Every year Stuff puts together a gift guide of sorts (see, told you). These are aimed at finding the perfect gift for you and your friends, family, and close associates. But people are sometimes hard to buy for. Handily, they also tend to clump together in specific groups. Folks who spend all their free time working out, getting ripped, pounding pavement? They’re the subject of this collection of products.
But if the items listed in this gift guide aren’t what you need for your fitness friendlies, head on out to your nearest store — or just click elsewhere on this website — and grab the latest issue of Stuff. There you’ll find an expanded gift guide following the same categories. There’s no duplication so you’ll more than double your options so that you can finally win Christmas. You know, that game we all play but nobody admits to?
2023 Gift Guide – Fitness Edition
Hypervolt Go 2
You don’t have to be an Olympic athlete in order to own a percussive massager. Have you seen how hard some of these cyclists go on the weekend? A near-essential item, we’re opening this gift guide with the HyperIce Hypervolt Go 2. This is a splendidly powerful massager that weighs in at less than a kilo. Ideal for travel, whether that’s in a suitcase or just your gym bag, there are three levels of percussion to bask in. The battery drives the 40W brushless motor for three hours on a charge, helping to unblock and ease overworked muscles and speed up recovery so they can get back out there faster. It won’t turn them into a superhuman but any fitness nutcase will appreciate that you like them enough to gift them with this handheld massager.
R3,200 | takealot.com
Hoka Ora Recovery Slide 3
It’s no accident that this gift guide started with recovery gear. Your fitness besties already know how to bring the pain. They might need just a little help slowing matters down a bit and taking it easy. Beer doesn’t work. They fall over far too fast for that. So these recovery sandals are probably a better idea. Constructed from eco-friendly materials, they take care of feet that have undergone recent punishment by offering a soft, stable platform to chill out on. They’re handy for handling gym showers or just for rambling around the house. Heck, exercising before wearing these comfy slip-ons is entirely optional too.
R1,500 | sportsmanswarehouse.co.za
Adjustable Barbell/Dumbell/Kettlebell
Ask any of your friends and they’ll tell you that fitness gear takes up far too much space. Only you don’t have to ask them. They’ve probably brought it up unprompted a few times before. And anyway, that’s what this gift guide is for. It’s also for telling you that the way to a weightlifter’s heart is a multifunction set of weights that can easily convert from barbell to dumbbell to kettlebell. The convertible setup contains a total of 24kg of weight that can be adjusted in specific increments depending on which form factor the gear is currently occupying. And for the weightlifting overachievers? You’ll probably have to buy two. Ah, well, there’s always next year.
R4,000 | soulfit.co.za
Orbitrek MX
Some fitness-mad folks are always looking for new ways to work out. Sometimes newcomers don’t know where to find the time to keep it up. This under-desk elliptical machine is designed to work everywhere you can put your feet, though we’d hesitate before setting it up on your international airplane flight. That’s an almost certain way to end up in a viral TikTok video. Keep it at the office or in front of the couch and they’ll have a constantly elevated heart rate for a good reason instead of, you know, cholesterol.
R6,000 | snatcher.co.za
Whoop 4.0
Sometimes the perfect gift requires looking further afield than most folks are willing to. This gift guide is willing to. Whoop’s 4.0 fitness band isn’t locally available but that doesn’t mean you can’t have one — and by ‘you’ we mean ‘the person you’re buying this for’. Enhanced sleep tracking, advanced biometric data, and Recovery and Strain feedback make this lightweight tracker an excellent companion in the gym or on the road but there’s also one more thing. It charges wirelessly via a clip-on battery pack, meaning it never has to leave the wrist it lives on. That removes any excuse for not knowing what a body is doing at all times. That’s what athletes are really after, right?
R5,500 | amazon.com
Apple Watch Series 9
Technically we could have listed any number of sports bands in this gift guide and we’d have been on the money but Apple’s new Watch 9 adds just a little more sex appeal, both when unwrapped and while on wrists during a particularly gruelling set, than the competition. Okay, fine, Apple’s wearable hardware is also a capable tracker and trainer, if you pair it up with the right apps. It’s also the more affordable option this year but if you’re feeling especially generous you could pick up a shiny new Apple Watch Ultra 2 (R21,000) for that person in your life who just won’t stop moving.
from R10,500 | istore.co.za
Heartdeco Balance Board Trainer
Sports nuts are just about the only folks who will take the news that they’re a little unbalanced with a “well, how do we fix it” attitude. But since they’re physically unbalanced, all it takes is a simple implement that costs less than a single therapy session to work that core and recalibrate the inner ear. There are a range of balance boards out there and this is just one suggestion but it’s covered in skateboard grip-tape and should have their hip flexors up and doing their thing before everyone else has finished opening their presents. As long as they don’t launch themselves onto little Johnny’s new PlayStation 5, there will be smiling faces all ’round during Christmas lunch.
R850 | takealot.com
Therabody Smart Goggles
Anyone who is especially keen on their fitness is probably interested in other forms of body hacking as well. Something that vibrates and fits over your eyes might not be exactly what the doctor ordered but how much can that doctor bench? Yeah, that’s what we thought. The Therabody Smart Goggles are a form of wearable tech designed to destress you, whether that means just chilling out, improving your focus, or getting some sleep. That last point is of prime importance to the exercise-obsessed since it’s during sleep that your gains turn up. It’s a little like Santa but with extra protein. These goggles are portable enough to come along on holiday, operate via Bluetooth and a companion app, and will run for a little over two hours on a charge.
R5,150 | pinned.co.za