Working out at home is an oxymoron. Why would one want to work out when there are televisions, football games on television, beer, or hell - video games?

Purchasing massive home fitness equipment is often a terrible investment since the most your Bowflex will ever do is bow to the dust bunnies. Keep the gym membership, get motivated to go (good biceps and forearms should be reason enough), and relegate fitness to a place where you’ll be surrounded by superior equipment and perhaps scenery.

At home, we recommend you keep something simple like the Door Gym Chin Up Bar. It’ll give you chin-ups, push-ups, self-spotting sit-ups in one simple device that installs and removes in one second. It even has extensions for broadreach bars and ab-loops.

What this means to you: Fitness at home doesn’t mean expensive equipment.

Cost: $45 @ Door Gym

If there ever was a cooking ware needed in a modern man’s kitchen it’s a cast iron skillet. Chefs or amateurs alike will appreciate a skillet’s ability to cook almost any kind of dish from steaks to stratas.

What this means to you: Bring on a world of superior cooking made simple with a cast iron skillet. Your meat will never taste better.

$24 @ Crate & Barrel

Tip: This skillet is pre-seasoned, but if you find yourself purchasing one that isn’t then make sure you coat that skillet in your oil of choice then bake it to a hades inducing temp.

These Rossignol Bandit B94 Respect skis are built using Rossignol’s B94 Bandit structure which means they are a lighter overall alpine ski, perfect for uphill climbs, downhill bombs, backcountry powder and packed snow. They feature a sharknose and dual tec construction. At an impressive 8.4 lbs these super lightweight skis will almost disappear beneath your feet after a days run. They’

Pair them with a set of touring bindings, like the BCA Naxo nx21 Bindings.

What this means to you: A perfect all around touring ski.

Cost: $835 @ USA Outdoor

Even if you don’t know what a Chelsea boot is off the top of your head you probably know the design instantly. Most decent shoe manufacturers make one variation or another, but we’ve got our eye on the Wrench by J Shoes. It’s got classic round toe Chelsea boot lines with deep elastic panels for comfort and a rugged rubber outsole. The delineating factor is definitely its leather overlay that folds around the shaft of the shoe giving it a differentiating casual look.

What this means to you: Nasty weather or not a good boot should be a part of your shoe lineup.

$182 @ Piperlime

A good lifestyle should undoubtedly include the joys of a fine cigar. Whether it’s given as a gift or enjoyed in the company of a good crony there are few moments finer than in fine company with a cigar in one hand and your drink of choice in the other.

This Davidoff 12 Cigar set includes 12 of their most requested blends and shapes. The beauty of the set is that it includes a a variety of their cigars giving the smoker to really understand and enjoy the complexity of a Davidoff cigar. The box includes notes on tasting for each cigar and rating of it’s strength.

What this means to you: We won’t blame you for buying yourself one of these instead of giving it to someone, but be a gent and share one over a drink. Karma will reward you.

Cost: $161 @ Davidoff

Simply put the North Face: Solar Flare sleeping bag is a hard core sleeping bag. It’s trapezoidal baffle construction, vaulted oxford-cloth lined footbox, goose down filling, breathable laminate shell make it one of the top bags out there. It will take you to -20 degrees (F) and take you there in comfort.

Features:

• 7-chamber sculpted hood with dual cord adjustment
• 800+ Eastern European goose down
• Weighs 4 lbs 2 oz (1875 g) Long: 4 lbs 4 oz (1915 g)
• Down-filled draft collar
• Glow-in-the-dark zipper pull
• Ground-level side seams
• Head-level watch pocket
• No-Snag stiffener in zipper column
• Nylon taffeta lining
• One nylon mesh storage sack and one stuffsack included
• One-hand pull cord for easy hood adjustments
• Oversized down-filled draft tube and face comfort tubes
• Polarguard pads in compression zones
• Shadowlite HyVent shell
• Trapezoidal baffle construction with side box baffles

What this means to you: You. Will. Be. Warm.

Cost: ~$500 @ Various Retailers

[click on image to enlarge]

The Conmoto Balance Nature fireplace has unique written all over it. Guaranteed to be the centerpiece of any room you can probably replace half of all your furniture with one of these. It comes in a variety of arrangements to house not only your plasma, but books, occasional seating, drawers, and of course the fireplace itself. We’re especially big fans of the ‘floating’ version seen here in this picture.

It’s hand-crafted of American walnut and natural oil finish and the fireplace can be ordered in stainless steel or black stove-enamelled finish. It’s designed so heat dissipates upwards and away from the unit keeping it cool while burning. Clever. [via Appliancist]

What this means to you: In New York City fireplaces are few and far between and the idea of running a DVD of a burning fireplace on your plasma went sour about five years ago. It’s time to look into the bourgeoisie solution - the Conmoto Balance.

Cost: Varies @ Conmoto

The winter is hell on your skin. Add on top of that all the toxins, chemicals, and other harsh irritants we expose ourselves to everyday and you’ve got all out war on your skin.

Enter, Skin MD Natural. It’s a shielding lotion and unlike other lotions which focus merely on moisturizing, Skin MD actually forms a protective barrier on your skin to keep out irritants and chemicals.

This writer has used Skin MD for well over a month now and though not one to readily talk about his grooming habits can tell you now that he’s not looking back on the idea of a shielding lotion. Hasta luego cracked skin.

What this means to you: Active lifestyle’s don’t have room or time to care about things like ’skincare’ but activities, whether they’re as simple as washing hands or bombing the slopes in Vermont are killer on your skin. Eczema anyone?

Cost: $25 @ Skin MD

When you love sports you love sports. You track your teams (and others) like hawks and there’s never a snippet of news you don’t want to hear. Updates, scores, stats - it all matters.

The SportsCast wireless scoreboard delivers up-to-date game stats for every NFL or MLB team depending on which version you purchase. There’s one specific to NFL and MLB. Every single team, game and quarter is shown here. The clever bits are that the Wireless Scoreboard receives all it’s data via satellite every 15 minutes without any subscription or special connection needed. You’re literally up-to-date wherever you are. All you ahve to do is choose the game you want to feature, and keep track of the rest of the league. It shows schedules, standings and scores.

What this means to you: Sports junkies rejoice - you’ll never be in the dark on your teams. Now, if only they’d work on a college football version.

Cost: $99 @ Brookstone

The only downside we can think of with snowboarding is the fact that you need tools. Not a lot of tools, but tools nonetheless.

Adjusting, screwing, tightening, loosening, it tall requires bits. The Burton FBI-6 Pocket Tool is small enough to hide in your coat pocket. It’s packed with drivers, bits for binding adjustments which all fold away into it’s smooth composite case. The case is designed to make it easy to hold and use while you’re wearing those bulky snowboarding golves.

Bottom Line: Spend less time adjusting and more time boarding. Oh, if skateboards are your thing - it works for that too.

Cost: $15 @ Backcountry