3 Fitness Items You Shouldn’t Buy For Your New Year’s Resolutions and 4 You Should
Written by
Josephine Nesbit
Edited by
Angela Corry
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A New Year’s resolution is a commitment to achieve a specific goal or make a big change in the new year. According to a survey by Gallup, personal health and fitness goals are one of the most common New Year’s resolutions.
If getting in better shape is your goal for 2025, here are three fitness items you shouldn’t buy and four you should, according to health and fitness experts.
Don’t Buy: Cheap Fitness Equipment
“Don’t buy cheap fitness equipment that will not last a year and that you can’t resell if you have to,” wrote Kaleigh Ray in an email, a certified exercise physiologist with a master’s degree in exercise science biomechanics and staff writer for Treadmill Review Guru. “Not only will you probably not enjoy the exercise experience, but the design of such equipment is not conducive to long-term use.”
Ray explained that with a New Year’s resolution, you want to feel excited and ready to use your new equipment as often as possible. This makes it easier to follow through and stick to your goals.
Don’t Buy: Elliptical
Another machine Ray doesn’t recommend is the elliptical.
“They don’t store as easily and can be much harder to resell and relocate if necessary,” Ray wrote. “Ellipticals also don’t have the same training content and community around them that can make sticking to a New Year’s resolution easier.”
Don’t Buy: Heavy Weights
Dr. Anuja Ghate, a physical therapist at Replay PT and personal trainer in New York City, says to avoid purchasing heavy weights.
“If you are not experienced with weight lifting, heavy is a recipe for injury,” Ghate explained.
A 2023 report from Compare the Market found that people lifting weights that were too heavy for them resulted in upper body strains, sprains and dislocations.
Do Buy: Easily Storable Equipment
“Large fitness equipment can be the perfect buy for a New Year’s resolution, but it can also be a curse,” Ray explained. She recommends going for one you enjoy or have an established history of using. She also recommends finding equipment that’s easier to store.
“For new exercisers, I like exercise bikes and rowers more than other cardio machines because they are easier to store and move around,” Ray added.
Do Buy: Personal Trainer Sessions
Ghate recommends purchasing a small pack of sessions with a personal trainer to learn good form and habits that you can replicate on your own. Ghate explained that she has seen so many patients who have injured themselves trying to do exercises they saw online without ever getting proper instruction.
Do Buy: Good Shoes
Jerome Draculan, a NASM-certified personal trainer and operations manager of Strength Shop USA, recommends buying good shoes to help you achieve your New Year’s fitness goals.
“Your feet are your foundation. The wrong shoes can derail your workouts — and your knees,” Draculan explained. “Get fitted at a store based on your workout type. No one shoe fits all!”
Do Buy: Fitness Tracker
Draculan also recommends getting a mid-range fitness tracker.
“Tracking your steps, heart rate, and workouts is motivating–but you don’t need one that sends you to the moon,” he wrote. “Pay attention to the functions you anticipate using. Spoiler alert: oxygen saturation monitoring may not be one of them.”
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