In recent years, the most worrisome health problem in the United States has been obesity. A small problem two decades ago, it has quickly risen to the top of the list. This is in a large part due to the way many Americans lives are structured. Busy days filled with stress and little relaxation lead into poor eating habits and unhealthy living. Many people also have a difficult time fitting in the gym every day. On top of that, the gym is not the most inviting place. Gym memberships are expensive, they aren’t always close to home or work and they sometimes are not even a mentally comfortable place to work out.
Over and over again companies have come out with the best and newest and most advanced workout tool or personal trainer that will motivate people to lose weight and stay in shape. The creators of Lumafit, however, believe that exercise in not the only piece to a healthy body.
Having little to no financial backing, the makers of Lumafit turned to popular funding website Kickstarter. In order to begin production and shipping, the Dublin, Ireland-based company wanted $60,000 in monetary backing. As of June 6th of this year the project was successfully funded on the site with 1,039 backers and just over $100,000 in financing.
Lumafit is an interactive fitness coach worn on the ear with the ability to sync with multiple smartphone apps. The idea behind this fitness tracker is keeping a bulky band off the wrist and putting the equipment in a spot that won’t get in the way of exercise. The plastic piece actually rests on top of the ear while a clip attaches to the earlobe. This clip is actually where the technology is.
The makers knew that identifying exact motion at the wrist was difficult because the wrist goes through large motions that are unrelated to core body movement. The earpiece is built with comfort in mind with soft material on the inside to make it feel like it isn’t even there. With the clip and snug fit, the piece is ensured to stay on during all levels of exercise. While the earpiece only weighs 38 grams, the best part is it only needs to be worn during exercise and meditation sessions to get the information it needs. Tracking at the head allows the Lumafit to precisely identify and rate cardio workouts. The Lumafit can track the user wherever they choose to work out. At home the device can track boot camp sessions including exercises like lunges, sit-ups or squats. Gym workouts can also be tracked for the purpose of knowing stats and being able to visualize personal progress over time.
According to Lumafit, it is not only important to be body fit, but mind fit as well. The product provides medical grade heart data allowing the company to develop apps that guide and analyze yoga breathing sessions.
To go with this information gathering, there are three apps that work with the Lumafit. They are the Gym Tracker, Home Fitness and Yoga Breathing. The gym tracker obviously tracks gym workouts, while the home fitness app runs interactive Bootcamp sessions which are designed to burn over 200 calories in twenty minutes. The Yoga breathing app gives a ten minute interactive and mindful deep breathing session.
Lumafit is aiming to add more tools to their product as additional funding pours in. One is the ability to analyze and improve running style. The Lumafit currently has a high resolution motion sensor that can gather information on running style. These include: impact force, air time, cadence, symmetry and stride variance. With the goal of $100,000 reached, this should be added on to the system.
The world can now rid themselves of bulky chest strap heart rate monitors and heavy wrist bracelets. The Lumafit does more, weighs less and is less troublesome during workouts.