6 Gifts for Athletes Who Have Everything

Credit: Alan Cleaver at Flickr

Forerunner? Got it. Triathlon backpack? Have it. New gear? Bought it the minute the old gear started showing wear and tear. Big-name race for next season? Already signed up.

Some people are strapped for cash around the holidays. Others are stumped when it comes to giving gifts to the people on their list who have it all, or buy it before you have a chance to gift it (I was accused of that last week). So stumped that you're still shopping for that special gift with less than a week's worth of shopping days left.

I'm currently in that category. My husband already gifted himself new skis (at least I helped with the ordering, that has to count for something.) I spilled the beans to my dad on some new Adidas shirts, shorts and pants perfect for a workout, and he sent my mom to buy them. Aside from some random stocking stuffer ideas I've had, I was screwed until I devised this list.

Go, Go Gadget! An Activity Tracker Guide

Basic sketches for the pedometer appear in Leonardo Da Vinci’s work from the 15th century. Fortunately, design and technology have come a long way since then. Today’s activity trackers offer far more than the counting of steps, and they’re no longer clunky, pager-like devices that you have to clip to your belt. They’re wearable technology: light, sleek, and ultra portable. But with so many options available, finding the best tracker for your needs can be tricky. To save you time reading lots of product reviews, here’s a brief guide to the best activity trackers.

For those who are on the go
If you’re always on the move balancing work, home, and travel, an added personal device is the last thing you need, right? Maybe not. Some companies have designed activity trackers to suit the needs of the busiest user. For an activity tracker you can carry without worrying that it’ll get damaged or lost, a wrist based device is your best option. The Fitbit Flex and Jawbone UP are two activity trackers that come in a sleek bracelet form. However, there are some notable differences between the two.

Top 5 Gifts for Techie Athletes

Athletes like data, most of them, most of the time, anyway. Runners have their pace watches, beeping near the mile markers. Triathletes have their bike computers and power meters. Fitness fans have their heart rate monitors and calorie calculators. Those might be generalizations for who uses what, but we all know we track our data either religiously (with charts, logs and analyses) or periodically (when a race tells you your splits). We use data trackers and gadgets to power our workouts--working out harder, running faster and farther, hitting what once seemed like an unattainable goal. 

The problem is that sometimes we don't like to buy these gadgets for ourselves. Or after we've paid for the races, maintenance, training facilities, shoe updates and apparel, we're not left with much money to spend on these training tools. That's my excuse--and I wouldn't even call myself that techie (based on the fact that I have yet to buy a tablet, attempt to read a book on a Kindle/Nook, or update from phone to an operating system that would run all the apps I want to use). 

But maybe you know someone who's into fitness yet not into technology (and doesn't know the first place to start unless you gift her a device). Or maybe you know someone into technology but needs some fitness motivation to get up off the couch. Or maybe you're simply stumped on what to gift your fit friends. Keep reading as Fit-Ink shares some of the favorites we've uncovered this year.

Fit-Pic: Nike Works Us Out

Excuse the blurry picture but I was trying to move to the groove.

We're still kind of in awe of what happened a few hours ago at Soldier Field. There's something about that grass, that field, that's special. Maybe because football legends play there and we actually got to pounce all over it?

We lunged, we jumped, we high-kneed. Sure, those moves will keep you warm on a chilly Chicago night (I shed my fleece a few minutes in), but they'll also give you a sampling of a Nike Training Club workout.

And with no mirrors and a few hundred of us packed onto part of the field, no one cared if you moved right when everyone else shifted left or if you kept bopping when the exercises changed. Or if you looked completely ridiculous attempting to one-legged squat (that move was tough!). Except for maybe your friends who got a good laugh (thanks Fleet Feet!)--but where else can you giggle through a workout and not have the instructor or classmates get annoyed by your banter?

If 30 minutes is that awesome (you know I love a good workout), then I need to get with 2012 technology so I can sweat with NTC more often.

Addicted to the FuelBand

It adds up your steps. It calculates your calories burned. It tells you how much fuel you have, and not the gas-guzzling or calorie-consumption kind but a metric that puts a number on all the movements you do during the day from taking out the garbage and walking the dog, to sweating through P90X video or Zumba and preparing dinner. And if nothing else, The Nike+ FuelBand makes for a pretty sharp-looking watch (hey, those were Nike’s words not mine, and I can’t help but nod in agreement).

When I first heard about the FuelBand, I thought it’d be the perfect exercise tool for my mom to use. She’s had pedometers and they’ve either overestimated her steps or met their demise falling into a toilet. She tried a Polar fitness watch, a variation of one that Liz got me hooked on, but got frustrated when the stick figure spent more time sitting than zooming across the screen (that’s probably more her fault than the machine’s but let’s just say it didn’t motivate her to exercise any more or less). And lately she’s just relied on the digital readouts on the elliptical, or the treadmill, or the stationary bike. And we all know how wrong those can be.

I was convinced that the FuelBand would help track her activity, from running up and down the stairs to the gardening she claims exhausts her more than her treadmill walks. And that it would dispel the elliptical readouts claiming she burned at least 200 calories even though she was barely on the machine for 15 minutes and never broke a sweat.

Fit-Pic: Make It Count on Leap Day

Plenty of Leap Day's have come and gone on my calendar, and I couldn't tell you what I've done for any of them. Except for today. But if I'm not careful, it's going to get fuzzy because the whole stream of events from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. is starting to feel like a dream. Thanks to Nike, I know I'm not dreaming and I got one heck of a Leap Day. 

How can you pass up a picture with Staley the Bear? Even if you look a little too giddy.