Tendo Unit labs--is this an alternative? - JP Fitness Forums

vuduchyld · 02-08-2007, 03:49 PM

Does anybody have any experience with Tendo units? I think they used to call it the Micro-Muscle Lab or something like that.

I'd love to be able to get more feedback about my bar speed, but I don't have a thousand bucks for a Tendo.

Anybody ever seen one of these?
http://www.maxrack.com/power_factor....FQk4IwodSBxWgA

Any good?

vuduchyld · 02-15-2007, 08:43 PM

No thanks to any of you non-responders (!), but I went ahead and splurged the $129 for this unit. I just figured...hell...I've got HRMs that cost close to that. I've got a GPS device that probably cost that much back when I bought it, anyway (maybe they've come down by now).

Anyway, it arrived in the mail today!!! It looks REALLY impressive!!! I can't believe that they can make any money off it at that price. The packaging is really well-designed. They even threw in a tee shirt!

Looking through the manual, I am just nothing but thrilled. I'm tempted to take it out for a spin tonight, but I'll be doing some snatches and some cleans tomorrow....and it's COLD out in my garage right now! Plus, the battery needs to charge.

I'll keep you posted. I can't imagine that there aren't some folks out there who might want some bar speed feedback. I remember some articles Chris Korfist wrote a few years ago about how he used some feedback from a Tendo to up his 1RM on the bench (significantly) in basically just a session or two.

Anyway....new gadget! Exciting!

Cynic · 02-15-2007, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vuduchyld

Anyway....new gadget! Exciting!

I bought a 200,000lbs tensile strength bar and muscle clamps back in December.:p

Oh, and an iPod.

Gadgets? We don't need no stinkin' gadgets.

vuduchyld · 02-16-2007, 08:43 AM

Good for you!

In that case, shall I PM you the address where you can mail that iPod?

DKing · 02-16-2007, 06:56 PM

Vudu - First, AWESOME to see you back! Its been forever sir. I hope things are going well.

I haven't ever seen one of these but I am really really interested in it and the concept. I would love a Tendo unit but obviously the price keeps me away. Right now I use a stopwatch. It works pretty well for squats and overhead presses. I run timed sets based of a daily best a lot of times for dynamic work, but that can really change depending on timer error and that type of thing. So something like this could really help.

So this is my long winded way of saying keep me updated, either here or through a PM.

Danny

vuduchyld · 02-17-2007, 11:53 AM

Hey Danny! I'm not sure who else is interested, so I may switch to pm'ing you some updates. But I'll at least put this one on the forum!

This morning, I had the opportunity to work out with the Power Factor for the first time...and I LOVED it!!! The unit provides some information that I had been tracking manually that I really wasn't EXPECTING to use the unit for--notably rest time (for each set and total), and with the added benefit of tracking total work time AND total weight lifted! Very nice!!!! The integrated stop watch was more helpful than I had imagined, actually.

There are also some other data points that the unit keeps, such as calories burned, wattage, and something called the Power Factor. Over time, I expect the Power Factor and the wattage measurements to mean more to me, but right now I just don't have a frame of reference. (Obviously, I was moving the bar a LONG way today, which I'm sure affects both. A bench press does not require as much movement.) I suppose the calorie info may be helpful for many people.
Of course, as I'd mentioned, the bar speed measurement was the most important thing for me. From looking at the picture of the unit, I was expecting that the graph function would show me whether or not my speed varied over the course of each rep. Instead, the speed graph just gives you one reading for each rep. And it's not an exact reading, either, but rather just a six-position graph that goes from 0 to 3 ft/sec.

As it turned out, it was still ridiculously helpful!!! I was mostly doing snatches and cleans. Pretty frequently, one rep out my sets of five would be sub-par for bar speed. It is FANTASTIC to get accurate, real-time feedback on EACH rep!!! It might be even better to understand where the speed varied within each rep, but this is still really, really, really helpful! I was surprised to find out that I was not a better judge of speed of each rep. Again, the reading is not perfect, but I know it must have been in excess of 2.5 ft/sec when the graph is all the way lit up. Any time I only lit five of the six bars, it was between 2 and 2.5. I had several reps down in the 1 ft/sec range, as well, over the course of the workout.

It will be very interesting to use the bar speed information for something like a bench press or a squat.

The physical properties of the unit are pretty slick. The case is magnetized with powerful magnets, so all you have to do is stick the thing on a frame of ANYTHING. It's very solid. The display is large enough to read from easily 8-10 feet away! It is larger than the picture led me to believe it would be! The encoder is SUPER easy to use, too. It's got a magnet and also a velcro strap to attach the encoder to the bar. The quality of the magnets for the display and for the encoder cable are outstanding. It is EASY to set up and use, even for snatches and cleans.

I did have a slight problem when I supersetted some cleans with push presses. I think the machine was reading the LOWERING of the bar as a rep, so that screwed up my totals and also the speed graphs just a little bit. In the future, I'll do a better job of trying to use the feedback from the SOUND of each rep. (The unit gives you audible feedback, as well!!!) One other very slight problem was that there is a reference in the manual that is wrong. It was related to set up. The unit is so intuitive and easy to set up and use, though, that it didn't slow me down.

I do wish that the unit had some storage and the ability for me to download to my PC. For all I know, it might. The cable that goes from the encoder to the display appears to be standard USB. Maybe I'll plug it in to my PC and see if anything happens.

Overall, I am VERRRY impressed. It is awesome that this company (I'd never heard of them) brought this product to the market at this price point!!! The customer service was responsive, the unit shipped quickly, and the quality is outstanding. I'd expect that I'll continue to learn new ways to use it and also new ways to use the data. I'm just beyond thrilled to be able to measure some of this data, most importantly bar speed.

Right now, I'd give it a 9.5 out of ten!!!

.

Mike S · 02-18-2007, 09:52 AM

wow that sounds really cool, but theres no pamphlet or anything that you can compare power factor with? It would be nice if they gave you a bunch of lifts and numbers to compare.

vuduchyld · 02-22-2007, 08:16 PM

This week, I've had the opportunity to use the maxrack unit on several different execrises including bench presses and squats. Once again, I have to say that the bar speed feedback is REALLY valuable for me. I've been surprised at how much my bar speed varies from set to set and from rep to rep.

I don't think the unit is a perfect judge of the speed of each lift, however. Plus, as I mentioned, the Power Factor only gives ONE speed reading per rep. And it's just a machine, so it's not really always that smart. For example, there is a button that you hit when you're about to start the set. The unit waits 5 seconds, then starts reading. A couple of times, it counted it as a rep when I'd pull the bar off my squat rack. Obviously, that will affect some of the workout totals, such as weight lifted.

Fortunately for me, I really don't give a damn about wattage, totals (I can calculate that myself if I choose), or the power factor calculation. I think that over time, the power factor calculation will start making some sense, but for now, it isn't a big deal for me. I don't really care about calories burned, either.

Just like for snatches and cleans, when it comes to benches and squats, the REAL value of this unit is feedback on bar speed. As I mentioned before, the stopwatch that keeps a running total on work time and current rest time between sets is VERY VERY cool...something you don't always think about, but it's GREAT to have!

I hope that feedback from the Power Factor will help me learn to gauge bar speed more accurately over time. It has already given me some GREAT information...info that I'm a lot more inconsistent than I would have thought.

If only it would give me a graph of the speed of each lift over time...wow...then it would be perfect. If it could tell me that my bench press is slow at the bottom, for example, that would make it even MORE valuable. Also, as I mentioned, the bar speeds are not really that specific...the unit reads in .5 ft/sec intervals instead of in raw numbers. I'd suspect that the data is certainly collected by the unit. I know it clearly measures the distance the bar travels each rep. But the way the data is formatted and given back to the user isn't QUITE as specific as I'd like.

But for the price, I think the Power Factor is really a great deal!

Cynic · 02-22-2007, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vuduchyld

This week, I've had the opportunity to use the maxrack unit on several different execrises including bench presses and squats. Once again, I have to say that the bar speed feedback is REALLY valuable for me. I've been surprised at how much my bar speed varies from set to set and from rep to rep.

Joking aside, vudu, how does it work? How does it take the reading?

vuduchyld · 02-22-2007, 09:24 PM

The brains of the unit is a sensor that is housed in a plastic housing that is about, oh, I'd say as big as a good-sized fist. Sticking out of that housing is a POWERFUL magnet attached to a cable. You can stick the magnet directly onto a barbell OR you can use a little velcro strap with a piece of metal on your bar and attach the magnet to that.

So you've got this plastic housing sitting on the floor with a cable attached to your bar. The housing also has a USB port in it. So you attach a little USB cable (comes with it) between the sensor brain and the display unit.

I'm not sure if my description is overkill...or if it's underkill. But when you move the bar, the cable gets pulled from the housing (via the magnet that's attached to your bar). It's like a tape measure, so the cable stays taut at all times...it just self-retracts when the bar goes back down. The sensor sends the data to the display unit (via USB cable), which gives you visual feedback and also audio feedback (beeps at certain tones).

It's VERY, VERY easy to set up and use. You could easily set it up in 30-45 seconds in any gym, I'm sure. It's got a self-contained battery that you have to charge up before you use. The manual says it holds a 100 hour charge.

DKing · 02-23-2007, 09:31 AM

Thanks for the newest update Will. I almost wish you wouldn't have liked the thing, because now I really want to get one! I have to hold off for a bit, but its definatly on my list. Thanks for being a guinnea pig.

Danny

jvernacchio · 02-24-2007, 05:24 PM

So was it worth the purchase price? Seems like it does a hell of alot for the lifter. Damn you and this gadget now I may have to purchase me one.