Social Workout

Shoe Wars

Nike's Big Fake Butt Ads

Back in 2005, Nike came out with a series of big butt ads. "My butt is big and round like the letter C and 10,000 lunges have made it rounder but not smaller and that's just fine..." read the copy. The image that accompanied these words was a disembodied rump, and this week a whole bunch of people got really excited because they thought Nike had reissued the ads, but this time with a real butt attached to a real lady (see image at left). Alas, turns out the new ad was a fake. One clue: the fakers are bad spellers and presumably Nike has copy editors. ("It's my embassador to those who walk behind me," reads the fake). Nike's actual new ads, we're sad to report, feature no butts whatsoever. Though they do rip on toning shoes, which is kind of fun.

SW Labs

Motivation Through Technology

If I could have sex with anything in my gym bag it would be a little doohicky I attach to my sneaker. I have never in my life before owned anything by Nike (because I apparently live under a rock) but the Nike+iPod gizmo is by far the most motivating fitness fad I've succumbed to. Best $30 I have ever spent and here's why:

Online & Video

Tracking

My Favorite Sites (Other Than Social Workout!) For Internet Sweat

Feel like obsessing about your fitness, weight, lack of direction in life while you should be doing something productive for society and/or your boss? Have I got some sites for you. The interwebs is a magical place full of little nuggets of self-improvement obsession and time wasting.  From ExerciseFriends (like internet dating, but more immediately sweaty) to Dailyplate (where you can stalk your meals and the meals of your friends), all of the below are gratis, because the internet is best when it's free (I'm still mourning the early days of Napster).

Soccer Shoe Mania

Adidas Makes Lightest Soccer Shoe Evah

Nike might have the phattest World Cup videos, but Adidas has the lightest "football" shoes. (Somewhere Run DMC is filing up their shopping cart.) Fast Company has the full story, but here's the summary: Normal shoes weight about 10 ounces. A pair of the new Adidas F50 Adizero weigh just 5.8 ounces. It's all about high tech microfibers, and organically shaped injection molding, and much more reminiscent of racing yacht design than, say, penny loafers. The shoes are mass produced, however, and so will be coming soon to a store near you. Guaranteed to excite envy at your intramural soccer game, or at certain fashion-forward nightspots....

Friday Afternoon Videos

Nike Doubles Down on World Cup Propaganda

Nike has made a World Cup commercial. Less commercial, really, than multi-media, multi-cultural, 21st Century soccer dream sequence. Yes, they're injecting their brand deep into your Id, but it still might be worth the three minutes....

Online & Video

Workout Tech

The Adidas miCoach vs. Nike+ Showdown

Gizmodo thinks the Adidas miCoach is better than the Nike+.  Highlights of their review:

• "Setting up a miCoach account, charging the pacer unit, and getting everything synced barely takes any time."
• "Unlike Nike+ which integrates into specific music players, miCoach can work with any device-including my ol' Sony MD Walkman."
• "Cheesy as it sounds, Adidas got it right with their miCoach website."

Want more? Read the full review. 

Workout

3 mile run and getting faster...

I am going to shave time off my 5k if it takes me the next year to do. This pace is getting easier for me every time I do it -- 3 miles in 26:45. Not too shabby. Following a 10k intermediate training plan from Nike. 

Newslinks

Breast Warmers and Apologies to Caster Semenya and Kate Winslet

• Do women's breasts get especially cold in the winter? Apparently they do in Japan. Breast warmers that plug into USB drives just hit the market there. 
• Caster Semenya has finally received the apology she deserves from Athletics South Africa for forcing her to undergo genetic testing after her 800m victory at the World Championships in Berlin.  
• Kate Winslet won her lawsuit against the Daily Mail, which claimed she lied about her exercise regimen.
• A new study shows alternate-day fasting may be an effective weight-loss strategy for obese dieters.
• The National Institute for Health Statistic's latest report has the U.S. ranked 30th in the world in infant mortality rates. 
• Michael Jordan's son, Marcus, wore Air Jordans to play in a University of Central Florida exhibition game, so Adidas cancelled their deal with the school.
• Scientists have found that adding sugar to the diet of worms decreases their lifespan 20%. Don't rush to pop open your Diet Coke. Just imagine what those worms were eating before someone dumped sugar on them.
• A new genetic test can tell you how many years of fertility you have left. 
• Men suffering from erections lasting more than four hours may find relief in drugs developed for severe immune disorders.  

Late Breaking

One Million Runners Running

It's tomorrow: One million people running together, either physically or virtually, in Nike's Human Race. In New York, things kick off at 8:00 A.M. in Prospect Park. Or just strap on your Nike+. Crazily enough, it's not too late to join them. Just in case you hadn't made your Saturday plans yet....

Eat.Sweat.Blog.

Eat.Sweat.Blog. Day Seven Morning Update

It's Wednesday, dead center of the week, and our participation rate is slowly creeping up: We're now at 29%, and climbing. Phat! Do it for the children! Do it for the lover! Or do it for yourself, or for no reason, or for your favorite novelist, or for minor news stories that make you cry. Just do it! (Thank you Nike.) Our numbers are also increasing: We now have 636 challengers, a world record. If we few, we merry few, can be just a little healthier, a little less sleep deprived, and little more nourished, the world will be just a little happier. Hang together, BUT, as ashleigh0723 says, do remember to step away from screen once in a while....