1.) A Foam Roller
If you’re like most people, you spend a lot your day sitting down at a desk, which can cause muscle imbalances and flexibility issues. You probably don’t have a lot of time to get your daily workout in, let alone a good stretching session.
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 to jumpstart the recovery process. 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.
If you’re going to get a foam roller, get a good one. The cheaper options tend to wear down into a limp noodle for larger individuals after a couple of months. I get all of my foam rollers from Perform Better. My brand of choice is The EVA Foam Roller (about $20), I have used it every day for the last several years and I swear by it! You can get it here .
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!
In my years as a personal trainer, I have had the pleasure of meeting the world’s premier resistance band training expert, Dave Schmitz. This guy creates the most innovative fat loss workouts with bands that you’ll ever see. He has his own line of resistance bands that are virtually indestructible and I use them year round to get great workouts in at home or on the road. I also use Dave's bands for all my fitness boot camps. To get the best bands in the business check here.
3.) Gourmet Nutrition Cook Book
Do you think that healthy eating can be bland and boring at times? Well that will all change if you get the Gourmet Nutrition Cook Book. This book features over 100 recipes including breakfasts, meat, poultry, seafood, side dishes, salads, soups, shakes and smoothies, and even dressings and condiments. It also covers topics such as meal planning, preparation tips, and cooking in bulk to make healthy cooking easy. You can get the book here.
4.) 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 on the market today. I always recommend going with a gift card here because everybody has their own preferences, particularly when it comes to clothing sizes and styles.
5.) 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 to a friend or loved one. After all, everybody’s got to eat, but how many of us actually eat the right stuff to support our fitness goals?
Organic Grocery Stores like Whole Foods are healthiest option, particularly when buying produce to avoid foods that are typically loaded with hormones and pesticides at other regular run of the mill grocery stores. Also, since they don’t carry the normal crap food found in other grocery stores, there will be less temptation, thus making it easier to stick to your healthy plan. The key is to go in with a budget in mind (e.g. spend $50 bucks on protein, $20 on fruits and veggies, and $10 on miscellaneous items) only buying what you need.
6.) A Gift Card to a Massage Therapist
Most of us are crazy busy and super stressed out during the holiday season and nothing eases the tension like a good massage. This is about as can’t miss of a gift as it gets, unless you know someone who doesn’t like to be touched. 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!
7.) Supplements that Work: Protein Powders, Fish Oil, Multi-Vitamin
Most supplements on the market today are waste of your time and money. In my journey, I have found only three supplements to be a mandatory part of the optimal fat loss program: protein powders, fish oil, and multi-vitamin supplements.
Protein powders provide great liquid workout nutrition and a convenient meat alternative for on-the-go snacking. For a protein powder, look for a brand low in sugar and carbohydrates and with a mix of both whey and casein (fast and slow absorbing proteins).
For post-workout, you want something with a little more carbs to help drive the protein in the muscle cells. Prograde Workout is my personal favorite.
For a good on-the-go breakfast or as a meal replacement shake I like Prograde Lean.
Fish oil, or more appropriately entitled an essential fatty acid (EFA) supplement, is critical to providing key omega 3’s to maximize overall health, performance, and body composition. Studies show that krill oil provides the most effective dosing of EFA’s and has over 300 times the amount of antioxidants.
A multi-vitamin provides keys vitamins and minerals that are tough to obtain unless your diet is near picture perfect. I don’t know about you, but I like to cover my bases when it comes to my health. Be sure to choose a multi-vitamin supplement that is made from whole foods rather than synthetic materials, in addition to being made specifically for your gender.
For myself and my clients, I only recommend VGF+25 and EFA Icon, both included in Prograde’s Health+ Package available here.
8.) Sport-Specific Gift
This one’s pretty basic: if you want to give a great gift to an athlete then get them something unique that compliments their sport, whether it be fitness equipment, apparel, or both.
9.) Fitness Book or Subscription to Fitness Magazine
Everybody need bedtime or bathroom reading baby! If you have just read a good fitness book that you know a friend or family member would benefit from, hook them up with 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. I know it sounds funny that I read Women’s Health being a dude, but I work with a lot of women so I need to keep up with the lingo like skinny jeans and muffin-tops, ha ha!
10.) A Gift Card to a Fitness Boot Camp
Boot camps provide a fun and exciting team environment that guarantee better results than one-on-one personal training for only a third of the cost… it’s a total no-brainer.
Look for a local fitness boot camp with tons of 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, This way 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.
And if you live in the local Cleveland area, come work with us for the best personal training Cleveland by visiting http://www.ClevelandFitnessBootCamp.com . We’ll change your life and have you looking better naked this New Year, guaranteed!
Stay healthy and fit for the holidays and have a very safe and happy New Year!
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