I believe that almost all wheelchair customers would agree with me that doing at-home cardio exercises can get somewhat boring. Regardless of how I attempt to change it up, each exercise finally ends up feeling the identical. My favourite strategy to get train is to push exterior, however the Michigan climate doesn’t cooperate as usually as I would really like. Just lately I had the chance to attempt the Wheely-X, a brand new health possibility from South Korea-based Kangsters that goals to do for wheelchair customers what Peloton did for bicycle riders.

With a chic design and the choice of Bluetooth sensors that observe your each push and mean you can use your wheelchair like a controller for proprietary coaching software program and videogames, the Wheely-X has the potential to be way more than a wheelchair treadmill. However $2,095 — the price of the bottom unit — is so much to pay for potential. I examined the Wheely-X out to see whether it is price it.

Kangsters at the moment affords three fashions, the Wheely-X Practice, Wheely-X Knowledge and Wheely-X Play, that share the identical footprint however differ when it comes to connectivity and interactivity. For $500 extra, the Knowledge provides a Bluetooth sensor that means that you can observe your pushing in a free app. The Wheely-X Play lets customers play three video video games designed for the system however is at the moment solely accessible for amenities. I examined the Wheely-X Knowledge.

The Wheely-X is available in a single giant field and weighs simply over 60 kilos. As a C6 quad, the scale and weight stored me from unpacking and assembling it myself, however a decrease quad or para ought to be capable to deal with the meeting course of, assuming they’ll get the field the place they need it and switch to the ground. The ramps and rollers match collectively cleanly and really feel sturdy as soon as assembled. The entire course of took my aide about 20 minutes.

As soon as the {hardware} is assembled, you may obtain the Wheely-X app, accessible for each iOS and Android units, and join the battery powered sensors through Bluetooth. [Editor’s Note: The early version tested relied on two small Bluetooth transmitters. Kangsters has replaced those with the Wheely Hub, a Bluetooth box that they promise is more stable and reliable.] The Wheely-X has a small footprint, about 15 sq. ft, and is simple to fold up and retailer, making it an interesting possibility for folks with restricted house.

Utilizing the Wheely-X is a straight-forward course of. The ramps which are hooked up to the bottom have a manageable slope, making it straightforward to roll up backwards and into place on the rollers. As soon as on the rollers, the Wheely-X has security locks that connect to the wheelchair very like tiedowns you’d discover in a car. The hooks on the tiedowns weren’t sufficiently big to latch onto the thicker components of my wheelchair body as instructed, however they had been in a position to hook on to the a part of the body the place the casters are hooked up. Tightening the locks requires you to tug on the hooked up rope, which might be tough for customers with restricted hand perform however needs to be doable. After the protection locks are in place, simply unlock the brakes and begin pushing.

I used to be skeptical about how it will really feel to push my wheelchair on the Wheely-X, nevertheless it feels clean and surprisingly resistance-free. As a quad who makes use of energy help wheels, I didn’t expertise any pointless stress on my arms and shoulders whereas pushing. As a phrase of warning: It is very important put on the identical gloves that you’d put on when pushing your wheelchair for a exercise. I wore a pair of gloves that had been shorter than those I take advantage of to push exterior and ended up with a nasty blister on my wrist.

The very best characteristic of the Wheely-X that I examined is the app that pairs with the sensors and tracks exercise information. The app retains observe of elapsed time, velocity, distance traveled, RPMs, and energy burned. It additionally means that you can observe every wheel individually so you may see how effectively you might be pushing. For customers in rehab or those that wish to refine their pushing, the suggestions might be a boon.

The app shops the info from every exercise in order that progress could be tracked over time, and it additionally has a number of packages that can be utilized for various exercises. You may set interval coaching packages based mostly on time or distance, plus there are dash coaching, endurance coaching modes, and a free coaching mode to push at your individual tempo. The app additionally has a course coaching mode that takes you thru a exercise led by a coach.

Sadly, the demo unit I acquired had an issue with one of many sensors that prevented me from making an attempt the course coaching mode. There are a lot of movies offered on the app that may take you thru quite a lot of exercises as effectively. As of the time I’m scripting this, the textual content on the app is partially in English and partially in Korean, although the app is intuitive to make use of, and the language was not a difficulty for me.

Play Video video games Utilizing Your Wheelchair as a Controller

The app that comes with the Wheely-X’s Bluetooth linked variations makes it straightforward and enjoyable to trace your pushing progress, however the system’s three proprietary video games permit for a deeper interactive expertise. Sadly, for now, the video games are solely accessible on the Play mannequin for amenities. Mike Franz didn’t have entry to the video games for his evaluation, however I received to look at three totally different customers attempt every of the three video games — Ant Journey, Wheelchair Racing and Stability Racing.

Every sport permits a Wheely-X consumer to regulate their character by pushing their chair. So simple as that will sound, watching the enthusiastic reactions of the customers as they noticed their onscreen avatars responding to how they pushed their chairs made me suppose the builders could also be on to one thing if they’ll increase on and enhance the present choices.

In Ant Journey, you progress an ant throughout a sequence of tiles, looking for hidden tiles that break and permit you all the way down to the following stage. In Wheelchair Racing, you line up on a observe in a racing chair alongside different racers and dash to the end, and Stability Racing checks your pushing type as you attempt to maintain a motorcycle upright on a course.

It’s straightforward to ascertain and a enjoyable, high quality exercise racing your good friend or strangers, however for now, multiplayer requires the Wheely-X units to be linked over native Wi-Fi. Meaning you’d want a number of items in the identical place, which is unlikely exterior a rehab or health club setting. The builders say a gaming bundle might be accessible for all house owners by July 2024. Moreover, they’re engaged on increasing connectivity choices and hope to sometime be capable to permit customers to attach remotely.
—Ian Ruder

Proceed Studying

The exercises I did throughout my time with the Wheely-X had been very efficient from a cardio perspective. More often than not once I work out, it’s troublesome to raise my coronary heart price a lot increased than 100 bpm. With the Wheely-X I might get my coronary heart price as much as 115 to 120 bpm at instances. Doing cardio as a quad could be actually difficult, however the Wheely-X is among the many finest cardio machines I’ve used.

The Wheely-X is a stable possibility for all guide wheelchair customers from newbies seeking to construct energy to athletes coaching to enhance their velocity and stamina. The Wheely-X would even be nice for individuals who reside in areas the place the climate and terrain will not be conducive to pushing a wheelchair exterior year-round.

The cardio advantages of the Wheely-X are sufficient to contemplate buying one, however with the naked bones Practice mannequin itemizing at $2,095, the worth may be very excessive. If Kangsters can increase the video games and interactive choices (see sidebar on web page TK), it will be extra consistent with one thing like Peloton, and the associated fee is perhaps extra justifiable. Proper now, it’s a high quality piece of exercise tools with extra options than are usually accessible, nevertheless it doesn’t but supply the identical expertise as mainstream interactive health machines.

For extra info, please go to wheely-x.com.