What’s in my Gym Bag?
What’s in my gym bag? I’m sure you’re all desperate to know!
I’m about to share what’s in my gym bag and why, because I’ve noticed something over the years….
If you want to play a sport, you’ll buy the correct kit. It’s kind of a given – it’s why you see guys on bikes wearing a helmet and lycra, despite the fact nobody looks good in lycra.
The gym somehow feels different. You’ll see people in shorts and t-shirt and occasionally gloves, but for some reason thats where it stops. It seems dedicated fitness equipment (beyond the barbells etc) doesn’t enter peoples consciousness when it comes to fitness wear.
Maybe they think dedicated fitness kit is for the serious gym user, when in truth everyone who trains could/should be using at least some of these items.
Here I’m going to share what’s in my gym bag and why….
Adidas Power Perfect 2 Lifting Shoes
When I’m doing squats. lunges and olympic lifting, I’ll ALWAYS wear my lifting shoes. They’ve been a revelation for me.
The lifting shoes have a perfectly flat sole, meaning they offer a really solid base of support.
The heel is slightly lifted thanks to a wedged midsole. This allows you to maintain a perfect back position during the deep sections of a squat.
The hard foam also means you don’t lose any support on heavier weights. This may sound trivial, but once during a heavy clean I ended up on my arse because my shoes gave way (they were soft-soled). This forced me to lean further back, meaning I ended up having to sit down whilst holding a barbell overhead!
I’m not making that mistake again!
The power perfect 2’s also have a double-fastening mechanism. You tie the laces as normal, then secure your feet further with a velcro-loop. This keeps your feet securely in place whilst you’re lifting.
If you suffer from wrist pain whilst lifting, you could probably do with some extra wrist support. I get mine with these wraps and they’ve been invaluable.
In an ideal world we’d all have amazing wrist flexibility, the reality is, we don’t. Too much computer use and generally little reason to flex at the wrist means that many of us suffer pain, especially when we are pressing weights, forcing the wrist to flex and extend.
A tight wrist wrap has really helped me get rid of wrist pain whilst lifting.
If you watch the video below, you’ll see how the wrist is forced back into a number of positions whilst lifting and all of these are totally pain free when using my RDX wrist wraps
.
I won’t lift without them any more.
When you exercise, you get sweaty. Sweaty hands can make gripping a barbell or dumbbell tough or even impossible (depending on how sweaty you are!)
It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re lifting heavy weights, swinging kettlebells or holding a bar to do pull ups, a little rubbing of athletic chalk on your hands will give you a better grip, making your exercise safer.
To be honest it doesn’t matter what brand you use – I’ve found them all to be decent, but this Mueller Weight Lifting Chalk
is the cheapest I’ve found and is available on Amazon Prime, meaning you’ll have it quickly if you have run out!
If you’ve ever lost grip, give this stuff a try and you won’t look back.
I stopped using straps for a while – not because I didn’t think they were good, more because my training shifted and I wasn’t doing the kind of lifting that required use of them much.
This year, that changed and I bought new straps.
I’m pretty brand-loyal when I find quality and I love my RDX wrist wraps, so decided to go for their wrist straps and have not been disappointed. They’re well-made, have a useful rubber-grip detail and have been more than man enough to put up with the work I’ve put them through in the gym!
I used them with a heavy front squat and snatch grip deadlift superset and they were a god-send, especially towards the end of the snatch grip deadlifts when I was operating at the extreme end of my energy levels!
There they are, on the floor left after I finished my last set…
Here’s an honourable mention – it’s not technically in my gym bag, but I still use it most days and that’s my Foam Roller
…
In our house, the foam roller is used a lot! I don’t have it in my gym bag because they already have them there, but it’s still a useful bit of kit to have around.
So there you go, that’s what I have in my gym bag. What’s in your gym bag and why?
P.S. I’m giving away a FREE eBook ‘101 Health and Fitness Tips’ to everyone who subscribes to my VIP email list. By joining the list you’ll have access to exclusive content, discounts, offers and products from both me and selected partners. Click here to download!
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