Pick-me-up for workouts

Sometime last year I acquired a Nike+iPod and my workout regimen changed completely. Earlier, I would treat my sessions on the treadmill as a chore. Get on it; run cursorily for 10-20 minutes and then head off to the strength section to hit the weights. After the Nike+, I’ve become an enthusiastic runner. Maybe it’s because of the music plus the live data on my runs delivered discreetly via audio.

Maybe it is because it’s so easy to sync it through iTunes on to my personal homepage at www.nikeplus.in. Or maybe it is because I get celebrity athletes like Lance Armstrong actually congratulate me when I break a personal record.

Whatever it may be, ever since I got the Nike+iPod, which is actually a cool confluence of two gizmos—the Nike kit and the iPod Nano, I have been running more often, faster and, most important, happily.

So, just before Nike debuted their new SportBand (I think it goes on sale this month), I gladly became a guinea pig. The SportBand (estimated to retail at Rs 2,495) is basically like the Nike+iPod without the iPod or the music. It’s a nicely designed wristband with a detachable link that looks like a simple digital watch that plugs into your computer.

It’s easier to set up than the Nike+iPod, which requires having an iPod, Nano and iTunes on your computer. For the SportBand, you simply download a widget from the Nikeplus website, which automatically syncs your runs every time you plug your link into the computer and transfers the data to your Nikeplus homepage.

While running with the wristband on, piezo electronics enables a sensor in your shoe (it has to be a SportBand compatible shoe where the sole has a slot for the sensor) to talk to the link and display data—miles or kilometres run, calories burnt, pace, etc.

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The easy-to-use link is lightweight and the display is easily readable provided there is enough natural light. There is a main button to start, pause and end workouts and a toggle below the screen that helps you scroll through the data—weekly miles or kms, last run data and time.

Gadgets like the SportBand are great pick-me-ups for your workouts, particularly if your enthusiasm is flagging as it often happens to even people who exercise regularly. The other way to give your workouts a boost, as I have mentioned in this column before, is to keep changing your regimen. If you’re an indoor runner, switch to the outdoors; if you’ve been working out on machines, switch to free weights; and, if you’ve been training too hard, take a break and come back to your regimen after a week.

Muscles Mani

Write to musclesmani@intoday.com and click here to read Treadmill blogs
Caveat: The physical exercises described in Treadmill are not recommendations.
Readers should exercise caution and consult a physician before attempting to follow any of these.