Hey gang,
Over the years of training in the martial arts with a slant on performance enhancement for competition etc. I learned that a crucial piece of equipment not often thought of first when you think martial arts etc but is crucial is the electronic timer. With a good timer you can better track your performance and enhance your workouts by also regulating not only your workout phases but just as important, your rest periods. THere are a few affordable boxing timers out there such as the the Everlast boxing timer which runs in 6-9 dollar range available locally in many sports/fitness stores. Small, (about the size of a medium sized cellphone or large oldstyle pager) lightweight, simple to use but loud which is a good thing. I've had good luck with it but its drawback is its limited settings of only 2min or 3 min active rounds and choice of 30 secs or 1 minute rest periods for up to 12 rounds. It also has a vibriation setting to go along with the Classic "Old school" boxing ring bell tone incase you dont hear the bell sound asumming you are wearing the timer on you. This timer has served well me in the past but I wanted more and the Boxing ring chime gets a bit old and annoying after awhile. I recently acquired a new timer by the GymBoss company. Smaller, lightweight about the size of a small electronic egg/cooking timer and having a wider selection or customising your training and rest period intervals from 1 sec to 99 mins each. By stricltly monitoring your rests, you can track your improvements by shaving down your times, etc. The chime tone is a more pleasant but sharp "Beep" which also has 3 settings of high, medium, and low but I havnt noticed much difference in the 3 tones to be honest. The beep tone seems to fit better emotionally when I use the timer in classes such as TaiChi as to the Primeaval feel of the Boxing gym ring tone. The Gymboss also has a stopwatch feature included but as far as I can tell both modes cannot be used simultaneously. THe GymBoss can run indefinite active/rest rounds or single rounds. It comes in 3 colors Silver w/hard plactic shell, Pink and Black with soft rubber coating, the 2 latter models are the newest offering. The Gymboss is a bit more expensive at about $20.00 per unit but with the wider variety of features, I find for me it is well worth it. Available through gymboss.com
