Sponsored: The Best Fitness Gadgets

Most fitness gadgets fall into one of two categories – devices that measure your progress or tools that keep you motivated. Whether you need a pounding musical beat, a training buddy or a scale that communicates with your other devices, the best fitness tools suit your workout style and help you achieve your desired results.

Trackers

Fitbit (fitbit.com) offers fitness trackers that sync with your computer and some smartphones. The One tracks your activity day and night. During the day, it counts steps and stairs and keeps track of calories burned. At night, it measures sleep cycles and uses a silent, gently vibrating alarm to wake you in the morning. PC Magazine called it “the best fitness tracking gadget in its class.” Triathletes should check out the Garmin Forerunner 910XT Multisport GPS Training Watch (garmin.com). The waterproof watch measures distance and keeps track of swimming stroke counts in the water. On land, the watch tracks heart rate, elevation, time and distance. Sync the watch with Garmin Connect to analyze your results.

Tunes

Packed with features, MOTOACTV’s (motoactv.com) GPS Sports Watch and Smart MP3 Player holds up to 4,000 songs and syncs to iTunes and Windows Media Player podcasts and playlists. Queue up your list, and MOTOACTV checks which tunes motivate you the most — and when you need a boost, plays your personal Fit Song. The device uses GPS to track your movements, monitors your heart rate and connects to other devices via Wi-Fi. New Balance (newbalance.com) partnered with iHome (ihomeaudio.com) to create a line of Fitness Evolved headphones. The NB639 headphones connect to your MP3 player to deliver your favorite workout tunes and provide voice-over feedback. The heart rate monitor, stopwatch and pedometer can be synced via USB, and graphing software manages your fitness stats.

Apps

Fodor’s chose Nike Training Club (itunes.apple.com) for its 2012 list of Top Fitness Gadgets for its video demonstrations and step-by-step instructions for 30- and 45-minute workouts. The app acts as a personal trainer, providing voice coaching and more than 100 cardio and strength exercises. As you improve, the app rewards you by unlocking workouts used by athletes and celebrities. Garmin Fit (garmin.com) works with your smartphone’s GPS, providing your speed, distance traveled and calories burned. Data is automatically uploaded to Garmin Connect, where you can share your workouts with friends, map your route and check your progress. Add-ons, used with ANT+ enabled devices, include a heart rate monitor, footpad for use when training outdoors and a cadence sensor for cyclists.

Scales

A body scale isn’t exactly a fun piece of fitness equipment, but Withings’ (withings.com) Wi-Fi Body Scale might make the chore of weighing yourself less onerous. The scale can be programmed to recognize up to seven people, and begins calculating your weight, body mass index, and muscle mass the second you step on. The data is sent wirelessly to your smartphone or personal web page so you can keep track of the results. The truly self-confident, or those who need a little extra motivation, can set up the scale to communicate with their friends and family via Twitter. Tanita (tanita.com) makes a line of 12 different scales that can measure your weight and body mass index and send the data to your computer. Through sensors and retractable handles, its high-end products take up to 25 measurements, including the percentage of body water as well as muscle mass, arm strength and metabolic age. Some models even provide you with a physique rating.

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