Everyone knows somebody with some home gym gear, stashed awkwardly in a spare bedroom, maybe lurking under the mower in the garage. Eventually taken to the tip or dumped in a skip, the world of home rowers and exercise bikes isn’t a glamorous one.
That’s all about to change though, as a new wave of connected home gym tools starts to arrive. Of course, the outdoor industry has seen a lot of tech in the form of apps, like these best climbing apps, for example, but apart from general training apps like Endomondo, Runkeeper etc – and let’s not even start on about Zombies Run – there’s been little for the home training enthusiast.
A great example of this is a rather ingenious device from the weirdly-named Zlagup stable. The company has created an ordinary pull-up bar, but added smartness, by linking it to a training app. This means your casual home user suddenly has an expert on hand, all the time. The patented device mechanism activates the sensors of a smartphone and automatically controls the training plans of the app – without any additional electronic elements.
The accompanying app tracks performance, statistics, achievements and offers social sharing to encourage even greater efforts – it’s guaranteed to offer “a training experience like never before” according to the manufacturer.
In case you’re thinking this is all a bit unlikely, not only did the creators Vertical-Life receive an industry-acclaimed ISPO Product Award 2016, but they’ve also got previous form – Zlag also makes a smartphone-enabled training aid aimed at climbers, which works in a similar way – check out a full Zlagboard Pro hangboard review here for the full detail.
Back to the Zlagup bar, it’s milled from stainless steel and mounted on a backboard of Alder, so even the most discerning gym goer can’t complain it’s ruining the look of that spare bedroom doorframe.
Available soon from the folks at Vertical-Life…