You may have seen ads or infomercials for some kind of muscle stimulation devices (EMS). Or perhaps a sponsored post in your social media feed about a TENS device for pain relief..
Powerdot is a combination of both, and is controlled from a free app for your iOs or android phone.
At a price tag of about €350 for the Duo, its saucy enough compared to basic models that do more or less the same thing for a fraction of the price. So the question is, is it worth paying the extra money? I've had an extend loan of one from a friend, so after 12 months of fairly regular use, here's my verdict.
Short answer: In my opinion yes, especially if convenience and ease of use is important for you.
It comes in a tidy travel case, and hasn't caused me any problems so far while going through airport security in the EU with it in carry-on hand luggage. There are 2 sets of pairs of leads to connect the control units to the pads, long and short. This means lanky, long limbed feckers like myself (6'3 /190cm) will have no problems due to short leads.
The app which controls everything is easy to use, and you can increase or decrease the level of stimulation at any time, as well as stopping a program early if you need to. There are several types of programs to choose from, and over the last 12 months I've put most of them to the test at some stage.
You can also adjust the balance between comfort and effectiveness, which I think is a nice touch, and not something you can do with typical TENS/EMS units.
The manual has nice big images for clear pad placement, and the re-usable pads themselves are recommended for about 25 uses, but it's possible to get much more use than that so long as you follow instructions diligently.
New Year's Eve, on what has been the strangest year most of us have ever seen, and I'm pretty sure NONE of us predicted anything close to what this year brought us. I hope you're doing ok.
For me, this year has been a struggle. As you may know, I'm a performer as well as a fitness professional, and most of my income comes from entertaining people. In March, I could see about 80% of my forecasted income for the year just evaporate. Also, I opened a studio in Tralee last year, and I haven't opened my doors for clients since mid-March. Thankfully, most of my personal training clients have been happy enough to transfer to online coaching, and in some cases even prefer it. That said, I miss the face to face aspect of PT and fitness classes, as well as being beneficial, it's more fun for all involved.
In the autumn I returned to full-time education, and I have to be honest, I am not enjoying the online college experience. At times it feels like most of my life is in front of a screen now, and that's just not my cup of tea.
A combination of all these stresses caused me to start suffering from anxiety; it took a while for me to realise what was going on, but in a nutshell, I was having huge problems concentrating, and my heart rate was all over the place, literally going from 50-100bpm while I was just sitting down, and averaging 173 on easy runs that are normally at 133. This was the wake-up call I needed to reach out for help, so I'm seeing a counselor to help with that. I could try to sort it out on my own, but wouldn't that just be adding more stress when I'm already struggling? I probably could do it, but that would be making life harder than it needs to be, and it's not going to be an efficient way for me to get the result I'm looking for.
To put it another way, I followed my own recommendation:
"If you're serious about getting a result, get the help of a professional; A professional will know the questions to ask to help you make progress quickly."
This year has been one where we've all had to adapt to new ways of doing things, and personal training and coaching is no exception. Doing fitness classes online has been an interesting experience: who would have thought we'd all become experts in zoom this year?
From talking to clients, I've changed the type of classes I'm offering online to meet their needs more effectively. High Intensity Interval Training is proving popular, and so I have 25-30 minute HIIT classes aimed at the core and a HIIT class for runners (or people who want to start running). The latest addition is a mix of Pilates and Yoga, to mobilise the neck, shoulders, back, and hips & generally undo some of the harm that 2020 is doing to us all. Another way I've adapted is by creating a library of workouts on-demand, so even if a class time doesn't suit you, you can access it at a time that suits you.
All of these fitness classes are on Strydal, which is where I host my membership. It's easier than zoom, has much better privacy, and allows me to address people privately during the class if needs be.
Click the link above to come and join us, and take action on your fitness as we leave 2020.
