people can learn to accurately self-monitor their overall exertion, a heart rate monitor can tell you when you've got a little more to give or, even better, when you can slow down a little.

I think Polar makes the best ones. And if you're a runner, you probably already have a watch for monitoring your splits. But here are some cool ones from Nike.

3) Use an accelerometer. If your goal is weight loss along with getting or staying in shape, this is the single best gadget you can get. In the very late 80's/early 90's I was the training director at one of the foofiest health-club-to-the-rich-and-famous gyms in Los Angeles, Sports Club/LA, and the expensive personal trainers all considered this a secret weapon they gave their clients. They're very VERY difficult to find in stores, even today, but you can get them online:

Biotrainer.
Caltrac

And a really interesting one (I haven't tried) that even lets you upload and monitor your own social/exercise group on the web, so you can compare (or compete) with your friends and family. It's the Sportbrain.

If you don't know what an accelerometer is, think pedometer on steroids. It uses the accelerometer to measure motion so that you're not tied to just calibrating (and then walking) steps. At the end of the day, you'll know whether you sat on your butt or were up and down and doing things, so it's also a great way to see whether you've burned calories. Most of them will display how many calories you've burned, but you really have to see it more as an arbitrary point system rather than an actual picture of the true calories you've burned. In other words, get a baseline and then each day try to exceed that number... consider it an "activity score" (which some have) rather than real calories.

4) Log it and blog it. Just be accountable to something or someone, even if it's just a spreadsheet. Have a place to post what you did at the end of the day, so that you can feel a little guilty if you didn't get your numbers up that day (or for the week). The SportBrain gives you an easy way to do that, since you just dock it and it uploads and tracks your data.

But you can also use a variety of exercise tracking software for your computer or PDA. (Here's a Google search on exercise tracking.

And now my personal new favorite:

5) Dance Dance Revolution on Playstation 2 or xbox.
Imagine what would happen if you were as addicted to a workout as people are to a video game? This is a workout that IS a video game! The newer versions of the game now include a workout mode that makes it much easier to just keep going. Even if you don't have a game console, you can pick up the whole system--console, game, and dance pad controller for under $200. Certainly a lot less than a decent treadmill, and a LOT more fun.

The lowest level is easy enough for anyone to learn, and the game includes easy-to-follow lessons.

My favorite DDR system for Playstation 2 is:
DDR Max 2 and the Ignition Pad.

It's dead simple to setup use, at least on the lower levels or workout mode.

Have an active and fun 2005!