Small Space Fitness: Kinetix

I received my Kinetix starter kit today. Kinetix is a simple integrated system that combines nutrition, exercise, and a supportive community to help get you in great shape.

My starter kit was free and offered to me through my employer. The kit is a basic overview of the system with a journal to track your progress and workouts. It all looks pretty good and I’m hopeful that I can use it to get back into great shape.

The workouts are not hard, but there is either lifting or cardio six days a week. The sessions are all short — 30 minuets each. I am more concerned about trying to balance my meals than the workouts.

I’ll post additional updates as I get into the system.

Small Space Fitness: Sports Furniture

The problem with working out at home is two-fold — space and ugly equipment. I guess in some bachelor-pad environments you can live with workout gear, but in most small homes you don’t want that stuff out in the open.

I have actually done a post on equipment for small spaces, but it usually needs to be easily storable to make my cut. I have endeavored to find stylish workout gear like a bench that could be a bench for sitting then a bench for exercise, but it’s hard to find.

Well Postfossil has a new line called Sports Furniture that looks promising. The collection consists of a pull-up-bar, mat, bench, skipping rope and a cup. The bench is a stylish wood bench with storage for other equipment and sturdy enough to workout on. The pull-up bar looks like a piece of sculpture — I mean it’s not hard to look at and more attractive than those doorway mounted pull-up bars.

All in all it’s a good start, I’d love to see more of this type of stylish workout equipment.

Small Space Extreme Sports: Pen Spinning

Today I bring extreme sports to the small space dwelling masses. I know you crave having the space for an indoor basketball hoop or bowling lane of your own. Today I bring you a far cooler activity suitable for small space living.

Pen Spinning has not really caught on in the states as the competitive, don’t poke your eye out sport that it is. In Japan, however, it is huge. I am aware that not all, ok many, Japanese trends never catch on in the rest of the world, but I think pen spinning has merit.

Penz’Gear is now selling a two pack of specially balanced spinning pens complete with a DVD of tricks. If you are not familiar with pen spinning, you need to be. Do yourself a favor and watch the video at the bottom of this post.

The things these people can do with pens — yes pens — is just plain insane. Well I’d like to write more, but I need to practice. The next time you see me, I may well have ink all over my hands, but you’ll know why.

Small Space Waste Reduction: Filter For Good

I don’t know if you have seen the Brita ads with the person running on the treadmill. The short of it is “30 minutes on the treadmill, forever in a landfill”. You think it’s the person they are talking about, but then you realize it’s the plastic water bottle.

I’m beginning to realize just how dumb bottled water is. A few years ago Coca-Cola admitted that their Dasani Water was well water, from the tap no less. Filtered, over priced and bottled, but tap water nonetheless. In addition to paying too much for tap water, you get all the convenience of destroying the environment with plastic bottles. Bottles that either consume rescores through recycling or more frequently get buried in landfills.

Well Brita, along with Nalgene and Filter for Good, are trying to save you money and save your planet. It is really quite a simple premise — get yourself some reusable bottles and a water filter and it’s by-by middleman. You can bottle your own water. You will begin saving money very quickly. The bottles are cheap and you may even have one already — Nalgene bottles are everywhere. The Brita filters are quite reasonably priced — I’d wager less than the cost of one case of that fancy bottled tap water. I recommend the Brita Space saver it will fit better in your small space.

So you have the filter, the bottles and your tap water — now you’re in business. Just remember to thoroughly clean your bottles and you can save money, the environment and space all at the same time.

UPDATE

I bought a new Brita filter pitcher this weekend, the slim model. It was $12.00. Not a bad deal.

Small Space Folding Bike

Brompton Bicycles has been making its genius little folders for more than 30 years. These bikes fold down to a 10" x 24" x 32" package to facilitate easy storage.

The bikes fold and unfold quickly. They are not the lightest bikes; most models weigh around 25 pounds, but the weight denotes the quality of the build. The 16" wheels may look small, but offer performance similar to larger wheels — they have more strength.

Bike riding is all around good. It’s good for you and good for the environment. Anything that makes biking easier gets kudos from me. An easy to stow bike could be just the thing you need.

Skeppshult Bikes

Photo Credits Skeppshult Bikes
Bikes are an ideal mode of transportation in the city, epically if you live in a bike-friendly city. Pittsburgh is a fairly bike-friendly as far as the infrastructure goes. There are paved bike trails everywhere, and bike lanes on many streets. The geography is slightly less bike-friendly — if you have ever been here, you know it’s a hilly bugger of a city. Despite the geography handicap, I continually see more and more people on bikes.

If you intend to make a real go of commuting on a bike or even using it for short jaunts, you need a good bike. When your bike is constantly breaking down or it is not tough enough to deal with the rigors of city life it makes biking a lot less fun.

Skeppshult has been producing classic bikes in Sweden for nearly 100 years. Bikes are far more prevalent in all of Europe than here in the US. I think these rugged handsome bikes have a good deal to do with that. Skeppshult Bikes are built to last. Their most popular model, the Nature, is the quintessential classic bicycle. There is just something romantic and enduring about the design of this bike.

As spring nears, get out there on your bike. If you can’t ride to work, take it to the corner store. Or just cruise about your neighborhood. Its great exercise and better for the environment than your car.

Small Space Fitness

We all know how important it is to exercise. I never seem to get to the gym enough even though I can walk there in two minutes. The best way to ensure you workout frequently is to have the equipment in your home. How do you manage fitting workout equipment into your small space?

Dumbbells are a fundamental part of any strength-training program. They can be quite bulky — if you have ever been to the gym you know how large a set can be.

Powerblock has very efficiently solved the space issue when it comes to fitness. With one small adjustable set of dumbbells and the combination a folding bench-rack, you can have a full gym in your home. Dumbbells are so efficient that it is possible to get a full body workout in 20 minutes.

There are other brands of adjustable dumbbells on the market, but none have the cost to weight ratio of Powerblocks. With sets fully expandable to 130 Lbs each, it is possible to get a very heavy-duty workout.