Man VsT ech
Can you really ditch the leisure-club membership and do your workout routine from a smart home gym? We put our fitness guru through his paces…
Is it possible to ditch the gym membership and instead kickstart your fitness at home with the latest workout tech? Our man finds out…
It’s happened. For the first time in my life, I have a love handle. Or the start of one. Either way, I don’t want it to get bigger. OK , so I went overboard at Christmas, but who doesn’t? Anyway, it’s February and my resolution to hit the gym has flatlined. I feel sluggish and my clothes are tight. It’s time to act.
Trouble is, my local gym is always rammed. Considering how it’s a bit spit-and-sawdust, the £40-per-month fee seems rather steep. On the walk back home, mulling over whether I really want to shell out hundreds of pounds a year to pump iron in a room that reeks of armpits, I remember something: I’m a tech journalist! Surely, there are umpteen gadgets to help me shape up at home?
So, with the help of T3, I’ve set myself a challenge: to feel leaner, stronger and healthier in one month using some of the latest home fitness tech. Cue the training-montage music!
Week one: the hurt locker
My challenge begins with a full-body cardio workout aboard the enormous Concept2 Model D Rowing Machine. I strap on a Fitbit Charge 2 to take advantage of its Pure Pulse heart-rate monitoring, and dip my virtual paddle in the water. The Model D’s backlit Performance Monitor gives me workout options ranging from free rowing to targeted training. Feeling cautious, I opt for a 3km row. After 1km, I’m buzzing and can feel the rust flaking off my underused joints. A glance at the Fitbit reveals that my heart rate has jumped to 134bpm. Feeling saucy, I notch up another kilometre on this epic machine before crawling to the sofa in a sweaty heap.
It’s 8am on day two, and I’m running laps in the park, tracking pace, calories burned and distance covered with the Fitbit Charge 2. Smart-Track auto exercise recognition means that I didn’t have to fiddle around with modes beforehand. The OLED display is easy to read in daylight, too, and at the end of the run I’m rewarded with a personalised cardio score.
When I get home, surprisingly, I’ve got energy to burn, so I opt for a bodyweight training session with the TRX Home Gym. It’s essentially a set of adjustable straps. And they look a bit, well, bondage. When I start hooking them over the