Trying to get your family on the health and fitness wagon? Maybe it’s time to change up your gifting! These gift ideas – perfect for the festive season – can help your loved ones kick-start their healthy-living journey in 2025.
Get inspired with our health-living gifting guide below – whether it’s tools for staying active or items that support mental well-being, these options promote a holistic approach to health.
- Sports Watches
While these are typically big-budget items, they can really be super-useful in helping your loved ones understand their body better and record and improve on their exercise goals. There are a variety of brands available in South Africa, each offering different sports watches within different price brackets to suit a particular need. For example, if your loved one is just beginning their fitness journey and does mostly indoor exercise with a few runs and walks, then they don’t necessarily need a watch that has open-water swimming and triathlon functionality or the battery power to last an ultra-trail race.
Brands like Samsung, Huawei, Garmin and Polar have sports watches available for under R5000. Active kid? Look out for the Garmin Vivofit Jnr watches from R1500. - Rings
The latest trend in wearable health tech comes in the form of a ring. From international sports teams to big C-suite execs wear rings to more accurately track their sleep, body temperature fluctuations and monitor their body’s responses to foods (super helpful for those with diabetes too). Ultrahuman is one such brand, now easily available in South Africa, offering a range of rings as well as the continuous glucose monitor, which syncs up with the ring. To find out more, visit ultra.life. - Workout Equipment
From small items like resistance bands for stocking fillers to a set of adjustable weights, a pilates ball or a gorgeous new yoga mat, home workout gear and equipment makes for amazing gifts that could inspire your loved one to kick-start their fitness journey or add to their existing fitness lifestyle. And to help get them started? Share some links to our amazing home workouts, from strength and mobility to yoga and Pilates on our resource pages. - Healthy Recipe Book
Cookbooks make for gorgeous gifts and are an easy way to inspire a change in healthy living. Look for cookbooks that offer healthy recipes, allergen-friendly recipes or plant-based recipes to inspire a change in lifestyle and perhaps set a challenge to cook a number of them together. - Sportswear
Nothing inspires a person to get active like a new set of amazing sportswear. Look for fabrics that are moisture-wicking, breathable and stretchy to accommodate a variety of workouts. Not sure what your loved one might like? Then a voucher to a sports brand clothing shop will do the trick. - App Subscriptions
There are so many apps available today, to help inspire a new fitness or wellness programme. From yoga apps like Asana to strength training apps like FitBod or wellness apps like Calm or Headspace or nutrition-related apps like Noom or local brands like Health-e, there’s so much to choose from within different price brackets. - Class Passes
A big part of developing a successful fitness routine is finding a workout that you love doing. So why not gift your loved one a pass (or a few passes) to different workout studios or gyms. Think of something that might not be available to them (if they already go to a big brand gym), like a heated yoga class or a specific functional or training class like a CrossFit box or a Hyrox-training studio or even swimming lessons. - Wellness Journals
Encourage mindfulness and mental health with guided journals that include prompts for gratitude, reflection and goal-setting. These can really help to support mental well-being, plan for the new year and aid in stress management. Plus, journaling has been proven to improve mood and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. - Grown Your Own
Gardening is a great activity for multiple reasons (read more about the health benefits of gardening here), but also, growing your own herbs, veggies or salad ingredients can encourage you to eat healthier meals as well as build an appreciation for the process it takes to grow food. Pop a voucher to your local gardening shop into a Christmas stocking or purchase a herb-growing kit or veggies seeds to get the journey started. - Sports equipment
Some of us are more attracted to the idea of exercise when it involves a sense of play, competition or a team dynamic. If your loved one is not one for solo training or the gym, there are many ways to inspire activity with some fun sports equipment. Think anything from beach bats to tennis or soccer balls to a tennis or padel racket.
By investing in wellness-focused presents – for yourself or your loved ones – you’re providing the tools to make 2025 the healthiest year yet.