FitDeck
Each card in this 56-card deck illustrates a different exercise; none requires equipment. Shuffle well, pick as many cards as you like (assume one card per minute, including rest) and perform a fresh full-body workout. Created by a former Navy SEAL fitness instructor, this deck can push you as far as you like (modifications available for beginners). Eliminate rest between exercises, and your heart will pump like a piston. $19; www.fitdeck.com
Balance Trainer
_____Live Discussions_____
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Transcript: Excessive Exercise: The Moving Crew will discuss revised dietary guidelines that recommend Americans should make time for 30 to 90 minutes of daily physical activity.
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Transcript: Post-Rehab Fitness: Sabrena Newton, fitness professional consultant was online to discuss getting back into the groove after physical therapy.
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A cross between a balance board and one of those trendy (and costly) Bosu balls, this device challenges your balance and core when added to any exercise. Stand on it while watching TV to work leg muscles and build balance. Put it under one hand while doing pushups and add some twitchy core work. Perch on it and toss a medicine ball between your hands.
$20 (via various online retailers); www.harbingerfitness.com
Yourself Fitness
This interactive program puts the pert and cocky virtual trainer Maya on your TV or computer screen. Input your personal data, perform a five-part fitness evaluation and record what equipment you have on hand (stability ball, hand weights, heart rate monitor, aerobics step). Maya will create a custom program for you and modify it as you progress. The workouts are eclectic, but each begins with tedious '80s-era aerobic dance moves. For Xbox and PlayStation2 gaming systems and PCs, $30-$35; www.yourselffitness.com
Yoga Grip Hand and Foot Gloves
The Eastern discipline's fluid poses may embody grace, but as any aspiring yogi knows, considerable effort goes into them. Mix sweating palms and feet with a smooth-faced yoga mat, and concentration, at the very least, can start to slip. Snug, rubber-studded, stretch-cotton hand and foot gloves are one solution. Purists may object. But the new confidence of your Downward Dog may win them over.
About $20 per pair through Sun Salutations Inc., available in different sizes, colors; www.yogagripgloves.com
Egg Ball
It rolls like any stability ball, but the egg ball's elongated shape and cushiony feel reduce chances that a novice will slide off. That could make it a good prop for beginners, seniors, pregnant women or others seeking to build core strength, flexibility or balance without tipping over. But there is a trade-off: The egg isn't "causing those stabilizing muscles to function at a high level," as a standard ball would, says Cedric Bryant, spokesman for the American Council on Exercise.
$35-$40; www.spriproducts.com -- Products reviewed by Craig Stoltz, Susan Morse and Samantha Sordyl
