IHRSA 2013: Gadgets and workouts too innovative to classify
Some things that caught our eye at IHRSA were so unusual they were impossible to classify. One of these products, Ocean Yoga by FreeMotion Fitness, might even make its way to the outdoor trade shows.
Get access to everything we publish when you sign up for Outside+.
Some doctors are without borders, and some fitness products are without categories.
A few things caught our eye at the fitness trade show IHRSA that were impossible to classify, so we put them all together for you right here.
Our favorite was Ocean Yoga by FreeMotion Fitness. It’s looks like a stand-up paddleboard but has three sections on the bottom where air-filled disc bases can be placed to make the workout more difficult. The most difficult workouts occur when there is only one disc in the center.
We were able to test out the board, paddling away, and can say it is a fantastic workout. Colleen Logan, spokeswoman for FreeMotion Fitness and Altra Zero Drop Footwear, said the product might make its way onto the floor at the Outdoor Retailer trade show, as it was developed by famed surfer Laird Hamilton, who’s a big name in the industry, and has SUP appeal.
Under Armour sponsored challenges throughout IHRSA at its booth to showcase the new Armour39, which company officials said is the first biometric performance monitor.
Armour39 is a monitor that measures a person’s WILLpower, scoring how hard the user has worked on a scale of 1-10.
We have been having a blast with the Empower weighted hula-hoop for years now but another hoop struck our fancy as we wandered through the aisles. Health Hoop had removable-section hula-hoops that seemed to be on steroids, with bulging muscles all over the inside of the hoop’s different connectable sections.
The hoops have little nubs on the inside the company calls “pressure projections” that has a massage effect. Bonus: a workout and a massage wrapped into a fun childhood activity.
Barre fitness is another item on the rise – albeit not to the same degree as CrossFit and functional fitness classes – but we found an existing product with brand-new programming that makes barre workouts accessible for everybody. The Lebert Equalizer, which essentially looks like two track hurdles that can be used for a multitude of things including both functional training group classes and dance-inspired barre classes like LeBarre by Jenn Hall.
Professional dancer and George State University Instructor Jenn Hall developed the LeBarre to gently condition the deconditioned and those recuperating from injuries after she found Barre workouts helped her student athletes get back onto the field or court faster.
Barre training, Hall explained, is great for balance and agility and helps people get a leaner dancer’s physique. Lebert Fitness launched its DVD with Hall’s workout.
“We’ve had tons of people come by and try it out,” Hall said happily as she demonstrated on the Equalizer some of her moves.
Rope training is a great workout but not always the easiest to perform correctly because some ropes don’t have the best handles, leading users to grip the ropes wrong. Spri has alleviated this situation with its new ropes complete with aluminum handles.
“Rope training is huge right now,” said Spri’s Director of Marketing Adam Zwyer. “Now we have handles so people can make the proper movements.”
Stay tuned to SNEWS for an update on accessories we saw at the show. And in case you missed them, here is our cardio wrap and here is our strength wrap.
