Category: Technology
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Activity Monitors Inaccurate for Weightlifting
If you’re trying to lose weight, an activity monitor can help by telling you how many calories you’re burning. Some are more accurate than others, but in general the monitors work pretty well for walking and running. If you want to compare activities on the other hand — say weight lifting versus running — you may…
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LaceLocker Keeps Your Shoes Tied
When I was a kid, my parents had one argument for why I should keep my shoes tied: If I didn’t, I would trip and hurt myself. In the five decades since getting that warning, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone trip on an untied shoe lace. But I’ve come close to crashing my…
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The Problem with Shared Treadmill Desks
A treadmill desk can do a lot for your health. But only if you have access to it. That’s the main lesson I take away from a new study published this week in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Office workers shared treadmill desks for 12 weeks. They each only averaged 45 minutes a day on…
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Researchers Test Accuracy of Pedometers
So you’ve got this thing that’s supposed to count every step you take. Based on that, it can tell you how many calories you’ve burned, and therefore maybe how much you can eat for dinner. But what if it’s wrong? What if you’re a lot more active than it says… or a lot less? Mitesh…
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Sports Compression Garments May Help Recovery
Sports compression garments are popping up everywhere. You may have seen them at the gym or running trail: those sleeves, shorts and socks made of stretchy fabric, sometimes in bright primary colors. And you may have wondered if they’re just the latest in stylish sports wear or whether they actually serve some purpose. Sports medicine…
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Do Sports Injury Genes Determine Your Fitness?
Sports injury genes could change your future. Imagine this scenario. You try to register for your hockey team as you do every year. But the league has a new policy: All players must report to a health center to get their mouths swabbed. A couple of days later, you get a call. “You’re positive for…
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What Wearable Heart Rate Monitors Can Tell You (Part III)
Bad news, folks. I have exceeded my maximum heart rate. Surprisingly, I am still able to write this newsletter, but how much longer I can continue, who can say? My wearable devices do not produce that reading. After last week’s adventures with RunKeeper, I thought I’d experiment with some other monitoring devices, hoping to gain…
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How Fitness Experts Use Monitoring Devices (Part II)
An avalanche of fitness monitoring devices has poured onto the market in recent years. I wondered how people in the fitness business are using them, so I polled a bunch of people I know. I was particularly interested in how heart rate monitors are figuring in the mix. Heart rate monitoring figures prominently in recommendations…
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What Exercise Monitoring Device Should You Use? (Part I)
Until yesterday, I was feeling so good. I had overcome my knee pain and started running again, loving it like I never did before. I was bounding up the hills near my house, fit and powerful. Did I really need to know that I was only doing a 10-minute mile? That information came to me…
