Exercise Room
Shape Up
There’s a reason we tuck our home gyms out of sight. Sure, we love the idea of having 24-7 access to a fitness regime, but the equipment itself? Not so pretty. However, as these pieces show, exercise and design can work out together.
By Anicka Quin  |
1. Walk—or Downward Dog—the Plank Designer Doreen Hing was “visually bored” of the typical solid-color yoga mat, so she launched a quirky-cool line of Plank yoga mats for Design Public (designpublic.com). Topside graphic prints replicate a grassy field, a shag rug, a wooden plank—even a linoleum floor with pills scattered over it. |
| 2. Weigh In British luxury goods brand Thomas Lyte (whose ultra–luxe line includes cheeky accessories like leather coin bags embossed with gold-foil dollar signs) recently launched these sculpted, silver-plated executive hand weights. At 4.4 pounds each they may not make you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but they’ll look strong on any desktop (thomaslyte.com). |
 |
 |
3. Who’s That Gym? With a design that evokes Superman’s phone booth, the Personality Gym disguises or reveals itself in literally a matter of seconds. Tucked inside stainless steel housing is a complete gym that lets you do everything from lateral pull–downs to leg curls. Tuck it back in after your workout and—tada!—your home gym changes back to its alter ego as home office (personalitygym.com). |
4. Counter Intuitive Those plastic gallon–size water coolers can leach chemicals right into your daily water and, worse, often sit on shelves for years. The Dolphin2 countertop dispenser by Air2Water (air2water.net) pulls moisture from the air, zaps it with UV light to kill bacteria and then turns it into some of the cleanest drinking water this side of the ozone layer. Plus, it’s a looker. |
 |
 |
5. Sneak Preview Part exercise ball, part trampoline, part living–room furniture, the Sneaker by Giovanni Levanti for Campeggi (campeggisrl.it) makes couch surfing an active event. While its curvy design might be a little too Austin Powers for some homes (it’s not likely to sit quietly alongside your Henry VIII chair), it’s a novel approach to doubleduty workout equipment that, fingers crossed, other designers will pursue. |
Print
