Top Ten Holiday Fitness Gifts

If you’ve hit a wall on what to get your friends or family for the holidays, why not get them a fitness gift. You could even put some fitness gifts on your own holiday wish list. After all, who doesn’t want to look and better? Here is my top 10 list of the best last minute fitness gifts for 2008:

1.) A Foam Roller

If you’re like most people, you spend a lot of your day nailed to a desk. And when you actually do have time to workout, all you can fit in is the workout itself. Really, who has time for daily stretching?

Well that’s where a foam roller comes in. It’s a phenomenal corrective self-massage tool that will dramatically bolster injury prevention and improve performance. It’s ideal to use for at least five minutes post-workout to promote healing of the small micro-tears in your muscles that result from high-intensity training. Plus, a foam roller both kneads out and lengthens your muscle and connective tissues thus alleviating, if not eliminating, nagging aches and pains in your back, knees, hips, shoulders, and elbows.

2.) Resistance Bands

Resistance bands are by far the most simple, convenient, and affordable equipment option in the fitness industry. They supply total portability for killer workouts that can be done anywhere. If you are a busy professional who does a lot of traveling, bands are the perfect lightweight training tool to take your workouts with you on the road as they can fit in the smallest of bags without a problem. If you are a busy Mom looking to workout in the comfort of your own home, bands can make this happen too. Bands provide the perfect compliment to your body weight circuit training workouts for added variety, allow for multiple levels of resistance with practically zero transition and set-up time, are easy on the joints, and are fun to use!

3.) A Gift Card to a Sporting Goods Store For Fitness Equipment and Apparel

You can’t beat a sporting goods store like Dick’s Sporting Goods to get the best fitness equipment and apparel. I recommend going with a gift card here because everybody has their own preferences, particularly when it comes to clothing sizes and styles.

4.) A Gift Card to Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or Other Premium Grocery Stores

Rather then waste money on an overpriced restaurant; why not give a week’s worth of groceries to a 100% organic grocer like Whole Foods. Everybody has to eat, but how many of us actually eat the right stuff to support our fitness goals?

5.) A Gift Card to a Massage Therapist

Most of us are crazy busy and super stressed out during the holiday season. Nothing eases the tension like a good massage. This is about as can’t miss of a gift as it gets. It’s nice to be pampered on occasion, and though the foam roller I mentioned above can do wonders for the majority of your body, nothing can alleviate tension in your upper back, neck, and head like a good massage therapist!

6.) Supplements that Work

I have helped hundreds of people lose thousands of pounds of fat. In my journey, I have found that Advocare has the highest quality and most effective supplements. Go to www.MandelNutrition.com and select our 24 Day Fit Program to start the New Year off right.

7.) Sport-Specific Gift

Give a great gift to an athlete that compliments their sport, whether it is fitness equipment, apparel, or personal training with Mandel Fitness.

8.) Fitness Book or Subscription to Fitness Magazine

Everybody needs bedtime or bathroom reading. If you have just read a good fitness book that you know a friend or family member would benefit from, buy them their own copy. Better yet, people love magazine subscriptions. Personally, I am a big fan of Men’s Health and Women’s Health. These magazines are filled with tons of workout, nutrition, and lifestyle tips catered to each sex and I never miss an issue.

9.) Wireless MP3 Headset- KOSS Tugo

This one’s a bit pricey, but it’s worth the unparalleled listening pleasure and convenience. It’s this simple: drag and drop your workout MP3’s onto the headset using a USB cable and then press play and rock out while you workout. There are no annoying wires to deal with and the headphones are comfortably, yet firmly locked on your head so they never fall off and you never miss a beat.

10.) A Gift Card to a Fitness Boot Camp

Boot camps provide a fun and exciting team environment that guarantee results for only a third of the cost of personal training.

Look for a local fitness boot camp with social proof (client testimonials, especially in the form of pictures and video) to make sure they have a solid reputation and a bunch of raving fans of people just like you. Plus, any good boot camp worth its weight offers free trials and money-back guarantees to all newcomers because they are so confident their program works that you’ll more than likely continue after a test-drive. There is typically no risk on your part… besides getting you butt kicked, in a good way.

So join a fitness boot camp with at least one other friend or family member or buy a boot camp gift card to give to your loved ones. As a boot camp instructor myself, I know firsthand that clients always get better results when they embark on a fitness journey with others.

If you live in the Union County area, go to www.NewJerseyBootCamps.com. We’ll change your life and have you looking your best this New Year. Guaranteed!

For a Boot Camp Gift Card or Personal Training Gift Card, contact josh@newjerseybootcamps.com.


There is no Tomorrow, Train Today!


Joshua Mandel

www.NewJerseyBootCamps.com