Shopping for a Fitbit fitness tracker this year? We’ve looked through all the Black Friday ads and broken down where you can get the cheapest Fitbit Versa 2 and Lite models, the cheapest Fitbit Inspire HR, the cheapest Fitbit Charge 3 as well as the best price on the Fitbit Ace 2 tracker for kids.

Best Deal on a Fitbit Versa 2: $149.99

This price is already active on Best Buy, Amazon and Walmart. If those sites sell out, you will find the same price in-store at Sam’s Club on Black Friday. It’s possible that Kohl’s will include this for Kohl’s Cash on Black Friday, BUT it’s currently not eligible.

The Fitbit Versa 2 (MSRP: $200) offers all-day activity tracking, a AMOLED display, built-in Amazon Alexa, water resistance and mobile notifications (compatible with Android & iOS devices).

• Best Buy: Fitbit Versa 2 (3 colors)
• Amazon: Fitbit Versa 2 (4 colors)
• Walmart: Fitbit Versa 2 (3 colors)

Best Deal on a Fitbit Versa Lite: $99.99 + $30 GC

This deal will be active on Black Friday week at Kohl’s, offering an identical sale price to retailers like Walmart and Amazon. The difference is the additional $30 in Kohl’s Cash that you will receive with the purchase. This is the cheapest price we have seen for a new model (lowest refurb was $86).

The Fitbit Versa Lite (MSRP: $160) is identical in design to the Versa 2, but does not include on-screen workouts, stair climbing / swim lap tracking, local music storage, Alexa-voice control or Fitbit Pay. It also offers a LCD screen instead of OMOLED. Battery life is 1 day shorter than the Versa 2 as well.

• Kohl’s: Fitbit Versa Lite (5 colors)

Best Deal on a Fitbit Inspire HR: $69.99 + $15 GC

Another deal at Kohl’s that will be active on Black Friday week. You will find the same sale price at Walmart, Sams’s Club and Amazon. But you won’t find the bonus $15 in Kohl’s Cash at any other retailer.

The Fitbit Inspire HR (MSRP: $100) offers activity / exercise tracking, a heart rate monitor, on-screen notifications and a swim-proof design. It’s not a smartwatch, like the Versa though. You won’t have features like smart apps or voice control.

• Kohl’s: Fitbit Inspire HR (3 colors)

Best Deal on a Fitbit Charge 3: $99.99 + $30 GC

Continuing to dominate the compaction, Kohl’s pops up again with the best overall deal. You will find the Fitbit Charge 3 for the $99.99 sale price at Sam’s Club and Amazon, but not the additional $30 gift card.

The Fitbit Charge 3 (MSRP: $150) offers a heart rate tracker, swim-proof design, sleep tracking, smartphone notifications and an impressive 7-day battery life.

• Kohl’s: Fitbit Charge 3 (2 colors)

Best Deal on a Fitbit Ace 2: $49.99

The best advertised deal on the Fitbit Ace 2 is going to be at Best Buy during Black Friday week (although likely price-matched by Amazon and Walmart as well).

The Fitbit Ace 2 (MSRP: $70) offers activity & sleep tracking up to 5 days of battery life, parental controls as well as a swim-proof design. It’s recommended for kids 6 and up.

• Best Buy: Fitbit Ace 2 (3 colors)

Here’s the cheapest Fitbit fitness trackers on Black Friday 2019

Happy 2019!  A new year means a fresh start, and with that comes a new set of resolutions.  One of the most common resolutions involves one’s health, whether that is to “eat better”, “lose weight”, or “get fit”.  However, it’s a well known fact that most people fail to reach their new year goals.

What’s something that often stops projects–and resolutions–in their tracks is a lack of a clear plan.  Getting healthier is always an admirable goal, but it also can be overwhelming for those that don’t quite know how to go about such goal.  Thankfully, there are a number of apps to use that can help you get organized to make 2019 the year you hit that healthy resolution.

MyFitnessPal

The key to losing weight is quite simple in theory–eat less calories, and you’ll burn fat.  But, how much less food should you eat?  Do you know how many calories that spaghetti you made is?  Calorie counting can be really overwhelming, but MyFitnessPal can make it so much easier.

You simply plug in your stats and how many pounds you want to lose (or gain!) a week, and the app does the calculations for you.  Then, you pick the foods you eat from its extensive database (the largest of all the apps of its ilk), and viola, you’ve taken the first step in getting your diet in shape!

Google Play   Apple App Store

MapMyFitness

There are dozens upon dozens of workout tracking apps, but MapMyFitness is one that gets a bit of a special mention.  By the same makers as MyFitnessPal, syncing the two apps for accurate measurements of calories you burn is an immensely helpful feature for someone overwhelmed with the healthier lifestyle.

MapMyFitness tracks walks, runs, and cycling trips via GPS, giving you plenty of information about how far you went, how quickly, and how many calories you burned.  Additionally, MapMyFitness has a datatbase for things like local trails and fitness events, to make sure you never run out of things to do.

Google Play   Apple App Store

Fitocracy

If you’re not as worried about syncing your apps together, and like to ‘gamify’ things, then Fitocracy is right up your ally.  Fitocracy has a nice database exercises that you can search, and as you do them you earn points.

Points level you up and earn achievements, adding a competitive element with friends if you so choose.  It’s a bit of a more fun way to motivate yourself to work out.

Google Play   Apple App Store

C25K

All the fitness tracking apps are great, but they don’t help if you’re not sure what to do in the first place!  If you’re interested in running and cardio, but don’t quite have the endurance yet, one of your best bets is the Couch to 5k (or C25K) program.

The program is designed to get completely sedentary people up and running a 5k in only 90 days, by a staggered run/walk program three days a week.  It’s an extremely helpful program, and there is a whole slew of apps that can help you with this particular program.  The one I chose for this list is both free and has a nice looking interface, though most of the apps do serve the same purpose.

Google Play   Apple App Store

Stronglifts 5×5

If you’re not one for cardio, maybe weightlifting is more your cup of tea.  One of the best beginners’ programs for lifting heavy things has to be the Stronglifts 5×5 program.  It’s deceptively simple–you only need learn five exercises, and you’re only in the gym three times a week.

The app gives you all the information you need on what exercises to do and on what days, and there are many success stories out there with how much this program help others get stronger and lose weight.  The creator of this program wanted all the information about Stronglifts to be free to all and easily accessible, and that extends to this official app.

Google Play   Apple App Store

Headspace

People tend to not realize how important their mental health is to their physical health!  Stress can cause hormone inbalances, to hold on to water weight, and even a terrifying smorgasbord of health issues.  One of the simplest ways to set aside some time to yourself, a way to calm down and unwind from our busy lives.

This is where meditation comes into play.  When meditation is properly practiced, it gives the mind time to slow down, unwind, and simply let thoughts slip by.  But meditation is not always easily learned… but thankfully with meditation apps at our fingertips, there’s never a better time to try.

Headspace is my personal favorite–while it does require a monthly subscription, Headspace teaches you the foundations of meditation and how to practice it, as well as many different varieties of guided meditation.  There are programs to help you sleep, deal with anxiety, and plenty of other series well worth the fee.

Google Play   Apple App Store

Fitness and Health Apps to Kickstart Your New Year’s Resolutions

Trying to begin working out and getting fit can be really daunting.  With what is seemingly a billion different sources and all sorts of things you can buy, a lot of people don’t know where to start.  But, you can start plenty of different types of fitness workouts and regimes, for free, and oftentimes right in your own home!  Here are nine YouTube fitness channels to look at, and get you started on the path to fitness today!

Fitness Blender

Fitness Blender is one of the most popular YouTube fitness channels, and for good reason.  Fitness blender has a variety of workouts available, of different times and different skill levels.  Most of Fitness Blender’s videos are HIIT and cardio focused.

Yoga with Adriene

If yoga is more your thing, then you can’t do better than Yoga with Adriene.  Adriene has a bunch of yoga videos available to choose from, and covers beginner poses, more advanced moves, and also workouts to help relieve muscle stress.

The Fitness Marshall

A lot of people generally think that dance oriented workouts are silly, but nothing is off the table for getting fit, provided you have fun!  The Fitness Marshall has a bunch of different dance videos, focused around cardio workouts that are designed to get you moving and sweating.

Blogilates

Blogilates is a channel that focuses on pilates, which is somewhat similar to yoga but focused more on building a strong core.  This channel has pilates videos for all pilates levels, including some very beginner friendly videos to get you started.

Millionaire Hoy

Millionare Hoy is a very positive trainer, and his videos focus a lot on getting active, and getting stronger.  Other than his motivating mindset, Hoy also has a bunch of 30-day and 90-day workout plans, giving you a structured workout regime to get though and making it easier to stick to a fitness plan.

Jessica Smith TV

Jessica Smith TV is a YouTube channel focused more towards women’s fitness.  Most of Jessica’s workouts are cardio based coupled with light weights, but she also as light, positive videos like the ‘Walk and Talks’ above, which offer motivation and a less hardcore mindset to fitness.

The Body Coach

The Body Coach’s channel mainly focuses on HIIT workouts, which are fast, high intensity cardio workouts.  Like many channels, he has videos for all fitness levels, and this is especially important with an intense cardio workout like HIIT.  He also has videos that feature different types of equipment (or no equipment), in order to inject some variety into the workouts.

Zuzka Light

Zuzka Light’s workout videos are very much focused on strength training, and feature videos with and without workout equipment.  She also has videos of various lengths, including 5 and 10 minute workout videos to get in a quick workout even on the busiest days.

Physio Fitness

When you get injured, it can be really hard to workout and re-strengthen the injured body part.  Adding on the fact that physical therapy can cost a lot of money, and is not always necessary for more minor injuries (that can still affect strength) and it can be hard to know where to begin.  Physio Fitness focuses on exercises and workouts that can help restore motion and strength in commonly injured body parts, making it so you can get back to normal mobility and your normal workout routine.

9 Free YouTube Fitness Channels to Get you Moving

Gadgets designed to help people stay active and healthy are becoming more and more popular, and capable of doing some pretty cool things. Gone are the days of trying to keep track of how many calories you’ve eaten or how much exercise you’ve gotten in a day — now, as they say, “there’s an app for that.” Here are some of the best fitness gadgets out there making it easier than ever to get or stay in shape.

Buy this gift for someone into fashion as well as fitness

Releasing on November 6, 2015, the Misfit Shine 2 is the followup to the original Misfit Shine; an extremely popular wrist wearable that was very affordable. Keeping the same round design of the device, the disc can be inserted into a necklace as well as worn on a wrist. The device can also be clipped onto clothing at night to track sleep data.

MSRP: $99 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: n/a

Check Ben’s for Deals on the Misfit Shine

Get this gift for the person who just likes to stay active

The Fitbit Charge Wireless Activity Wristband is similar to the Flex model but includes an actual LED readout screen and an altimeter. The newest offering from the most well-known of the activity tracker brands out there, the Fitbit Charge keeps track of calories eaten/burned, activity and even sleep. You can also step up to teh HR model, if you want heart rate tracking.

MSRP: $130 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $86

Check Ben’s for Deals on the Fitbit Charge

Buy this gift for the person serious about getting healthy

The Withings WS-50 WiFi Scale is a high-tech scale that measures weight, body fat, composition, heart rate, and even indoor air quality, and also allows you to automatically upload and track your progress (via Bluetooth/Wi-Fi) using the included Health Mate app. The older model (WS-30) has almost all of the same features if you want to save a bit of money.

MSRP: $150 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $120

Check Ben’s for Deals on the Withing Scale

Buy this gift for the kid who spends too much time playing video games

The GeoPalz iBitz Pedometer  is a small clip-on activity tracker that syncs with a game/app that requires kids to have to actually exercise and eat well to keep a virtual “pet” alive (sounds kind of like a real-life Tamagotchi — anyone else remember those things??). It also tracks your kids’ steps throughout the day and exchanges them for prizes, awards and online game time.

MSRP: $35 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $10

Check Amazon for the iBitz Pedometer

Buy this gift for a casual that’s just trying to lose the holiday weight

There’s a reason Fitbit took two spots on our holiday list, they make awesome fitness trackers! The Fitbit Zip is not a wristband, but rather a tracker that can be clipped onto your clothing or slipped into a pocket. It tracks steps, distance and calories burned; perfect for anyone that wants to shed a few pounds after all those delicious holiday dinners.

MSRP: $60 | Lowest Price on Ben’s:$30

Check Ben’s for Deals on the Fitbit Zip

Buy this gift for the person super serious about running

People who are into running can be, like, really into running. For these people, the Garmin Forerunner 620 GPS Watch w/ HRM-Run monitor1 is as technical a running watch as you’re going to get. This GPS watch, when used with the HRM heart rate monitor, tracks and calculates a ton of things that quite honestly, I’m not familiar with (vertical oscillation, recovery time and VO2 max estimate, to name a few) but I’m sure runners are. If you’re not as concerned with some of those things, you can get an older, less high-tech Garmin Forerunner GPS watch on sale for $100 to $150.

 MSRP: $450 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: N/A

Check Amazon for the Garmin Forerunner 620

Fitness gadgets worth buying this holiday season

While adjustable standing desks aren’t new to the market, a desk that automatically makes adjustments based off the user’s health certainly is a fresh idea. Utilizing built-in sensors, the Stir Kinetic Desk is aware when the user walks up to the desk and can track the amount of time spent standing or sitting at the desk.

Throughout the day, the smart desk will make suggestions when to change positions in order to encourage the user to alternate between the two options. When it’s time to move to a new position, the desk simply moves by one inch up or down in order to alert the user to make the change.

The creators have included a 4.3-inch touchscreen on the left corner of the desk in order to set height requirements as well as keep tabs on fitness data. There are also two power stations on the left and right side of the desk that provide access to a total of eight AC ports for power as well as four USB ports to charge mobile devices.

However, the significant downside to this slick piece of office hardware is the extremely hefty price of $3,890. You can find large adjustable standing desks for about a fourth of the price of the Stir Kinetic Desk and adjustable standing workstations for less than a tenth of the price. There are also numerous DIY solutions for building a less expensive, adjustable standing deck; assuming you are handy with tools.

You can check out the video below to see the deck in action as well as a few product shots:

Shut Up and Take My Money: Stir Kinetic Desk