Health: Smart machines

Tired of the usual squats and curls and looking for a workout with a difference? Yes, there is always the refreshing outdoors, but in this age of keeping pace with deadlines and assignments, trekking to the Mt Everest base camp or pumping iron at Anjuna beach, Goa, may not always be feasible. Help is at hand in the form of Expresso Bikes and Altitude Training— intelligent new devices that combine technology with the outdoors and make exercising enjoyable.

If you have always fancied cycling but can’t keep up, thanks to lack of time and those potholed roads, then look no further than Expresso Bikes. Offering over 30 road tours and games (the alpine cycling tour included), these interactive bikes bring outdoor racing indoors. So you can pedal, shift gears and steer handle-bars just like a real bike and even change resistance by taking your pick from road tours, rated basic to extreme. Workout data is displayed in real time, and new courses, features and music are added automatically. What’s more, you could even personalise your experience, compete with friends, track their progress and celebrate their accomplishments with virtual awards on expresso.net.

Apart from the usual cardio benefits, there’s a sense of motivation as leaderboards allow riders to set goals and targets and keep them engaged and excited.

On the other hand, the Altitude Training Systems combine the advantages of training at high altitudes with the use of portable mask-based systems or special chambers to simulate an altitude environment. The advantages are derived from the body’s adaptive responses to the lowering of oxygen levels. As seasoned mountaineers know, exposure to high altitudes poses a challenge to the human body. The changes cause a change in the oxygen association curve and lead to an improved gaseous exchange.

More oxygen is transferred from the lungs into the blood stream as the body strives to produce enough energy to function and perform by making adaptations.

To accomplish this, a protein called H1F-1 is produced that sets off a host of cellular reactions to utilise oxygen more effectively. “About 30 minutes of low-to-moderate intensity training at high altitudes equals to an hour of training at sea level,” says John Gloster, Physiotherapist to the IPL team Rajasthan Royals. The system is already a rage in Gloster’s native Australia and he uses it extensively to treat and recuperate injured athletes.

“With simulated altitude training, gentle exercises can provide a similar CV stimulation to normal high intensity training, and this means that an injured or recovering athlete can retain fitness levels at or near 100 per cent. The time to return to top level competition is significantly reduced.”

The training is also beneficial for type II diabetics, asthmatics and for lung function improvements. So, what’re you waiting for? Forget the plane tickets and the high hills, go ahead and get started.

Note: Altitude training is currently offered at Qi Healthcare, Churchgate, Mumbai. Expresso Bikes are available at Multi Trading Company, Business Plaza, Gazdar Bandh Road, Santacruz (West), Mumbai