Nike +

Innovation in the fitness market has brought about several new Hi-tech gadgets to help take the monotony out of ordinary daily exercise. Runners who once toted their heavy battery powered Walkmans are now using the Ipod. At about a quarter the weight of ordinary CD players, the Ipod holds up to 20x the amount of music while still being portable.

The innovation comes not from a reduction in size, but the addition of the Nike+. Nike is well known as an innovator in the sports fitness industry and is continuing to lead the way. The Nike+ was created in 2007 and was intended to supplement runners’ distance logs and help them track goals. Most runners currently use some form of a portable music device to entertain them while jogging for exercise. The Nike+ takes advantage of those runners using the Ipod and adds additional features to help runners track distance, calories burned, heart rate and much more.

As the Nike+ works only with the Ipod, Apple’s Itunes plays a large role in the success of the Nike+. Users are constantly publishing “workout playlists” that other users can download and find their inspiration from. There are playlists with everything from motivational speech through dance and Electronica.

With a price tag of only $29, the Nike+ Ipod kit (provided you already have an Ipod Nano) is inexpensive and offers a slew of online features. The wireless devices collect data during your run and syncs up to Nikeplus.com to track time, distance, personal goals, and even lets you share and compare with other runners. The community has grown so large, in fact, that Nike will be hosting a running event this year called “The Human Race,” a 10K event that will be talking place in over 35 cities worldwide.

The aim of “the Human Race” is to help contribute to 3 worldwide charities, World Wildlife Foundation, The Lance Armstrong Livestrong fund, and the UN Refugee Agency. Furthermore, runners will be able to choose which charity a portion of their registration fee will be donated to. For more about Nike+ and The Human Race, Visit nike.com

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