Gadget-holics Anonymous

Hello everyone, my name is T.P. and I'm a gadget-holic.

I really can't help it. It must be the inner geek in me, but I just find gadgets totally irresistible. Especially when I can justify that this particular gadget is good for me somehow.

Exercise aid gadgets would be the category I enjoy most. I've got a lovely little new iPod Nano with a Nike+ running system on it, and it makes my morning runs oh so much better.

The Nike+ running system is great, but its not accurate by any means. It's all based on averages and estimates. Great for running, but offers you absolutely nothing in the gym as soon as you step off the treadmill.

My all time favourite gadget would have to be a Polar heart rate monitor. I had a Polar M21 for years and years and it was my trustworthy training partner on every exercise I embarked on.

If I remember correctly it was one of the first - if not the first - Polar models made specifically for weight management and when I first bought it, it did make a major impact on my workout routine and the results really showed. I absolutely luveded it.

Unfortunately my baby broke early last year... I thought it had ran out of batteries, but a new set of batteries would not bring it back. Exercising just hasn't been the same since.

Yesterday, I finally replaced my baby with a perty bright red Polar F55 model.

I didn't see any reason for sticking with a weight management model, since it's not losing kilos I'm after, but improving my level of fitness. F55 is the best one out of the fitness models Polar offers, and therefore contains more goodies than the other models in the series. Much more sophisticated than my old simple M21, it'll take a while for me to learn all the features.

A fantastic aid in weight training, this baby stores a customisable workout program that even comes with a starting recommendation of repetitions and weights based on my gender, age, weight and height. How awesome is that?

I took it for a test run at the gym last night and I love it! On top of the body program, it's got everything that a fitness fanatic might wish for. I can strongly recommend this to any lil fitness bunny out there.

In fact the only thing I see worthy of bitching about is that its not Mac OS X compatible. Shame on you Polar! Shame on you for not keeping up with the times. Bring out OS X versions of the up-link and web-link software and redeem yourself!

Apart from the lack of compatible software I am very impressed with my new training buddy, and I dare say it will be much more cost effective than hiring a personal trainer. Besides, its red. All things red are good. Oh, and also, Polar is a Finnish company. That's always a bonus.

I do love my gadgets.