The Zhip
Recently I bought 3 ipod touches for my wife and kids (Great husband and Father I know..). I got them for a great price at Bestbuy and have no regrets with them so far. I do however have a few problems when using it during my workouts, mainly trying to watch videos while on the treadmill.
I like to catch up on my favorite tv shows (the daily show, the league, and workaholics etc..) when I’m running or walking on the treadmill. There is a groove on the display area where I can rest it, but it isn’t very stable. My ipod has fallen off a few times already with no major damage (yet).
So when I had an opportunity to try out this great little stand made for ipod touches and smartphones I jumped at the chance.
It’s called the ZHIP and I have to say it’s a pretty cool little gadget. Basically it is a fold-able smartphone and ipod stand that has a 3 foot zip cord attached to it. I took it for a test to the gym on the first day I got it. I attached it to the ipod and wrapped it around the treadmill display and locked it in place (another cool feature).
This thing didn’t move, I pushed the speed up to 10 mph for about 30 seconds just to get the treadmill shaking and it held it’s ground. I finished the rest of my run without an issue. You can see how I attached it to my home treadmill below. (sorry my camera sucks)
Pretty impressed with the Zhip so far even though I am probably not using it correctly, lol.
Great as a Stand
I was looking at recipes videos on the ipod as well and when you lay it flat on the counter-top it’s hard to see properly. I hooked it up to the Zhip and it gave me a much better viewing angle, I could actually watch the video instead of just listening to it.
I didn’t try the eye level viewing set up show in the video below but that’s pretty cool too.
I was watching a video on making homemade hamburgers which were great by the way.
Below is the promo video that they have posted on youtube if you want to see everything the Zhip can do.
Clearly I am not using it to it’s full potential!
Recommendation
I don’t promote a lot of products but the timing of the ZHIP was perfect for me, with the ipod purchases and all. It was exactly what I was looking.
If you own an Ipod, Iphone or Android device I would highly recommend that you get one of these. They are really inexpensive too just under $15 buck I think.
I have a feeling that “Santa” will be adding a couple of these to the kids stockings this year.
Where to Buy
Currently you can only buy the ZHIP online at THEZHIP.COM which is fine, they have a 100% money back guarantee and can ship anywhere.
EDIT: Apparently you can also buy the ZHIP at Amazon.com, Bestbuy.com and Newegg.com
But, You better hurry and order soon if you want to get it for Christmas though.
Buy the ZHIP Here. (No, I do not make any money from this)
Share and Enjoy
Great Songs for Running
I just finished a great 45 minute run on the treadmill about 15 minutes ago and I wanted to write this down before I got distracted with some other project.
Many people get bored while running and have a hard time keeping their minds “occupied”, myself included. A great way to fight this is listening to music and singing along with it. (if you are at the gym keep it in your head, lol )
Just google “running music” and you’ll get thousands of sites offering different mixes and playlists, most are listed by BPM (beats per minute) which is convenient if you are looking for pace based workouts. I look at it differently though.
My Ipod is filled with different playlists organized by genre and not BPM. Each genre is best suited for my different moods and how energetic I feel before I workout. For example If I’m in an angry mood or just feeling pissed at myself for missing a previous workout, eating too much etc.. I put on the Hip-Hop or more specifically the Gangster rap. I generally don’t like the content but the beats and over all tone of the music just gets me pumped. (P.S I’m the whitest guy you’ll ever meet).
Tonight I was in a good mood, had a good amount of energy and just wanted to enjoy the run. For that kind of mood I go with either the Dance/techno songs or the Classic rock. It was classic rock night.
Great Songs for Running
Here are just a few of the songs that got me going and yes I know most of these are from the Rock Band games.
Mississippi Queen – Great for singing along with, 3 minutes gone and didn’t even notice it.
Hair of the Dog (Nazerth) – I like to visualize myself gaining on people while running a 5k and saying “now your messing with a son of a bitch” that and I like making the guitar noises half way through the song 
Spirit in the Sky – I’m not religious, I just like singing “gotta have a friend in Jesus” or Allah as my Muslim says. I dare you to singing it without smiling.
Stranglehold – Ted Nugent – The drums and guitar just put me in a better mood, that and I like to imagine me getting my fat self in a stranglehold and giving him crap for not doing more to get the weight off sooner.
Won’t Back Down – Tom Petty – Great song for the last 5-10 minutes when you’re tired and feel like hitting the stop button. The line, “hey baby there ain’t no easy way out” is perfect and fits with my whole weight loss philosophy.
Spoonman – Soundgarden – Not exactly “Classic rock” but it has a great beat, plus I kick ass at rock band on this song and have the rhythm down perfectly. I literally finished my cool down listening to this while playing the air guitar and air drums.
Those are a few of my favorites I have a ton more of 90′s rock, Dance, Techno, etc… sorry no R&B or Country music on the ipod I rather listen to a 45 minute track of screaming babies over that stuff
The whole point of this is that I had fun while exercising by singing along and getting into the music the 45 minutes flew by. It was actually more like 50 minutes because I wanted to hear free falling one last time.
So I want to know what is in your Ipod and what are your favorite running/workout songs. Maybe I can add some new stuff.
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