The BODiBEAT Has Arrived

Posted by JuryDuty - 09/30/08 at 11:09:02 am

Love to listen to music during your workout, but find yourself jolted when you’re running at a good pace and suddenly Celine Dion breaks in with a slow ballad?

Yamaha has a revolutionary new device you might find intriguing: the Yamaha BODiBEAT. This little MP3 player wraps around your arm and plays music like an iPod. But here’s the rub: It is designed to “intelligently select and play songs that match your footsteps.” In other words, it will automatically create a playlist of songs that matches your running tempo. Or, if you desire, you can pre-program the device with interval workouts to keep you on pace. It even comes with thousands of preloaded electronic mixes.

Other features include distance tracking, time tracking, pace tracking and a heart-rate monitor. There are also several modes including a fitness mode (so you can work out at 70% of your max heart rate, for instance), a training mode (with predetermined targets for you to reach), and a free workout mode (where BODiBEAT just matches your pace).

While we haven’t yet tried the BodiBeat, it looks promising. We do wish it were an iPod add-on instead of a stand-alone player, and it should have been created with much more storage. Retail is $299.95 for the 512mb flash device. It plays MP3, WOV, ACC and other DRM-free formats.

–JuryDuty

(Christopher Maselli at WritingMomentum.com)

Nutrition and Workout Tracking Improvements

Posted by Stephen - 09/18/08 at 09:09:31 am

A handful of improvements have been made to both the nutrition and the workout tracking features of Gyminee. Improvements can be seen on both the PRO and the non-PRO side of things. Here’s a quick breakdown of new stuff.

• Better Time-Tracking: Back in the old days when you did some cardio and wanted to track it on Gyminee, you couldn’t enter hours, minutes, AND seconds. You could only enter a value and then select between hours, minutes, or seconds. Now, when you are tracking your cardio exercises you are able to enter your performance time more accurately using a compound HH:MM:SS field.
• Editable Food Log: Many of you have requested this feature, and now those requests have been answered. Your Food Log shows you what foods, and how much of each, you have eaten for a given day. The only problem was to change how many servings you had eaten you had to remove the food, search for it, and then add it again (quite a hassle). Now, clicking on the number of servings will allow you to quickly modify the amount you have eaten.
• Meal Planner & Grocery List Improvements: You have to be a Gyminee PRO member to enjoy these changes. The Meal Planner is a great tool that allows you to plan what you eat ahead of time to make sure you’re going to hit your goals each day. Before, the Meal Planner showed the amount of calories, fat, protein and carbs that were planned. Now fiber, cholesterol, sodium and potassium are shown as well! After planning out their meals, PRO users have a Grocery List that they can take to the store with them. Before, this grocery list allowed configuration of the ending date for the planned foods they wanted to see. Now, PRO users can configure both the starting date and the ending date.

Development Update

Posted by Stephen - 09/10/08 at 11:09:56 pm

There have been a handful of behind-the-scenes improvements to Gyminee that I would like to share. Many small improvements have been made (the type of stuff that many users wouldn’t notice), but also a handful that are worth pointing out.

• New Exercise Search: Until now, there hasn’t been an easy way to track individual exercises or to easily find the exercises you are looking for. A new search field has been added right at the top of your Workout Log that will allow you to search for, and then track individual exercises. This makes it much easier to track that random day where you played tennis or went for a swim, instead of your normal workout routine.
• Prettier URLs for Users: I’m sure only fellow geeks will appreciate this one, but I know there are some of you out there  The old profile links looked like “gyminee.com/locker_room/43592″ (not very pretty). The new profile links look like “gyminee.com/locker_room/stephenb” - a link you can be proud to show your friends.
• Total Weight Change Shows %: This is one that only Gyminee PRO users will see (maybe it’s time to upgrade?). On your Locker Room, you will see your grades and your Total Weight Change, which is nothing new, but now your Total Weight Change is given as a percentage, along with the normal lbs/kg. I must admit, it’s interesting to know that there is 2.13% less of me here than there was when I started using Gyminee. 
• View All Posts by a Forum User: If you’re a Gyminee Forum user, you may have noticed that the text that shows how many posts have been made by a particular user is now a link. Clicking this link will show all the posts that user has made, and can be a great way to learn some interesting health and fitness tips from your favorite users.
• Of course, a significant amount of effort continually goes towards fixing small bugs and making Gyminee run faster and more smoothly. It’s not a feature that you’ll see, but it’s still one to appreciate.

Fitness Deals—Part 1: Local Deals

Posted by JuryDuty - 08/27/08 at 01:08:12 pm

Gyminee members love a good deal. It’s easy to “go Pro” when it only costs $5/month.

You can find great deals on exercise equipment you use, too. You should rarely have to pay full price if you do your homework. Here are the best places to find new and used gym items locally at bargain basement prices:

• Garage Sales—Never overlook the bargains you’ll find from your neighbors. Anyone who hits the pavement on Saturday morning will tell you that there are countless elliptical machines, steppers and other popular equipment still in perfect shape, regardless of the owner’s New Years’ Resolutions. And the price is often the best you’ll find. Earlier this year, I happened upon a $350 recumbent bike in like-new condition for $25. Believe me when I say I’ve gotten my $25 out of it!
• Local Resell Shops—Don’t forget to visit local resale shops like Play It Again Sports for good deals on used equipment. From free weights to gear for specific sports, this is an easy way to pick up a good item for a good price when you need it quickly.
• Coupons—Don’t underestimate the power of coupons or other discounts when shopping locally. GNC offers a 20% discount to Gold Card members on the first week of each month. Energy bars are regularly on sale at drugstores like CVS or Walgreens and those sales can be stacked with coupons.
• “Secret Sales”—Finally, if you want to sign up for a national gym, keep an eye out for “secret sales.” Many larger local businesses have established relationships with gyms to offer their employees discounts—you may be eligible for one and not even know it. Other times you can find deals offered to current members who refer friends. And a couple times a year, Costco offers a 2-year pass to 24 Hour Fitness (All Sports clubs) for $289. That’s $12/month, which is hard to beat.

In Part 2, we’ll look at places to find great deals online.

What are some of the best local fitness deals you’ve come across?

–JuryDuty

(Christopher Maselli at WritingMomentum.com)

Think back to think smarter

Posted by SonOfKrypton - 08/26/08 at 09:08:27 am

Have you ever heard that your IQ is constant?  That nothing you do can increase your God-given intelligence?  Doesn’t sit well with you - one who likes to improve as much of yourself as possible - does it?  Well, today we destroy that false paradigm.

In a first of its kind claim, Martin Buschkuehl, a psychology researcher based at the University of Bern, Switzerland, purports to have discovered a method that actually significantly improves ones ‘fluid intelligence’, a marker previously thought to have been genetically dictated.  Fluid intelligence is a measure of how one adapts to new scenarios and solves problems they’ve never encountered before.  It differs from crystallized intelligence which accounts for knowledge gained thru education and practiced skill sets - like math, science, and history.

It’s not unheard of that students who take many IQ tests generally improve their scores.  But they simply become better at taking the test, not at improving their intelligence.  Therefore, the results from their improved tests don’t translate into the real world and problems they encounter.

This is why Buschkuehl’s research is making waves.  He and his team were able to take 34 subjects, test their IQ’s, train them in a completely separate memory task, and watch their IQ test scores rise significantly.  This transfer of improved ability is rarely observed between any two tests.

The research team’s subjects trained in a complex routine called the “n-back task” — a strenuous visual/auditory memory test.  On average, they initially scored 10 questions correctly on the IQ test.  But after training with the “n-back task” for 25 minutes a day over a period of 19 days, they averaged 14.7 correct answers, an improvement of over 40 percent.  A control group for this experiment who did not train in the “n-back task” showed a minimal performance increase.

Buschkuehl and his team posit that the n-back task serves to improve working memory — a measure of how many pieces of information one’s head can hold simultaneously — as well as the brain’s ability to focus its attention.  Since the training improved performance in these underlying skills, positive results were also extended to the practitioners general intelligence.

A typical round of the n-back task goes like this:  participants are subjected to a sequence of images presented every few seconds.  In a 2-back (where 2 replaces the variable, n) task, you must identify when a certain image was shown two image ago.  However, this is the simplest version.  In more complicated n-back tasks, such as the one Buschkuehl’s subject underwent, you are simultaneously subjected to an audio sequence of letters, presented at the same time images are.  You are to indicate an image was shown two images ago while also indicating a letter was heard, two letters ago.  As you practice and your brain becomes more adept at handling 2-back, the challenge increases, all the way to 9-back.  Good luck with that.  Seriously.  

If you want to try your hand at n-back, try this free page.  Unfortunately, you are subjected to unremarkable sounds (not letters) with it, and as such, I’ve found it to not be as effective in truly practicing n-back as your brain has no previous associations with the sounds being thrown at you.  If any of you manage to find a better implementation of n-back online (with letters for audio), please post its location in the comments below.

If you’re interested in reading more about n-back, visit this ’Wired’ page.

And if you’re an owner of an iPhone or iPod Touch, there is a N-back implementation in the iTunes App Store named “IQ Boost”.  Read more about it here.  I’ve been training with it for the past week now so if you’re interested in how well the application works in hand, leave me a note on my Gyminee page and I’ll be sure to let you know!

Thinking of giving up?

Posted by Brian - 08/07/08 at 10:08:56 pm

Tired of setbacks? Beginning to think that you’ll just never be able to…
• Lose weight?
• Lower your body fat?
• Get that next lift?
• Improve your heart rate, cholesterol, or energy?

While I doubt that anyone reading this is currently in a phase where you’ve given up hope of achieving your health and fitness goals, or, let’s face it, you probably wouldn’t be logging onto Gyminee right now, I bet that most everyone has felt that way at some point in time. You wonder whether or not it’s worth it; wonder if you should just quit; think it’s just never going to happen for you.

Now, I could be wrong, but I would bet that the most widely used reason for giving up goes something like <*ahem*>, “I just don’t have time to workout or eat healthy; my lifestyle is too busy and hectic to allow for that” or the less common, but more direct, “It’s just too hard”.

Well, don’t let Melanie Roach hear you say that because there’s a good chance she could lift you over her head until you change your tune. She does hold the unofficial world record for Clean & Jerking more than twice her body weight, after all.

Melanie Roach, a 33-year-old, 5′1″, 117-pound mother of three is a weightlifting competitor for the good ol’ U S of A in the 2008 Beijing Olympics (whose opening ceremonies are tomorrow night), and if you haven’t heard her story before, she’ll make you think twice about giving up. Because until you’ve suffered from a hyperextended elbow, a herniated disk (which affected her for seven years, caused her more pain than any of her three, natural child births, left her unable to stand up straight, forced her to remain in bed for days at a time, and threatened to put her in a wheelchair if she injured it any further), depression, and dealt with the unique challenges that come with having an autistic 5-year-old son, all while running a business, I don’t think your excuses (or mine) hold a candle to the numerous ones she could have fallen back on. In fact, most of the reasons I’ve used for not aggressively pursing my next life, health, or nutrition goal sound rather stupid stacked up against Melanie’s story.

Now, I could choose to let that bring me down. I could tell myself, “Wow, if she can do all of that, how pathetic am I that I can’t…<insert goal here>”. But instead I challenge myself (and you) to let this story be a motivating factor in my (and your) life. I don’t have Olympic aspirations; I don’t have the same degree of obstacles standing in my way. So, if Melanie can earn herself a spot on the US Olympic team, against all of the odds that life stacked against her, then why can’t you or I achieve our goals as well? It should be easy in comparison, right?
…
…
OK, maybe it’s not easy, but it is, without a single, microscopic doubt, doable!

Want to know more about Melanie Roach?
Below is a link to an article written by Greg Bishop of the New York Times, which details the daily challenges Melanie and her husband face as the parents of an autistic child, Melanie’s conquest over her injuries, and the amazing comeback that led to her qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Finding Inner Strength by Greg Bishop
Note: Mr. Bishop’s article was published on May 6th, 2008. Melanie qualified for the Beijing Olympics at the trials held on May 17th, 2008.

Melanie has also been featured by ABC World News Tonight, National Public Radio, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, NBC, CNN, among others.

As an added bonus, you can follow Melanie’s 2008 Beijing Olympics experience on her blog, “Worth the Weight“, or on her fan site, MelanieRoach.com.

Good luck in your competition, Melanie…but you’re already a winner.

Ready For A Challenge?

Posted by Stephen - 08/06/08 at 11:08:29 am

Gyminee Challenges were launched only a couple of weeks ago, but they have really taken off! For example, the Inaugural Weight Loss Challenge currently has 138 competitors helping motivate each other to lose the largest percentage of their body weight. Some other interesting facts about Gyminee Challenges:

• There have been over 800 competitors in Gyminee Challenges
• Over 3,200 miles have been traveled by Gyminee competitors
• Over 750 lbs have been lost by Gyminee competitors
• Nearly 100 Challenges have been started so far
• My vote for the best Challenge picture is the 40 Miles in the Next 30 Days challenge (I pity the fool who doesn’t join a Gyminee Challenge!)

Tweet Your Fitness Activity

Posted by Stephen - 08/01/08 at 01:08:08 pm

Quite a few people have requested Twitter support in Gyminee, and we always thought it would be a cool way for users to share their progress and stay motivated. As of today, Gyminee now allows you to “tweet” your fitness activity as Twitter status updates.

Some example tweets:

• “Just did the Back and Biceps workout”
• “Just met my Body Weight goal!
• “Joined the Gyminee Running Challenge”

You can also configure which activities you do and don’t want tweeted. If you’re on Gyminee and on Twitter, then you can visit your Profile Settings page to set up Twitter support right now.

(Also, you can follow Gyminee on twitter)

Hiking a 14er

Posted by Stephen - 07/06/08 at 01:07:00 am

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! I must admit that I didn’t see any fireworks this year as I went to bed early so I could go for an early morning hike. If anyone is from the Rocky Mountain region, then they know what I’m talking about when I say the word “Fourteener.” The term Fourteener (or 14er) refers to a mountain with a summit elevation of at least 14,000 feet.

One thing you will learn as you hike these tall peaks is that elevation is definitely a factor in your performance. Personally, I really start to feel the effects of altitude as I get over 12,000 feet, but altitude sickness can start much lower than that. Altitude sickness can actually be quite serious, and if you’re interested in learning more here is a Wikipedia link.

Anyways, we hiked up to the top of Grays Peak, a summit elevation of 14,270 ft. Even though it is one of the easiest 14ers to summit in the Eastern Colorado region, it was a tough hike. From bottom to top, we gained about 3,000 ft. in elevation, and I could feel it every step of the way (Gyminee says I burned about 1,200 Calories and also let me track the elevation change!). It was definitely worth it, and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking at the top. You tend to forget how difficult the hike was when you are looking at a 360 degree panorama of some of America’s most beautiful scenery!

Unscheduled Downtime

Posted by Andy - 05/22/08 at 06:05:00 pm

The Gyminee website experienced some unscheduled downtime from approximately 12:10PM till 1:00PM Central time. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused Gyminee users. We were able to discover and fix the problem that caused this downtime, and we will now be able to avoid having similar problems in the future. To the best of our knowledge no data was lost during this downtime, but feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.

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