New exercise machines for a whole new person: the latest in fitness technology
Achieve your fitness goals with new home exercise machines and fitness technology, from smarter dumbbells to a stationary bike that simulates hard surfaces
New Year’s fitness goals often fall by the wayside. While certain types of exercise depend on getting outside, there’s one surefire way to make sure it’s never far from your mind: buy gear that will silently judge you if it’s not being used. A large exercise machine is an investment that will affect your conscience if you ignore it. Here’s our selection of high-end fitness devices, machines that look purposeful and attractive, not oppressive or scary, and hopefully won’t end up full of clothes before the end of next month.
Exercise machines and fitness technology.
Water
The Hydrow is a rowing machine with a difference, integrating a 22-inch flat screen into its curvaceous frame. The rowing mechanism uses electromagnetism to create a variable drag resistance, as well as ensuring that the workout is almost completely silent. The only noise will come from the screen’s built-in speakers, which can display a variety of personalized programming, from one-on-one workouts by company members to relaxing trips through distant waterways.
NOHRD SlimBeam
The SlimBeam is one element of a set of wood-framed fitness equipment built by the German company WaterRower. SlimBeam, a cable-based exercise machine, can be supplied in a number of different natural wood finishes as well as solid colours. Designed to be wall mounted, it contains 70kg of weights in 5kg plates, built into the frame, with an app that connects to the machine and tracks your workouts.
Multi-Purpose Cable Machine, from £1,649, nohrd.com
Kinesis technology
Technogym’s Kinesis is a powerful piece of equipment, available in mirror-polished steel, black wood or hand-stitched leather, with American oak wall bars and four sets of chrome-plated folding pulleys that promise to deliver around 200 different workouts. A simple dial allows you to increase resistance for easy strength training.
NordicTrack iSelect Adjustable Dumbbells
The trend of making everything smart now applies to something traditionally dumb. NordicTrack’s iFIT home training system is an app that ties in with the company’s range of treadmills, bikes and ellipticals. The latest addition to the suite is this iSelect weight set, ‘voice controlled adjustable dumbbells’ that are housed in a motorized weight selector case. Simply tell your smart assistant to increase the load or set the proper weight for a specific exercise, and the case will automatically adjust the dumbbells to a weight between 5lbs and 50lbs.
And Jacob’s marble cufflinks
Go in the opposite direction with these solid marble cufflinks from Mexican housewares company And Jacob. Available in three sizes (1.5kg, 1kg and 0.8kg), the traditional-style weights are hand-carved from solid marble and serve as elegant paperweights when not thrown away.
platoon tread
Peloton prides itself on being a one-stop shop for all things fitness, pairing their high-quality kit with a consistent, comprehensive, and complete set of exercise regimens (subscription only) that help you get the most out of your machinery. The Tread is the company’s treadmill product, complete with a 23.8-inch screen through which you’ll receive your instructions, a 150cm wide running track and metric, metric, metric, to allow you to perform a tracking every facet of that very modern quest, your ‘fitness’. trip’.
Tacx NEO Bike Garmin Smart Trainer
Garmin’s extensive lineup covers the entire fitness spectrum, from marathons to hiking, biking, fishing, and even private aviation. The company’s Tacx NEO Bike Smart is a stationary trainer designed to be quiet but not necessarily smooth (it can simulate riding on cobblestones and gravel) along with built-in fans for cooling. In addition to the company’s own app, it is fully compatible with Zwift, the e-cycling platform that hosts regular virtual championships between cyclists from around the world.
Mativ Smart Mat
Intelligence has seeped into just about everything, but the Mativ Smart Mat claims to be the first exercise mat to track your workout. The sensors are embedded in the surface, which are paired with a smart band, both of which take about ten days to change. Flexible sensors allow the mat to be rolled up for storage or to take to class, and the New York-based company also has a subscription service for a fitness program that promises to cater to a wide range of abilities.
Theragun Elite
The massage gun is having a moment, with professionals and therapists swearing by the power of deep muscle treatment. Theragun is one of the best, with a solid case that packs a two-hour battery, a near-silent motor, and the distinctive triangular multi-grip for getting into those hard-to-reach places. The device also has a display to show the force being applied and the Theragun app integrates with Google Fit and Apple Health to make sensible suggestions for the most suitable post-workout routine.
go up
Currently, stair treadmills lag behind bicycles and treadmills in terms of sophistication. Clmbr wants to change all that with its new machine, which has been designed to integrate all the technology that has become standard in other devices: instructor-led classes, full app connectivity, Alexa integration, and industrial steel design. The workout it offers may seem niche, but the company claims it engages “more than 86 percent of the body’s muscles,” giving faster results than cycling or rowing.
§
