Blazepods are interesting training gear, but they’re overkill for casual users

Enlarge / One of my better data traces. (credit: Blazepod)

Fans of Formula 1 may have noticed that many drivers engage in reaction training before getting into their cars at the start of a race. For some, this is as simple as working with a trainer and some tennis balls. But you might have noticed 2021 champion Max Verstappen slapping some illuminated pods, like a wireless version of the old Simon game from the late 1970s.

They're called Blazepods, and they're Bluetooth-linked training lights that have their roots in an interactive playground in Israel. Blazepod's founder developed a series of exercises for the system, like capture the flag and relay races. "It was such a success, they knew they needed to make this wireless," explained Brian Farber, Blazepod's director of business development. "And then they started implementing [them] and understanding what the benefits were—everything from the cognitive to connecting the brain and the body together, decision-making, reaction time, and then actual analytics. It just kind of took off from there."

Max Verstappen might be Blazepod's highest-profile user. (credit: Blazepod)

Blazepod offered to send Ars a set to test, and since I've been in the middle of a fitness kick, and some distant part of my brain still thinks it can be a racing driver, I took the company up on the offer.