SKYDIVE OVER THE ALPS...IN YOUR OWN HOME
Just one of the high-tech workouts that could make gyms redundant
GETTIng fit at home has come a long way from popping a Rosemary Conley workout into the video recorder.
Artificial intelligence, motion-tracking apps and virtual-reality devices you plug yourself into are all part of the movement towards ‘immersive fitness’.
Why fork out for a costly gym membership when you can join a virtual exercise class or get a subscription box of fitness products delivered to your door?
But is all this just for digitally-savvy millennials with abdominals like an iron grille, or can a moderately fit midlifer with average texting skills and a bit of a wine waist do it, too? FIONA McINTOSH put the latest fitness fads to the test . . .
JOIN AN EXERCISE CLASS FROM YOUR LIVING ROOM
A CHEERFUL blonde in Lycra is bouncing around on my TV screen, panting: ‘I’m sweaty! Are you sweaty?’
This is ‘fitness influencer’ Chessie King, one of many instructors to have filmed workout videos for the new app Fiit.
It’s the start of a 30-day programme Fiit has created to knock me into shape, and yes, I am sweating as I replicate Chessie’s moves on a mat on my living-room floor.
Fiit has been described as the ‘Jane Fonda of the 21st century’. But, instead of one instructor, you can choose from 350 classes, from Pilates to energetic highintensity interval training (HIIT).
Simply download the app on your phone, connect it to your TV, choose your ability level and a class you fancy, and off you go. Fiit can also create a personalised mix of classes to help you reach your goals.
COST: Fiit is free from the Apple App Store, with access to a number of classes. The premium version (unlimited classes, heart rate monitor and personalised programme) is £20 a month or £120 a year.
EASE OF USE: Linking it to my old TV was tricky, but downloading and using the app was simple enough.
FUN FACTOR: If you have space, invite friends round and work out together — you can compete to earn points.
RESULTS: Three days a week, Chessie put me through my paces and fired me up for the day. After three weeks, I felt stronger. n fiit.tv
FAB FITNESS GOODIES DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR
WATCHIng videos of Venus Williams skipping makes it look effortless. Then I tried her endorsed skipping rope and realised why the tennis star is one of the greatest athletes in the world.
It was one of eight items that arrived in a box from lifestyle subscription service FabFitFun. When the parcel arrived, it felt like Christmas Day.
Mine includes the rope, a depuffing eye gel, an essential oil diffuser for meditation and some copperplated measuring spoons.
You also get access to videos such as exercise classes, cooking tips and relationship advice.
I do ten minutes of upper-arm exercises (good), skipping with Venus (excellent), then spend too long watching cooking shows hosted by Californians with huge kitchens and pneumatic lips.
COST: £45 (plus shipping from the U.S.) each quarter for a box of goodies worth £200 and access to FabFitFun TV videos, shop, online community and special offers.
EASE OF USE: Simple. Order online and it arrives at your door. You are sent a code to access videos and the community website.
FUN FACTOR: Like Christmas in August! Though I have to admit, the ‘wellness’ gear was more exciting than the fitness . . .
RESULTS: I forgot how much fun skipping can be and used the rope on holiday every morning. n fabfitfun.com
TAKE FLIGHT AND FLEX YOUR MUSCLES
I SKYDIVE over snow-capped Alps then, with a shift of my shoulders, plunge into a valley. I’m trying so hard not to crash I have no idea how much my core muscles are working.
Only when I climb off the ICAROS machine do I feel the burn in my shoulders and abs. This extraordinary device looks like an alarming piece of medical equipment. Park your dignity and clamber on board, rest your arms and legs on the pads and grab the handles for support.
The gyroscopic machine then twists and turns as you shift your weight, training different muscle groups and improving reflexes, balance and co-ordination skills. It’s also good for the pelvic floor.
It comes with a virtual-reality headset that projects 3D images of scenes such as snow-capped Alps, so you have the bizarre sensation of actually flying.
Just launched in the UK, I tried it at London’s swanky Lanserhof gym, but an at-home version is also available.
COST: From £2,000 for the home version. It’s about the same as a Peloton exercise bike — but this is far more fun.
EASE OF USE: It takes practice, but, as co-ordination improves, you move up levels, working on core muscle strength.
FUN FACTOR: Huge — even if you do look ridiculous.
RESULTS: After one session, I could feel the effects on my posture, working the muscles down my back and across my shoulders. Particularly helpful if you spend all day at a desk. n icaros.com
PERSONAL TRAINER IN YOUR POCKET
KAIA claims to be the first app to use artificial intelligence (AI) motion-tracking technology to map your body, making sure you perform exercises correctly.
I download the app, tap in my fitness level — one up from beginner — and it gives me three floor exercises to complete. I place my phone so it can video me performing the first exercise, a side plank — lying on my side on the floor, raising my hips and holding the position.
An instructor performing the perfect side plank appears on my screen, and I try to copy her. I can see a smaller image of me in the corner of the screen, covered in lines and dots to help me adjust my position.
As I struggle to do it properly, a robotic voice issues instructions. It’s torture and, after finally getting into position, I can’t hold it for the required 40 seconds.
I try to skip to the next exercise, but it won’t let me. I soon crawl off in a huff.
Physiotherapists and sports scientists helped to develop Kaia to treat sufferers of chronic back pain, so it isn’t a gimmick. Once they make it more user-friendly, it could become a training tool for people far fitter than me. COST: Free from app stores.
EASE OF USE: Simple to set up, but I found the exercises hard.
FUN FACTOR: About as fun as medieval torture!
RESULTS: none for me. Fitter people will do better. n Kaia personal trainer
TRY NEW MOVES IN A VIRTUAL NIGHTCLUB
THESE days, the very thought of me ‘going clubbing’ is laughable. But now, you can exercise and boogie at the same time in a virtual-reality nightclub.
Oculus Quest is the first virtual reality (VR) gaming headset that requires no computer or wires to hook it up to. Just download the Dance Central game to the Oculus app, strap on the headset goggles, take a small controller in each hand and you’re transported to a glitzy LA nightclub.
Various odd-looking characters in the club (which looks like a 3D cartoon) walk up and ask me to dance. I have to copy their moves in time to a choice of 32 songs (I even know a few!).
It’s a new wave of VR games and is lots of fun. You’re so distracted by the visuals you don’t realise you’ve raised a sweat.
COST: £399 for the Quest equipment and £22.99 to download the Dance Central game.
EASE OF USE: Set-up took this technophobe about 15 minutes. You just need six square feet of clear floor and then you’re off.
FUN FACTOR: So much fun you’re not aware you’re exercising.
RESULTS: When you can wrestle it away from your children, it gives you a low-level workout. Even more hilarious after a drink! n oculus.com