The holidays are a time when many people fall short of their fitness plans. But through some thoughtful gift ideas, this season could be the jump-start that your special someone might need.
One of the most obvious ideas is a membership to a local gym. Just like clothes have to be the right size, a health club needs to fit the person correctly. Many gym memberships go unused, not because the person doesn’t want to work out, but because of little details that make going to the gym more of a chore than an opportunity to take care of oneself. Some questions to keep in mind before you buy are:
- Is the gym within 10 to 15 minutes of home or work?
- If applicable, does the gym have child care available?
- Are the hours in sync with the lifestyle? Many people want to work out before or after work, but if the gym doesn’t open until 7 a.m. or closes at 7 p.m., that can leave many hard workers with a perfect excuse not to go. Anytime Fitness Centers (in Devens and Concord) are literally open any time, and operate with a pass card that allows members access 24/7.
- Are the showers and other facilities adequate? Are they clean? Are there lockers to store valuables in?
- Are there complimentary personal training sessions available to new members?
- Is the atmosphere aligned with the personality of the gift recipient? Some gyms (Harvard Ridge/Swymfit, Boxborough, for example) are small, quiet environments where a relatively small number of members go about their own business. Others (such as Global Fitness, Stow) have a loud, exciting atmosphere that can resemble a night club, complete with thumping music and lots of beautiful people flexing their muscles. Be sensitive to the type of environment that would be most comfortable before making a choice. Visit area gyms and think about how your loved one would fit in before paying for a commitment.
- An alternative to a traditional gym would be a package of classes at a yoga or Pilates studio. Again, different practitioners create different atmospheres. Some yoga teachers are very spiritual and focus more on meditation and reflection. Others offer a more intense, active practice. Visit a class or at least speak with the teacher before committing your loved one to eight weeks of something he or she might not feel comfortable with.
- A package of training sessions with an in-home personal trainer or one-on-one sessions at a personal training facility (such as Fitness Together, Littleton) might be more in line with some people’s needs.
Other gift ideas would be exercise equipment for home use. Everyone has heard the joke that treadmills are the world’s most expensive clothes hangers. But treadmills, elliptical trainers, rowing machines, and exercise bikes are extremely useful ways to get cardiovascular training at home whenever it’s convenient. The real problem is usually not the equipment but the lack of time to use it. A gift of this type requires a concurrent gift of time—for example, a pledge to cook or clean up after dinner three nights a week while the gift recipient is exercising (at least through the end of February!). Also think about where this equipment would go. Can it be placed in a comfortable, inviting location? Placing a treadmill in a musty basement is the first step toward turning it into an expensive storage device. An additional gift could be a set of miniseries on DVD, with the stipulation that each half hour episode can be watched only while exercising on the machine.
There are lots of less expensive home fitness products available as well. An exercise ball (55 to 65 cm diameter) is one of the most versatile and useful workout aids around, and can be purchased almost anywhere for about $15 to $20. Yoga mats, elastic bands, and small medicine balls, along with a set of dumbbells, can equip a small home gym for anyone at relatively low cost. Purchases like these, perhaps with a few exercise DVDs or a voucher for a few hours of training instruction, could jump-start someone you love into a much healthier 2009.