6 Cool Gifts For The Fitness Fans
It’s that most wonderful time of the year!
And if you’re looking for presents for the fitness fan in your life or you want to treat yourself, we have you covered with ideas on some cool new stuff Santa can leave under the tree.
Get better sleep with the Withings Aura Alarm Clock.
Sleep is one of the nicest parts of the day. Getting woken up with the radio blaring at 6.30am, not so nice. That’s why I use a wake up light alarm and the Withings Aura looks really cool. You can use it as a speaker to stream music and it will monitor variables such as noise, temperature and ambient light to work out what’s affecting your sleep quality.
As well as waking you up gently, it can also fade to red which apparently increases melatonin levels, helping you get to sleep.
Buy The Withings Aura at Amazon
Measure your body fat levels with the Skulpt Aim.
People worry about their weight too much, especially women. Whilst weight and BMI can be used as basic measures of your health, a more useful metric is your body fat levels.
(Just to emphasise – this is about your health. High body fat can be a predictor of serious health issues so for a healthier life, it’s worth bringing it down)
I’ve user calipers for pinch tests before but they can be variable and it takes a steady hand to get accurate measures. Electrobioimpendance devices are okay, but they can vary in accuracy on so many factors it’s hard to track. Professional tests can be done in BodPods or water displacement but they can be costly.
So here’s something I’ll be testing out over the next few weeks. The Skulpt Aim. It looks like something out of Star Trek and measures the depth of body fat across several test points. It’s portable, tracks the data on your smartphone and looks kinda futuristic.
FitBit Surge.
More fitness tracking, this time a pretty cool looking wearable. We’re all about technology this year 🙂
You can track almost all the important metrics – heart rate, activity, sleep patterns. This syncs with all sorts of fitness apps to help track your progress. It even has GPS so you can track your runs without your phone! Personally, I’m going to get a smartwatch with fitness features (the Moto 360 sport) but for pure fitness tracking this would be my first choice! Buy it here
Get your feet measured for running in the perfect trainers
If you’re planning on taking up running for the new year, get yourself a gait analysis session. This uses some ultra high tech equipment to measure your feet and your running patterns to recommend the best trainers for your unique style of running. (As it’s done barefoot, maybe have a pedicure before)
Get your gait analysed at Asics London
Find out what you’re really made of
Genetics testing company, 23andMe provide an analysis of your DNA and it’s kind of, pretty fascinating.
Not that genetics is “to blame” for everything but it’s interesting to know more about what you’re actually made of. It can also show likelihood of allergies, your ancestral history and all sorts of factoids about yourself. It’s not a medical diagnosis, don’t treat it like one, but for those curious about your DNA, it’s a great present
How fit are you really?
Full fitness assessments aren’t for everyone but if you’re really into your training, this would make a great gift. You get your VO2max tested, blood work, strength and endurance tests and a BodPod body fat level measurement!
Here in London you can get a whole range of tests done at the University Of Westminster Sports Science Department