Fit tech

808 East is a workout fanatic as well as a tech geek, so covering the new generation of personal electronic that actually help a brother burn calories was a no-brainer. Sadly, my story for the now-suspended Living Well monthly section of The Times didn't make it in before LW went belly-up. But thanks to the magic of the blogosphere, it follows below:

Bucking popular perception as an opiate for sedentary, glassy eyed youngsters glued to their Xbox or PlayStation, videogames and other interactive technology can actually motivate and empower fitness regimens – even make them fun – for any age.

And let’s face it, beating boredom is more than half the battle when it comes to working out.

Call it the birth of the “exertainment” genre. A new generation of adult fitness-enhancing gadgets is here, led by the wildly popular Nintendo Wii Sports and Wii Fit. Whereas the Wii Sports gaming system inspired couch potatoes to get up and break a sweat swatting virtual tennis balls or rolling strikes toward the TV, the Fit takes it a step further, offering personally tailored regimens and software that tracks your progress.

“With the introduction of the Wii, we’re on the cusp of bridging interactive applications into health and fitness, and they’re especially appealing to adults,” said Tim Herbert, director of market research for the Consumer Electronics Assn. “Not everyone can find the motivation to workout every day, and boredom is always a factor. But the Wii and other forms of fitness-based electronics are great solutions to those problems.”

CEA data show that there’s a social factor at play that can help motivate sedentary adults.

“We’ve found that about half the adults who have played the Wii (out of 42 million U.S. grown-ups total, according to CEA research) have done so on someone else’s console, either a friend or family member,” he said. “It helps if people can share the pain and see their progress and encourage each other.”

The progress can be palpable. According to a study by the American Council on Exercise, Wii Sports markedly increases heart rate and oxygen intake, burning anywhere from approximately 216 calories per half hour for boxing, 159 for tennis, 117 for baseball and 93 for golfing.

It’s only fair that evolving technology prods us to get off the couch and get active. Data from CEA also suggest that those who do so and practice, say, Wii tennis, are more inclined to get outdoors and play the real thing. Cool high-tech gear, unlike youth itself, need not be wasted on the young. Let’s take a look at a handful of the hottest high-tech fitness helpers.

Nintendo Wii Fit: Taking Wii Sports a step further, Wii Fit is an intense and sophisticated new workout system that not only provides more than 40 fun video-training game/regimens in four categories – aerobics, balance, strength training and yoga – it records and tracks your progress in body mass index, weight and center of balance. To get started just stand and on the Balance Board, the centerpiece of the Wii Fit that senses and measures weight as well as shifts in movement and balance, and follow the on-screen instructors. It connects wirelessly to the Wii console and helps collect physical data, including an initial Body Test evaluation, which are interpreted by virtual video trainers that guide users through exercises such as Snowboard Slalom, Soccer Heading and Rhythm Boxing. Based on the data, suggestions for improvement are offered by the virtual trainers, just like the real thing. And new Wii Balance Board games, such as Skate It, a skateboard simulator from Electronic Arts, are continually being released.

Best of all, the Wii Fit is easy to learn, even for total videogame newbies.

“Wii Fit will get you moving whether you've been playing videogames for years or this is your first time,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Price: $90 for the console and Balance Board, around $50 for Wii Balance Board games. Information: www.nintendo.com/wiifit/

The Expresso Bike: The ultimate solution to the tedium of indoor cardiovascular biking, the new Expresso immerses the rider into a realistic, Web-enabled world of 30 virtual courses on its 17-inch LCD screen – from steep Alpine trails to city streets—that can be customized to fit personal skills and levels of difficulty, while monitoring and recording personal fitness data such as heart rate and calories burned. And there’s more, much more. Not only does the sophisticated software control the bike’s tension to simulate realistic uphill and downhill biking, the recumbent Expresso connects to the Internet to allow the rider to compare individual times and compete against riders across the country via online Leader Boards.

Moreover, the Expresso continually evolves to keep the experience fresh, automatically downloading new features, music and courses. There’s a built-in TV tuner, as well. Price: $5,145.

PumpOne Personal Trainer: Imagine your own personal trainer, downloaded onto your video MP3 player, cellphone or virtually any handheld device. That’s PumpOne, a series of video/audio training sessions that demonstrate exactly what moves and exercises to perform and for how long – leading you through intense workouts that target weight and cardio training, flexibility, Pilates, yoga and more, accompanied by your favorite music. The programs feature video, illustrations and captioning. It’s all visual with no voice commands to interfere with the background tunes.

“Everybody would love the luxury of their own live personal trainer, but not everyone can afford it,” said Craig Schlossberg, president of PumpOne. “The clear exercise videos, crisp fitness images and quick intuitive interface show a user exactly what exercises to perform, in what order and with the proper intensity.”

Sessions can be downloaded to iPods, Zunes and other MP3 players for $19 to $49 for one to six months of workouts. Special PumpOne sessions, called iPump, are now available exclusively for the Apple iPhone, directly downloadable from iTunes without synching to a computer ($2.99 for nine workouts).

Price: $2.99 to $49.

Numark Fit For Sound: The home gym meets cutting-edge club sound with this rack-mounted high-end audio system featuring a Universal Dock that accommodates MP3 players, a perfect companion for an indoor regimen – especially one that requires instruction from a video-training program such as the PumpOne. Gym workouts, after all, require total concentration and usually two free hands. The Fit For Sound will cradle your iPod at eye level, with large, easy-to-read buttons and an infrared remote control with neck-slung lanyard, offering dramatic pro-quality audio. No surprise, considering Numark Industries is a leader in professional DJ and audio equipment.

Price: $169.

V-MODA Vibe Duo: Created with loud gyms and noisy urban jogging in mind, the V-MODA Vibe Duo bud headphones help prevent hearing loss due to their design and noise-isolating technology, eliminating the need to turn the volume up to dangerous levels on a mobile music device. Soft, medical-grade silicon fittings – an assortment of small, medium and large for custom ear-canal fit -- seal away outside noise and prevent sound leakage. And rest assured the sound is audiophile-quality; despite its micro-size, the Vibe Duo kicks out deep, thumping bass and soaring highs, spanning a full high-definition audio-frequency range from 12 to 20,000 hertz (virtually the entire audible hearing spectrum) thanks to its BLISS (Bass Level Isolating Soft Silicon) technology. Also, a new Vibe Duo model, compatible with the Apple iPhone, has a discreet microphone with a call button allowing users to take calls and control the music functions of the iPhone while jogging or working out.

Price: $99.