We've all been there. You're sick of the gym. It's Ireland, so there's always a gael force seven storm about to pass over your town and you don't fancy exposing yourself to the elements. But you badly need a workout.
You're an innovative thinker so you type 'best 30 minute abs workout no equipment' into YouTube on your laptop. You throw on some workout gear, roll out a mat and get ready to rock. Five minutes in, you find yourself checking your phone, thinking about dinner and regretting telling yourself that you could have gotten a decent workout on your own.
For those of us who are not fitness addicts, home fitness is nigh impossible. Still the dream lives on: what if there was some technology that give us the intensity of a gym exercise without the hassle of going to the gym? There are a few new products that make it seem like we might be approaching a day when home fitness might be actually becoming worth the effort.
Introducing Mirror
The big breakthrough could be a thing called Mirror, which is a really nice-looking piece of technology that can sit in pretty much any room of your house. It's name is self-explanatory (it actually functions as a mirror when it's not in use) and users can access live real-time classes from the Mirror studio as well as pre-programmed courses on yoga, HIIT and much more. It has an in-built camera and users are promised personal feedback and advice.
Your next workout could be guided by your furniture. At least that's the case for Mirror, the latest gadget in a trend of fitness products meant to replace the gym: https://t.co/tISJqljouD pic.twitter.com/VeGVYhRpsg
— CNBC (@CNBC) March 18, 2019
Part of the Mirror's appeal is that it looks so futuristic - this is the kind of exercise device the directors of 'Back To The Future 2' had in mind when they were designing the future. Initial reviews have been very positive: Time magazine called it one of the best inventions of 2018. Many fitness experts seem to agree.
Such a cool piece of technology, of course, comes with a serious pricetag. The Mirror costs Americans $1,495 and access to their app and workouts costs $39 per month. So it's not cheap. But it's the closest we've come to getting the gym into the household, and for people who are put off by all of the rigmarole of going to a gym, technology like Mirror could launch the home fitness revolution we've all been waiting for.