Reebok Core Board

Ideas for fitness devotees or contemplators likewise can be streamlined into some fundamental equipment, generally available at many local stores (most found under Exercise Equipment or Sporting Goods in the Yellow Pages):

AladdinPower hand-held generator

• Stretchy bands or tubing.

• Jump ropes.

• Large inflatable exercise balls.

• Weighted balls.

• Pedometers, step counters and heart-rate monitors.

• Treadmills, stationary bicycles, rowers, stair steppers, climbers and elliptical machines.

• Dumbbells, barbells, benches or multi-station strength-training stations.

• Accessories such as weight-lifting gloves; yoga mats, straps and supports; and water-exercise gear.

Body Back Buddy

A few other ideas that recently crossed my desk — or my mind:

• The Reebok Core Board taps into perhaps the biggest fitness trend this year. Doing exercises on the wobbly board supposedly develops stability in the torso, helping firm muscles, improve balance and enhance athletic conditioning ($149.99 at Nordic Track stores in Seattle and Bellevue).

• The ProSpot Max bench and rack eliminates the need for a spotter when lifting free weights: Sensors on the barbell and dumbbells monitor hand contact and lock the weight automatically when released ($2,999 at The Fitness Outlet in Bellevue; details at www.prospotfitness.com).

• The AladdinPower hand-held generator develops hand and forearm strength while recharging cell phones or other devices with car cigarette-lighter connections. It also includes an emergency high-powered light. ($59.95; 813-975-7177 or www.aladdinpower.com). Another emergency-kit prospect, Forever Flashlight, needs no batteries yet provides light as long as the user keeps squeezing the grip. ($12, Restoration Hardware.)

Wooden massager on a keychain

• Massage gift certificates and other stress-relaxation gifts might be especially welcome in these uncertain times. At Seattle's Zenith Supplies (206-525-7997; 800-735-7217), the selection runs from a little wooden massager on a keychain ($4) to the knobby, s-shaped Body Back Buddy ($40), which helps reach and apply deep pressure to muscles throughout the body.

• Other gift-certificate possibilities are for personal trainers, club memberships, yoga classes, Pilates sessions. Or even, for the video-game-inclined, to Gameworks in downtown Seattle, where some stations engage more than just the fingers or hands, including simulators of waterskiing, river-rapids kayaking, bicycle racing and Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix, which is very popular despite its breath-taking qualities.

Brita Fill & Go Water Filtration Bottle

• The Brita Fill & Go Water Filtration Bottle contains a filter to remove chlorine and bad tastes and odors from tap water; the filter should be changed every 15 gallons or two to three months, whichever comes first ($6.99; local sources include Bed Bath & Beyond and Target; search for others at www.brita.com).

• For folks who aren't quite sure what to do with their equipment, "The Great Stretch Tubing Handbook" and its counterparts for body balls, medicine balls, dumbbells and home gyms offer exercises with descriptions and photographs ($8.95 each, available at many exercise-equipment shops, via 888-221-8833 or www.productivefitness.com).

• Amid a glut of how-to fitness books, others stand out. In "How We Live Our Yoga," teachers and practitioners offer personal essays on how they came to yoga, what it brings to their lives and even the relationship between yoga and parenting ($14, Beacon Press). And for the adventurous in fact or at heart, "Last Breath: Cautionary Tales from the Limits of Human Endurance" is a fascinating blend of story-telling and science. Author Peter Stark, a contributing writer for Outside magazine, concocts quite imaginable stories of 11 not-so-extraordinary outdoor excursions that take dangerous turns (hypothermia, drowning, mountain sickness, avalanche, heatstroke, etc.), detailing the physiological challenges and mental choices that become key to survival ($24, Ballantine Books).

Molly Martin is assistant editor of Pacific Northwest magazine.

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