Giving Your Wallet a Workout

By David E. Thigpen

For those with anything left to spend after the holiday excesses, what better causes to spend it on than sport and fitness? Every year, the American desire to wed high-tech creativity with recreational activity grows more intense -- and the resulting gizmos grow more intriguing and elaborate. No innovation is safe from rethinking: last year's air-filled running shoe, for example, is now competing against a new computer-designed number from Puma that needs no laces, straps or Velcro fasteners. The Puma Disc tightens by means of an invisible system: a turn of the dial on the shoe's tongue compresses connecting sleeves around it, making the shoe hug the particular shape of your foot. But such convenience items are overshadowed by advances in big-ticket technology. Among other things, the latest in '90s high-tech gear promises to give you a full workout in less than five minutes; teach you how to climb a rock face in the rumpus room; shake, rattle and roll your way to * fitness; and even take the hook out of your golf swing at home while facing some of the world's most famous golf courses. In each case, the first instruction for users is simple: carry a big wallet, make a muscle, then hand over weighty wads of cash.