15 Fitness Gadgets vs. One Personal Trainer

As yet, there is still no technological substitute for human willpower. But in the quest to get in shape, we flabby citizens have a long history of leaning on gadgets to get us up and active. The first pedometer design is attributed to Leo?nardo da Vinci, while Thomas Jefferson built his own such device to measure his walks. Since then vibrating belts, electric shocks, and sweaty sauna suits have been touted as high-tech routes to fitness. And in the 1980s, a former Viet Cong sympathizer leveraged the popularity of the VHS to turn herself into a domestic exercise icon with a series of workout tapes.

Believe it or not, Jane Fonda is still at it, finally upgrading to the DVD format in 2010. But her discs are lost in a sea of video games with motion-capture avatars that track your body movements and encourage/hector you in real time. And those games are just the tip of the high-tech-fitness iceberg, with a wide variety of gadgets that promise to inspire you to become a leaner, stronger, healthier you.

The gold standard for fitness coaching is the personal trainer?a real person certified as a professional exercise instructor. But hiring one can be extremely expensive?upwards of $60 per session, which could cause many clients to go broke before they get fit.

Can a bunch of high-tech doodads provide instruction and inspiration comparable to what you'd get from a trained professional? I donned my tracksuit and covered myself in sensors to find out.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how-to/gadgets/15-fitness-gadgets-vs-one-personal-trainer?src=rss

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