The holiday season is here! It’s time to start planning the perfect holiday gifts for our friends and loved ones. Living healthy and focusing on self-care is important for everyone! Let us help you find the most wonderful gifts for your fitness-loving friends or those who might be just getting started… we’ve got them all covered. Think gadgets, gear, and maybe a dose of motivation too!
Starting with the Apps
Do you know someone just getting started or wanting to get started with an exercise program? Or maybe you know someone with an irregular schedule due to work or family or other obligations? Or someone who needs a little extra dose of motivation? Well, there’s an app for that! With an annual subscription, you can offer the gift of fitness all year long. Melissa loves the Pilatesbarreondemand. In fact, she loves the content on this platform so much that you can see her featured on their site with her recommendation. You might also want to check out the Peloton app. Peloton isn’t just for cycling anymore! They offer such a wide variety of workouts, and you don’t need their in-home equipment to do it — although the Peloton bike or tread make amazing gifts too!
Trigger Point Self-Massagers
Before and after a great workout session, everyone needs maintenance for the body. Matt recommends a handheld Back and Trigger Point Massager. Take your myofascial release to the next level with this unique tool made to help you get those hard to reach places. If you’re looking for something a little more than this clever tool, Rich urges you to go for the splurge on the Therabody Massage Gun. This quiet massage gun allows you to reach the deep muscle tissue to relieve tension and soreness.
For the Yogi
While you are taking care of those aches and pains, getting in a good stretch or a restorative yoga session would be amazing. So grab a mat and some blocks and get to it! Melissa recommends the SNΛKUGΛ Traveling Yoga Mat. Whether you are at home doing yoga in your living room, taking a class at your favorite studio, or on the road doing a workout in a hotel, this mat is absolutely perfect! It is functional, foldable (read: packable), and fun (check out the pretty colors and patterns). Erin suggests the Comfort Yoga Block. This unique block is rounded on one side to offer more comfort while using the block to extend your stretching to new places.
The Experience
If you’re really interested in helping your loved-one slow down and engage in some much-needed preventative maintenance, Erin recommends a gift certificate for a massage. After biting the bullet and making time for massages in 2021, Erin recognizes the importance of this kind of maintenance on your body. You probably have someone on your list that might feel the same!
Maybe you know someone who needs more than a 60 or 90-minute session of self-care. Melissa encourages you to give your loved one a weekend retreat from reality. It’s very soul cleansing to spend a weekend away at a place with maybe some nature and definitely a spa. Melissa confidently declares her “most favorite weekend of 2021” as the weekend she spent alone in a nice hotel (with a spa) in Minneapolis. “I’d basically sleep until I woke up naturally, work out in their beautiful gym as long as I wanted, get a spa treatment, and then do whatever I wanted. I came home so refreshed, not only in body but in mind.” Do you know someone who might like (or need) the same experience this year?
All About the Hands
Cold hands are no fun in the winter! Sara suggests the Summit Waterproof Layering Gloves. Start with the Base Layer Glove that can be worn alone or under the Waterproof Glove. Don’t let the winter weather elements slow down your outdoorsy loved ones this year. Help them to stay warm and dry with these amazing gloves — this might be the most perfect stocking stuffer idea!
Maybe you’re looking for a different kind of glove this season. Autumn praises Hot and Cold Gel Gloves. Warm up (or cool down) your hands with these therapeutic gloves made to relieve pain and tension in the wrists, hands and fingers. This would be great for someone dealing with arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome or someone who is really hard on their hands (such as working in construction or practicing boxing).
Fun in the Sun
Maybe your loved ones prefer to be outdoors in the summer months. Stephanie proposes an Inflatable Stand Up Paddleboard. This is Stephanie’s favorite thing because of the convenience. She uses this way more often because it’s easy to inflate and deflate. It actually fits right back into the bag with no problem. You can take it to our local lakes like Coyler Lake or Whipple Dam — and try out a paddle board yoga class on the weekend!
Gifts of fitness, self-care, experiences, and warmth are great for the holidays and perfect for the start of the New Year. Maybe some of our favorite things will become some of your favorite gifts — Get creative and thoughtful this year as you help your friends and family stay healthy and happy!