Popsugar Feel-Good Awards Fitness Winners 2025
Popsugar's 2025 Feel-Good Awards: Fitness Winners
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It's true what they say: fitness makes you feel good. Sometimes it's a labor of love: the early wake up calls, sweaty workout classes, and discipline required to meet your goals. But then there's also the sweet rush of endorphins, steady signs of progress, and the realization that you're stronger than you think.
As a health and fitness editor, I'm a firm believer that certain products can make the tough moments easier and the good moments even more satisfying. Maybe it's a pair of sneakers that eases the pain of your weekly long runs. Or perhaps it's the cute matching set that gives you the confidence to head back to the gym after a brief hiatus. Whatever the case may be, we want to celebrate the things that made us feel good this year. So, in honor of our first-ever Feel-Good Awards, we rounded up five of our own dopamine-inducing fitness favorites.
The Feel-Good Awards winners are all vetted by PS staffers and hand-chosen from 2,138 products tested across beauty, home, sex, health, and fitness. These are the products that genuinely lit up our lives in 2025, delivering an extra hit of dopamine when the world needed it most. Read on for the fitness winners, and see why our editors just can't get enough.
In This Post:
Best Feel-Good Sneakers
Under Armour UA Halo Runner ($140)
We're not sure what kind of miracle-working is being conducted at Under Armour, but two of our editors claimed they could barely feel the UA Halo Runners on their feet at all during testing. This could be due to the shoe's luxurious foam cushioning and supportive cradled midsole, but it feels a lot like magic to us. Either way, its name suddenly makes a lot of sense: wear these shoes, and you'll quite literally feel like you're walking (or running) on clouds. Even better, you don't have to waste your time breaking them in.
Editor Quote: "These have a cushion-y feel on the bottom that supported my knees when running on the treadmill, which is a must for me because I do a lot of treadmill-specific running. Outside of their practicality, though, they're also really cute. They come in a bunch of different colors (six in total), and they're definitely cute enough to wear with an outfit outside of a workout." — Taylor Andrews, senior balance editor
Best Feel-Good Workout Gear/Accessories
Carmu Yoga Mat in Dusk ($134)
One of our editors calls this "the nicest yoga mat" she's ever owned, and we'd be inclined to agree. (We were tempted to leave it rolled out in our living rooms because it's just that beautiful.) The mat material is unlike any others we've used before: it has a sweat-activated material that enhances grip and eliminates the need for towels, plus feels like supersoft suede when you stand on it, which is a nice touch. It might sound too good to be true, but after testing it ourselves in a heated yoga class, we can vouch for every claim. And yeah, it doesn't hurt that the latest drop makes it look like you're practicing on top of a sunrise.
Editor Quote: "I'm a dedicated yoga girlie, and this mat is art. It looks beautiful in my home and genuinely motivates me to practice — if only to roll out my pretty yoga mat. It's pretty heavy, but as someone that practices outside, that's not a dealbreaker for me." — Chandler Plante, health & fitness staff writer + social producer
Best Feel-Good Fitness Apparel
NikeSkims Matte Women's Double-Strap Scoop Bra ($54)
When you spend this much time in the health and fitness space, activewear can seem redundant. (How many times can we buy the same pair of black leggings?) This NikeSkims drop sought to change that. In one of the most exciting collabs of the year, we saw two powerhouses come together, pairing Skims's buttery fabric and cool-girl aesthetic with Nike's athletic know-how and top-tier craftsmanship. On a functional level, we can confirm this sports bra will hold up to your sweaty 45-minute reformer class. But even beyond that, the supportive design will give you a boost of confidence you'll want to wear it outside the gym, too. It's the kind of sports bra that makes you feel stronger, cooler, and (ahem) hotter, which is probably why we kept reaching for it over and over again.
Editor Quote: "I am obsessed with this bra and would like one or three in every color, thankyouverymuch. The double straps proved to be both functional and stylish, keeping my girls in place (and looking cute) through a hot yoga class and beyond." — Kelsey Castañon, editor in chief
Best Feel-Good Fitness Tracker
Samsung Galaxy Watch 8, 44mm ($280)
There's a lot of innovative technology out there, but does any of it actually make you feel good? According to our testers, the Galaxy Watch 8 is the best wearable for our dopamine-inducing criteria, with a daily readiness score that assesses how "ready" our bodies are for the day based on your sleep, and personalized AI insights that coach you through areas of improvement. One editor reports scanning her thumb on the watch to find additional metrics, at which point she learned that her antioxidant index was quite low. Knowing this, she now has the ability to improve her stats, make meaningful change in her marathon training, and yes, feel very good.
Editor Quote: "A standout feature of this watch is that it has the option for a 12-minute run test that will measure aerobic capacity and determine a duration to train for. This is a cool feature I haven't seen previously. I need more time to drive into the AI coaching, but it's promising so far. I'd be curious how its coaching and feedback fares while training for a marathon." — Genevieve Farrell, fitness and wellness video director
Best Feel-Good Workout Equipment
Tread+ with Peloton IQ ($5595, originally 6695)
We're categorizing this Peloton as equipment, but the truth is, it's a full-fledged experience. With movement-tracking cameras that count reps and give you real-time feedback on your form, it's your favorite workout instructor and your best fitness coach all wrapped into one. The cushioned belt makes our runs easier, while Peloton's library of empowering instructors pushes us to get stronger (and honestly, the Sonos sound system makes it feel like they're in the same room as us). Frankly, the Tread+ will genuinely level up your fitness game, and there's nothing more feel-good than that.
Editor Quote: "This is the sort of product you have to see to believe, but I can promise you that if you've ever yearned for a personal trainer, while simultaneously wishing you could just work out alone, the Peloton Cross Training Tread+ is a one-stop shop." — Sarah Wasilak, shopping director
Chandler Plante (she/her) is a social producer and staff writer for the Health & Fitness team at Popsugar. She has over five years of industry experience, previously working as an editorial assistant for People magazine, a social media manager for Millie magazine, and a contributor for Bustle Digital Group. She has a degree in magazine journalism from Syracuse University and is based in Los Angeles.
