Stay Fit with these Talking Products

30-Love: Tennis Guidelines for Players with Visual Impairments or Blindness

Learn this new and exciting sport that's making news around the world! Whether practicing against a wall, playing singles against an opponent, or participating in a round of doubles, adaptive tennis is a great sport for practicing sound localization skills and socialization. Meets national standards on physical education.

Helps players develop: ability to accelerate, leg strength, general body coordination, gross motor control, fine motor control, bone strength, agility, balance, and flexibility. Players learn a variety of skills, including: competing one-on-one, accepting responsibility, managing adversity, accommodating stress, planning and implementing strategies, solving problems, sportsmanship, and teamwork.

Includes

• 2 blindfolds
• 2 rackets
• Set of 6 sound-adapted tennis balls
• 30-Love: Tennis Guidelines for Players with Visual Impairments, Large Print
• 30-Love: Tennis Guidelines for Players with Visual Impairments, Braille

Watch videos of tennis on: www.aph.org/pe/features.html

Note: Extra sound-adapted tennis balls are available as replacement parts.

Catalog Number: 1-08110-00
Click this link to purchase 30-Love: Tennis Guidelines for Players with Visual Impairments or Blindness.

Jump Rope to Fitness Kit

Improve your cardiovascular health: 10 minutes of jumping rope can be as effective as 30 minutes of jogging! The APH Jump Rope to Fitness Kit provides individuals with visual impairment the tools to jump rope independently, learn specific skills, and set goals.

Includes:

• Plastic cord jump rope
• Short beaded jump rope
• Medium beaded jump rope
• Long beaded jump rope
• Jump Snap^DTM talking-ropeless jump rope
• Orientation anti-shock mat
• Jump Rope to Fitness Guidebook, Large Print
• Jump Rope to Fitness Guidebook, Braille

The guidebook describes the benefits of jumping rope, explains how to get started, introduces jump rope social awareness, and leads you through the progressions of jumping rope.

Catalog Number: 1-07521-00
Click this link to purchase the Jump Rope to Fitness Kit.

Creating An Inexpensive Running Track

Many years ago, a co-worker took a vacation trip to Hawaii. When she returned she had lots of stories to tell about her experiences and observations. One of these stories concerned a home-made "exercise track" used by a blind fellow on one of the beaches.

A friend guided the man to the beach, drove a pole deep into the sand, dropped a ring attached to a rope over the pole and left. The blind fellow took the far end of the rope in his hand and walked out to its full length--about 20 feet. He walked once around the circumference of this circle to make certain his path was clear. (He used the sound of the ocean as a marker to tell him when he had gone once around the circle. Then, he ran full speed around and around the circle. After a number of rounds, he reversed his direction, taking the rope in his other hand and running counterclockwise instead of his original clockwise direction. He continued this pattern of operation throughout his time on the beach.

My friend watched and, after about an hour of vigorous running, he slowed down, stopped, did a few "cool down" exercises and blew a police whistle. In a few minutes, the fellow who had guided him to the beach came. They coiled the rope, took up the pole and left.

Since full and free running opportunities are not easy for a blind person to find, this might be one way of helping some individuals under the right circumstances. An echo from a nearby house instead of the ocean might serve as a place marker. Rope length might vary depending on availability of space, etc.

Walk/Run for Fitness Kit

APH's Walk/Run for Fitness Kit includes:

• A personal guidewire system
• Two talking pedometers
• A guidebook in both large print and braille
• Shoulder sling carrying pack

The guidebook explains the five major components of fitness: cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, and body mass index. The personal guidewire system can be set up in your backyard, a school, or a park. The two pedometers encourage family and peer participation. If running or walking with a human guide, you can use the kit's adjustable tether, which is long enough to accommodate wheelchair users. The kit includes a convenient shoulder sling pack for storage and travel.

Complete Kit:
Catalog Number: 1-07520-00

Replacement Guidebooks:

Print Edition:
Catalog Number: 7-07520-00

Braille Edition:
Catalog Number: 5-07520-00
Click this link to purchase APH's Walk/Run for Fitness Kit.

American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.
1839 Frankfort Avenue
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6085
Louisville, Kentucky 40206-0085
Toll Free: 800-223-1839
Phone: 502-895-2405
Fax: 502-899-2274
E-mail: info@aph.org
Web site: http://www.aph.org
APH Shopping Home: http://shop.aph.org

Talking Calorie Pedometer

This innovative pedometer will actually speak the distance you have walked, the number of steps you have taken, and the total number of calories burned, as well as having a standard clock function with alarm. It is completely customizable for the individual who is using it. Simply enter your step length and weight, and the calories burned and distance calculations are personally computed for you.

Also included is a pacer function, which changes the tempo of a melody based on your walking or jogging speed. The built-in back light ensures easy reading in any light condition. It includes a battery and belt clip, so you can be out walking to better health in no time flat!

Click this link to purchase the Talking Calorie Pedometer from the New-Temp website.

Talking Pedometer

Brookstone also has a Talking Pedometer. This clever exercise companion announces out loud the precise distance traveled, calories burned, and elapsed time of your workout. It also displays the same information on a large LCD screen. Perfect for runners, walkers and hikers. Uses 2 button cell batteries (included).

Click this link to purchase the Talking Pedometer from Brookstone.

Talking Digital Hand Grip Exerciser

Here's a nifty product that works just like your standard squeeze strengthener except that a pleasant female voice will announce your workout results like present grip force, record grip force and number of squeezes.

The exerciser is capable of measuring grip forces from 8.8 pounds up to 199.6 pounds and also includes a detailed LCD display if you get tired of listening to the voice.

The Talking Digital Hand Grip Exerciser is available from the Improvements online catalog.

Talking Dumbbells

It's easy to lose focus when you're counting repetitions while using free weights. But the Everlast Talking Dumbbells act as your personal trainer, counting your reps out loud while you work out, so you'll be able to stay focused for a more effective workout. Fill these free weights with up to 4 pounds of water, adjusting the difficulty of your workout as you gain strength.

The Talking Dumbbells have a computer built in to keep track of your number of repetitions, lifts per minute, amount of calories burned during your session, and the total session time.

Click this link to purchase the Talking Dumbells from the Smarthome website.

The Adeo Fitness Companion Provides Audio Updates As You Train

I'm not sure if this device is 100% accessible, but it sounds totally cool for keeping track of your performance levels as you train. I use the word train because this device was meant for people who are serious about their exercise regiment, not for the weekend runner. People with no vision may have difficulty with the initial setup of the product.

The following information comes direct from the product website:

TRACK AND IMPROVE YOUR PERFORMANCE

The ADEO Fitness Companion tracks your workout progress via GPS location. It then gives you periodic audible progress updates through your earphones. Based on GPS data and an internal clock, the device computes total distance traveled, peak, current, and average speeds, elevation, elapsed time, current time, calories burned, as well as several other progress variables.

STORE ROUTINES AND CUSTOMIZE WORKOUTS

The ADEO Fitness Companion stores three different Update Routines in memory. The tracking settings in each Update Routine can be customized to suit a particular type of workout. This feature is particularly helpful if your workouts vary between biking, running, walking, or jogging, etc.

You can program each of the three Update Routines to provide you with different progress variables. You can also program the unit to play the verbal updates at intervals based on time or distance. You can even connect the unit to your iPod or other MP3 player and the device will intersperse real-time workout information with your music.

The ADEO Fitness Companion stores your workout data in internal memory. After you complete your workout, simply download that data to your computer. The MotionTrak software uses this downloaded information to graph your performance and track your improvement over time.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• GPS Update Rate: 1 hz
  
• Size: 3" x 2" x 9/16"
  
• Weight: 2.1 oz.
  
• Battery Type: Rechargeable Lithium Ion
  
• Battery Life: 6 hours
  
• Battery Charging Time: 4-6 hours
  
• Audio Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz +/- 1db
  
• Connection Type: USB
  
• Internal Memory: Up to 10 hours of workout data
  
  Windows System Requirements
  
  
• Pentium III
  
• 800MHZ +
  
• Windows 2000 (Service Pack 3) or Windows XP
  
  Macintosh System Requirements
  
  
• Mac OS X 10.2 +
  
• 256MB RAM
  
• 40MB available space

Click this link to learn more about the Adeo Fitness Companion.

Note to people who use screen readers: The home page contains a flash-based demo that will start automatically once loaded. The demo does include an audio track with lots of music and an example of how the product sounds as it provides updates.