Don’t think you’re the best, know you’re the best.

A myriad of Hollywood blockbuster sci-fi movies have predicted a future where robots develop artificial intelligence and begin to teach humans a thing or two about passion, humility and hard work.

The Herman Digital Trainer is one small step towards such a technological revolution. Although more ‘I can’t go any longer!’ than I,Robot, Herman have developed a piece of kit that tests your physical capabilities to the max, pushing you to the outer limits.

Using accelerometers and microprocessors to measure power, speed and accuracy of strikes, sensors can be attached to pads or bags and wirelessly hooked up to your computer which work from up to 100 feet of impact. The programs will then guide your through pre-selected workouts while calculating anything from the number of hits, strongest hit, average hit and the total score for each interval and workout.

You can even measure you’re reaction times and striking speed.

Warriors can monitor their progression with a range of nifty features, such as percentage change and real-time striking graphs that mark out how well you hit. At the end of the workout you get a full recap of your performance and how it ranks against your previous workouts.

Yet the Herman’s tour de force has got to be its competition mode, where users can challenge one another in a league table to see who really is the deadliest striker.

Warning: just like a solid game of COD, things can get a little heated, especially when there’s so much testosterone flying around, so try keeping it strictly for training at the gym.

WHAT WE THINK

It's bulky aesthetic might leave some users a little cold. Although the Herman is at the vanguard of fight technology, it looks rather like an old-school calculator. Its saving grace, however, is that it performs a treat. 

Once we’d set it up and hooked it to a laptop, we had the option of uploading a whole range of workouts to choose from.

By the end of the session, the sweet smell of sweat and tears filled the newsroom. Despite all the great workout programs however, after half an hour of serious ‘training’ we simply couldn’t resist resorting to a ‘let’s see who’s got the hardest punch’ contest.

Conclusion: The programs are accessible, and fun, but the Herman might be better suited to gym owners who really want to fine-tune their athletes, rather than casual weekend warriors.

Still, it is a fun bit of kit that’s endorsed by a range of UFC and Strikeforce stars, and if it works for them, it definitely works for us.