Still using pencil and paper to keep track of your golf score? You could leap into the modern gadget-loving age with a digital scorecard.
This inexpensive ($20) gizmo keeps track of your strokes, calculates scores, and will also save your best round. It runs on a cell battery (included), and a strap lets you clip it to your golf bag or belt.
Ranked lightweight and easy-to-use by reviewers, the digital golf scorecard means no more worrying about losing your pencil.
From Brookstone.
If you’re trying to get the edge in a sport that requires fast reflexes and good balance, you might consider practicing on a Bongo Board.
Reminiscent of a skateboard but with just one rolling wheel, this gadget is continually in motion. As you stand on it, you’re forced to make constant adjustments to your body in order to keep from falling off. Exercising on a bongo board is supposed to help with any sports that require good reflexes and superior balance. Whether you’re a basketball, football, or tennis star (or wannabe), balance is a must, so if the board truly does help, it might make a useful training aid. You can start off on carpets (with something nearby to grab onto), and then move onto hard surfaces and maneuver your way about the room.
Reviews on Amazon are fairly positive, and you can pick one up there for about $90:
If you’re a hiker, you can save your knees some grief (especially on the downhill side) by using a walking stick or cane. This can also be useful for simple walking if you have mobility or balance issues. You may not always want to tote that cane with you though, so having the option to fold it up and tuck it away is nice.
Foldable walking canes are available in numerous styles and colors. As you can see from the purple floral one pictured, you can also get distinctly men’s and women’s canes (not that men aren’t allowed to walk with purple floral models, but you know…).
This is one of several folding canes from the House of Canes, and it sells for $28. A nice optional feature is the 5-prong ice grip (an attachment for the bottom, which costs $10 extra). You can use it for walking more easily through snow and ice, and it can double as a personal security measure–just see how often you get mugged if you can prong your foes in their very special body parts.
Tired of hot spots, blisters, and sweat-drenched toes when you’re running? Perhaps you could tuck a pair of Drymax socks over your feet.
Made using a “Blister Guard” system, the running socks are designed to keep feet dry, not just by “wicking away sweat” (how many times have you heard that description?) but through science: “This system incorporates Friction Free Profilen® fibers (PTFE) throughout the entire foot area of the sock. PTFE has the lowest Coefficient of Friction of any solid material. This scientific approach keeps feet dry and the friction between the skin and sock low. Runners wearing the Hot Weather Running socks will have cooler, drier, more comfortable feet with far less chance of getting blisters.”
In addition to the snazzy science, the running socks also feature top mesh panels and bottom air vents to work with your breathable running shoes to keep your feet cooler, even in hot weather.
Pick them up for $16 from Sock Geek.
If you wear eyeglasses and your usual ski or snowboarding goggles mash the frames into your face, you may want to pick up some goggles specifically designed to fit over glasses. The Regulator Knowledge offers an enlarged lens chamber and a floating membrane that eliminates eyeglass temple pressure.
Other features include an adjustable ventilation system to regulate airflow, fog-resistance, “Carbonic-X” lens for extra clarity and scratch-resistance, and an “articulating strap positioning system”. The goggles can fit over a helmet and the QuickFit strap adjustment system has a clip buckle so it’s easy to take them on and off. The frames and lenses are available in different colors.
$60 at Athletic Optics
They say you should tell people when you have goals such as losing weight, because feeling that others have expectations can keep you more honest with your diet. Well, it doesn’t get much more honest than a scale that can post your data to social media sites.
The Withings WiFi Body Scale
Personally, I’d be mortified if anyone on the web knew my middle name much less my weight, but for those who like to share it all in the hopes of sticking with their diet, then here’s the scale for you.
$160
If your regular jogging or walking sessions are just too easy, then maybe you can pump up your workout by wearing a weighted vest.
By carrying extra weight around while you exercise, your body will be forced to work harder, and you’ll burn more calories. Wearing the weight around your torso makes for even distribution, and it keeps your hands free. Fitness vests also tend to be less clunky and awkward than wrist and ankle weights.
Numerous manufacturers make these vests, which are available in different weight increments and in men’s and women’s fits. Some are a set weight (i.e. you get a 40-pound vest) and others are adjustable (pouches let you add or remove small weights). Prices start around $40.