Your Christmas Shopping List Made Easier
With the holiday season coming up quickly, you’re probably going to be something like me and waiting until the 24th or so to hit the malls and see what’s left for your special someone, and along the way wind up buying two or three things for yourself. You know what everyone else will probably get you and that surround sound system was on for 10% off so it was practically paying for itself. You’d be stupid not to get it!!!
So to help you out, I wanted to provide a list of things you could pick up for the different people in your life. I’m not going to do it based on if it’s for your mother in law or for your little brother, because for all I know your mother in law may be heavy into punk rock and Slayer, whereas your brother may have a Yankee Candle obsession that’s feeding into his solitude and slowly forming his serial killer future.
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewWVz3Y-m5A’]
SO I’m going to break the list down by what that person may be into: fitness, books, videos, and cool stuff that I think just plain rocks. This way regardless of whether your grandma is looking to set a PR in her clean and jerk or your pops is hoping to perfect his demi glace, you’re covered.
Before we get into the list, I want you to do me a solid and sign up for my emails by filling out the little box in the upper right hand corner of the screen as I’m going to have a few big announcements and give aways coming up in the next month or two and my list will have first crack at everything. I only email when I have something big to share, or if there’s a new post up, so this way you can stay in the loop and get some sweet schwag along the way.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s start checking out some of the kick-ass stuff to get for fitness equipment. If you want to get something, just click the links embedded on each product.
FITNESS EQUIPMENT
Val Slides: $27.99 on Amazon.com
For big Bang-for-your-buck fitness equipment, you can’t go wrong with a set of Val Slides. You can use carpet, hardwood, slide boards, or any type of low-grip surface and create a whole exercise library that will get every single muscle possible. To see a range of the possibilities and how intense they can be, check out Ben Bruno’s YouTube page HERE.
TRX Pro Pack: $189.95 on Amazon.com
Another of the big-bang-for-your-buck pieces of equipment, you can do hundreds and probably even thousands of different exercises, progressions and regressions of each, and it packs into a small bag that lets you set it up in your house or take it on the road with you when you travel. The nylon lasts forever. I’ve used some for 8 years and they still look new.
Harpenden Skinfold Calipers: $379.00 on Amazon.com
For the fitness professional, there’s no replacing a set of amazing skinfold calipers when it comes to body composition analysis. The level of accuracy and re-test reliability is higher than almost every other type of testing, and the relative ease of operation makes them indispensable. On the plus side, determining body composition is great but also determining which sites of the body are seeing the greatest changes, and what dietary changes have to be made to see changes in the other areas takes you out of “Average Trainer” and puts you somewhere closer to Jedi or Dark Knight or something like that.
Fitlosophy Fit BookFitness & Nutrition Journal: from $22.95 on Amazon.com
Everyone should track their workouts to see if they’re making progress, as well as to keep track of their daily nutrition. This little gem is able to do it all, and has pre-made templates for workouts, food logs, calendars, goal setting, and body measurements, plus it’s relatively small in size and can fit into your gym bag and go on the gym floor with you without looking too auspicious.
BOOKS
The 4 Hour Chef by Tim Ferriss
One of the first books published by Amazon, the author of the 4 Hour Workweek tackles teaching you how to cook your own damn dinner for once. I started reading this a week or so ago and have already made two of the really easy dishes. My favourite so far was the coconut curry mashed cauliflower.
Dan John is one of those rare teachers who can make you understand the most intricate concepts involving strength and conditioning with very few words, and with very direct focus. I have yet to reach into this book, but I don’t doubt he’s going to knock it out of the park just like his other ones.
Go the F**K to Sleep by Adam Mansbach
How can you not love a childrens’ book with swears all over the place???
A single collection that has three Gladwell books: Outliers, Blink, and the Tipping Point?? Having read of the three, I can say Gladwell is one of the few writers who asks better questions than he can find the answers to. The writing style is inquisitive and explores sides of concepts I would have never considered, which is why I loved reading each one.
Videos
My video series is still the cats’ meow. You should get on it today.
Muscle Imbalances Revealed: Assessment and Exercise
With webinars from John Izzo, Anthony Mychal, Nick Rosencutter, and Rick Kaselj, you get hours of information from some very diverse sources who know their stuff.
Functional Stability Training – Eric Cressey and Mike Reinold
Mike and Eric team up again to tackle the ins and outs of core training from both rehab and sport performance perspectives. The combined approach shows some of the most cutting edge techniques used in the world today, from two of the most successful people out there (head of athletic therapy for the Boston Red Sox and a trainer to pretty much every baseball player on the eastern seaboard, respectively).
Cool Stuff
I love core shorts. They’re one of the only ways I’ve found to provide a means of force closure to SI joints that may be lax without cumbersome or awkward to explain taping, and they also make you feel stronger when wearing them. Feeling stronger is always awesome.
I was initially looking to put this in the video section, but it was way too cool for that. You have to watch the entire series to understand where a lot of the back-references in The Dark Knight Rises come from, so do yourself a solid and book off a Sunday, cuddle up on the couch, and proceed to blow your mind for the next 8 hours watching one of the most iconic superheroes in history dominate the screen.
Wanna start watching tv without paying the cable company? Here’s your first step. Stream live tv and movies through the internet, and make every friend you have insanely jealous of your electro-coolness.
SO there’s your Chirstmas shopping list made easier. Whether you’re buying for a book worm, a fitness geek, someone who likes movies or wants to watch endless tv while cooking their own meals on a regular basis, you have the bases covered.