Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

It has taken three years, but the scales of exergaming just tipped. Fisher Price is working on a product called Smart Cycle that fuses exercise with video games. Even though it’s not available yet, Amazon.com has a listing for it on its website. You can find out more about it here:

• The Smart Cycle From Fisher Price – Learning Cycle

This product is completely useless for adults, but the idea of exercising while playing video games has become so ubiquitous that the toy producer behemoth, Fisher Price, has joined the exergaming ranks.

If you’re an adult and you want to play PS2 or Xbox games with your exercise bike, try the Qmotions Fun Fitness. It connects to your exercise bike or regular bike on a trainer and lets you play racing games. The faster you pedal, the faster your car/bike/etc. goes. It actually works really well and there have been more than one time that I have gotten off my bike wobbly-legged because I played too long.

Via: Rudd Sound Bites: No Child Left Outside

“Why does he have to change balls?” I asked when I was playing on the softball team a couple of years ago.

“Because if we used the girl’s ball, the guys would always hit them out of the park,” he answered.

“Why don’t we just use the guy’s ball all the time?” I naively asked.

He didn’t have an answer.

I found out in the middle of a softball game that there is different sports equipment for women and men, but did you know HOW many sports are different? The Apple Lady over at The Daily Apple has the specifics:

• The Daily Apple: Apple #240: Women’s vs Men’s Sports

She wonders what I did back when I realized they had been pitching me a different ball the whole time:

I wonder how long it will take before the equipment across sports is equalized. It has to happen. I mean, they don’t make women run the 350 meter relay while men run the 400 meter relay, do they? They used to say that women shouldn’t really compete in track because all that running jostled their important baby-making organs. But they’ve changed their minds about that idiocy, thankfully. So it has to be a matter of time before people realize, hey, maybe women can actually handle a basketball that’s one inch larger.

When I hit my first double, does it really count? It was with the girl’s ball, so it was easier for me to hit that double than it would be for a guy. Is that really fair?

In the end, changing the sports equipment for women makes our accomplishments look less admirable. “Sure, she hit a double. She was pitched the girl’s ball. She wouldn’t even make it to base if she had to hit OUR ball,” is what the nay-sayers would say.

Quit assuming that we can’t handle your sports equipment and then assuming our accomplishments aren’t as worthy because you forced us to use the “easier” equipment. If we fail, so be it, but let us fail on the same ground as you do.

I am out of town AGAIN, this time in Yellowstone Park in Wyoming and Montana. Yesterday, I filmed a new walking video for Starling Fitness going past Old Faithful, a bunch of pretty geysers and springs and up a mountain. I haven’t had a chance to look at the footage, but if it’s good, I’ll make it available to you.

What is your favorite kind of exercise while you’re on vacation?

Do you make sure your hotel has a gym?

Do you have a gym membership that works wherever you travel?

What sorts of activities do you plan? Are they active or sedentary?

I have found that I am willing to walk on the treadmill for days on end just so I can be fit enough to do active things while I’m on vacation. While climbing up the mountain yesterday, I realized that I haven’t been doing nearly enough hill work. I guess it’s time to use that incline setting on the treadmill again once I get home. I think you’ll probably be able to hear me panting up the hill on the video. It might even be bad enough to ruin the footage. Hope not…

I wore my Nike+ while walking in Disneyland the last couple of days. Apple programmed the iPod to pause when I stop walking (P.S. Apple, I HATE this feature, even though I know it saves battery time. I would much rather just have it still logging my miles, even though I stop every few minutes), so out of the twelve hours every day that we have been walking in the park, only about five hours were logged on my iPod. On the one day that I was vigilant and checked the iPod every couple of minutes to make sure it was still logging my steps, the Nike+ shows that we walked over 7 miles.

SEVEN miles!!

No wonder I have been so tired. If I hadn’t already lost my toenails, I would have black ones right now.

Unfortunately, I haven’t coupled this increase in activity with healthy eating, so in the end, I will weigh the same when I get home as I did when I left. At least I haven’t gained…

For more information about the Nike+, see this entry:

• Starling Fitness » First Glance: Nike+iPod

• Starling Fitness » Nike+iPod Starling Fitness Challenges

Not in the mood to exercise? Just watch this video for about 45 seconds and you’ll want to run. There is something really inspirational about watching other people exercise. It makes me want to join the crowd!

Via: Video of the Week: California Dreamin’ » Complete Running Network

It has been a long time since a exergaming machine has surfaced. Say hi to Motivatrix, the newest exercise-gaming machine.

• Motivatrix

I have seen so many of these companies come and go that I never believe that their products exist until they are available on Amazon.com. Granted, Motivatrix looks like they are promoting their exercise equipment to sports facilities, but the lack of an “order now” button on their website really makes me doubtful of their existence.

Did they build one prototype and a spiffy flash-based website? I can’t tell. I’m trying my hardest not to get excited about this product, but it looks like it has the potential to be a lot of fun.

For more information:

• Motivatrix’s MX9 Workout Master replaces aging stationary bike – Engadget

• Silicon sweat / High-tech, full-body machines merge multimedia and exercise

• Get an interactive workout sans game console | Crave : The gadget blog

It’s spring and I find myself going outside for my runs and walks lately. I’ve really enjoyed walking outside and I started wondering why I ever use my treadmill at all. I even started thinking that I wasn’t going to use it again.

That’s how long it took me to forget about winter… two weeks.

Two weeks of lovely weather and I have forsaken my beloved treadmill in favor of the great outdoors. I have to admit that I love exercising outside mostly because there is just so much interesting stuff going on. There are people to avoid, streets to cross, and lots of things to look at.

The other day, I took my camera with me on my walk and just clicked away. Here’s what I saw:

With this much to see outside, it’s no wonder that the treadmill holds no attraction for me. I’m just surprised at how quickly I have forgotten about the freezing winds and snow and wondering how long I can enjoy the beauty until the heat takes my breath and forces me back indoors.

Last week, we bought Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 for the Wii. Mike and I have been testing it for its exercise capabilities. Sadly, as far as exergaming is concerned, it comes up short. Most of the exercise that you get when you golf comes from walking from hole to hole. With this game, you get none of the walking. Sure, you get to swing your arms to take the shots, but it has no cardio impact at all and very little muscle training. I played two days in a row without any muscle pain, which is something that I would have never been able to do with Wii Sports or Rayman Raving Rabbids.

As far as keeping you in shape during the winter months, I don’t think this game would be good for that either. I actually think that it might have the potential to hurt your game depending on how you have to swing for the game compared to swinging with a real club. Since I’ve never played golf in the real world, I wouldn’t be able to compare those two, but I highly doubt that this simulation will keep you in practice.

That said, I actually love the game. I liked that I was able to make my avatar look as close to me as I could. I didn’t have to choose between ten men and one blond famous golfer, I was able to make a golfer that looked kind of close to what I look like. I was even able to make her as fat or as thin as I wanted. Creating my avatar was really enjoyable, actually. Playing golf with her is even more so. They have animated certain reactions to good shots and bad shots. It’s funny to see how my computer golfer reacts to my miserable performance.

Additionally, it’s a lot of fun playing the courses. They have beautiful scenery, lovely clouds and tweeting birds. I can play the game at midnight and feel like I took a walk in the sunshine through a gorgeous park. I love how the trees sway when there is a lot of wind. I love how my golf ball skips across the water when I aim poorly. I even love how my golf ball got stuck inside a tree. Even the bad programming has funny effects.

Is it exergaming? No. Did it get me off the couch and interacting with my family? Yes! Most importantly, it introduced me to a sport that I might want to try in real life. It taught me the rules and got me interested in something that I never considered before. If sport video games pique the interest in a real live sport, then I’m all for them. My verdict on Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 for the Wii? Go for it! It is a lot of fun and it might even get you interested in real-life golfing!

Chicago is long behind us on the Race Across the USA! We are on the home stretch to New York now! We are currently at 2605 miles, so we are very close to New York. Start spreading the news!

These are the cities we are going to see along the way:

• Los Angeles, California – Starting Point
• Sacramento, California – 384 miles
• Salt Lake City, Utah – 1,036 miles
• Omaha, Nebraska – 1,971 miles
• Chicago, Illinois – 2,439 miles
• New York, New York – 3,227 miles

You can see the full route in detail here:

• Race Across USA Route

Don’t forget that there are prizes for the top 10 finishers:

• 1st place – Most miles run – Four DVD set of Starling Fitness walking videos: Swami’s Beach, Sugarhouse, Moab and the as yet unreleased San Antonio Riverwalk.
• 2nd and 3rd place – Choice of three Starling Fitness DVDs.
• 4th and 5th place – Choice of two Starling Fitness DVDs.
• 6th through 10th place – Choice of one Starling Fitness DVD

The current Top Ten are here:

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We are almost finished with this race, but we are doing another one some time in April. If you would like to be included, please go to this thread on the Nike+ Forum and I will include you in the invitation:

• Race Across the USA

This race has been so much fun, so I’m excited for the next one. I haven’t had one person guess where we are going to race next month. Here’s another clue: Sacajawea.

This article talks about what I have been saying for years. If only we had exercise equipment that captured it, we could save a little bit of power with our workouts.

• While You’re at It, Why Not Generate A Little Electricity – WSJ.com

Right now, most exercise machines burn more electricity than they generate. Treadmills are the biggest culprits, but exercise bikes and elliptical trainers are often powered only by human motion. If only there were a company that made exercise equipment that was meant to generate and store electricity, we could feel a little bit better about the time we spend at the gym.

Via: Is exercise the next new source of renewable energy? – That’s Fit

For more information about exercise and electricity generation, see these past entries:

• Starling Fitness » Notions of Expenditure

• The Gadgets Page » Bicycle Powered Generator