When going to the gym it’s absolutely important to make the most of your workouts.
For that reason, it’s essential to bring some key equipment and things that will help you accomplish those workout goals that you desire to achieve!
Whether you want something that will help maximise your strength training and muscle development or something that will minimise the risk of injury, there is a plethora of equipment that you can easily bring to the gym that won’t be a hassle to bring with you on your gym journey.
Just to highlight, the point of this post is not to give you workout ideas, but to give you a general understanding of the benefit of this equipment in aiding your workouts.
There are millions of videos and sites YOU can check out on the web which can help you find exercises that incorporate this equipment.
I can assure you, the opportunities are endless…
Workout/resistance bands are an absolute go-to when it comes to gym equipment that you should own.
They are incredibly cheap, simple and impressively versatile when incorporating them into your workout plans.
Let me give you a few examples of the type of stuff you can do with these bands:
The purpose of resistance bands is in the name – They offer resistance!
There are a variety of resistance band exercises that can help loosen your joints and warm-up your muscles before you begin lifting weights, doing cardio, calisthenics or stretching.
Whether it is arm raises with the bands, leg extensions or joint-related stretch exercises, resistance bands will help fire-up your muscles and joints in no time, helping to minimise the risk of injury during your workout.
And I can assure you, if there’s one thing that will slow you down on your fitness journey, it is injuries – Just think about recovery times if you were to pop a muscle – Definitely not ideal…
You can always rely on resistance bands when it comes to working with weights. Simply using them with dumbbells is one of the many examples of adding resistance to the exercises you do and is particularly perfect for beginners who are too hesitant to use heavier weights.
Moreover, resistance bands help engage multiple muscle groups at once, particularly stabiliser muscles.
Working these muscles can help develop stability and improve form during weight training, once again minimising the risk of injury and ensuring that the movements you do are efficient in your desired strength development and muscle growth!
Calisthenics often involves learning and mastering complex bodyweight movements, commonly including pull-ups, muscle-ups and push-ups.
Resistance bands can be used as assistance to help you build the required strength and technique for these advanced exercises, making them incredibly desirable for beginners.
As you progress on your calisthenics journey, you can reduce the resistance of the bands as you begin to develop a stronger mind-muscle connection and you are able to master your body-weight.
This can help you progress from doing pull-ups to eventually doing muscle-ups for example!
This is probably one of the obvious and simple things on the list and it’s for good reason!
Many gyms can often not have cleaning towels or disinfectant to wipe down the benches or drips of sweat from the equipment, and this can seriously put-off fellow gym-goers.
Particularly after a high-intensity workout such as cycling or running, you are probably likely to feel as though you just came out of a swimming pool.
Just having a sweat towel on hand will stop you from leaking with sweat and soaking the benches, seats and machinery, as you can wipe down the equipment as well as yourself obviously.
So don’t be lazy and rude! Wipe you equipment after using it and think of the people around you!
Having a foam roller/massage gun is often very useful during your workouts. However, I wouldn’t prioritise it highly on this list. You don’t need to worry if you haven’t got this stuff.
If you are interested though, having a massage gun or foam roller can be perfect for pre or post workout recovery.
For example, they can be very beneficial for what is known as ‘Myofascial release’.
This where tension and tightness is released in the connective tissue surrounding the muscles, helping with your flexibility, posture, range of motion and muscle function!
Foam rollers and massage guns are especially amazing for post high-intensity workouts such as burpees and long-distance runs. For people who suffer shin splints and soreness in their calves, recovery time can greatly increase.
Using massage guns and foam rollers around the lower leg area after running, will smooth-out blood flow in the muscles, which will help lush out waste products and deliver nutrients to facilitate faster recovery.
Do you have issues with clammy, sweaty palms after plenty of exercise, weight-lifting or calisthenics?
Do you suffer from blisters in your hands when working with heavy weights?
Gym gloves will help to solve these problems with ease. Using dumbbells or wire-orientated machinery such as a lateral machine can often involve pushing or pulling and heavy dependence on finger grip strength.
This can mean that it can get very uncomfortable as rubber grips on the handles can create friction on your palms and pull the skin, creating blisters.
Using gloves made from grippy material can help relieve the stress on your fingers and palms, and help ensure that you have a safe and comfortable grip when handling weights, handles and grips.
They are also convenient, easy to carry and incredible cheap to buy, so do not hesitate to consider bringing a pair of gloves with you to the gym!
Many gym-goers and workout enthusiasts can easily overlook the value of managing your exercises and activity in the gym.
If there is one thing you must learn if you’re a gym rookie, it is that you must always pre-plan your workouts the day before going to the gym.
More importantly it is fundamental to not put stress on certain muscle groups by targeting them on back-to-back days, whether that be you arms or legs, as recovery is equally as important as the workout itself!
That is why workout journals are so valuable yet underrated by most people at the gym these days.
Create a checklist and workout routine for each day of the week that you plan to go to the gym. That way you can keep track of what you have done and what you need to work on, while being able to track what areas of your body you need to work on or have worked on too much!
Tracking your workouts are essential and it can make the difference in maximising your recovery time and, hence your goals when completing your workouts.
These are fantastic for the gym, because they are incredibly versatile – They can be used for so many purposes than people can actually think of!
Like resistance bands, they offer a great way to loosen up joints and to warm up before lifting weights or performing high-intensity exercises such as running.
Moreover, if you want to add some challenge to your exercises, especially something like running, using ankle weights or wearing the weights in pouches while running can really help to push yourself and add an exciting challenge to your workout!
Are you struggling with ankle stability when deadlifting or doing squats?
Wearing ankle weights can help lower your centre of mass and keep you grounded, helping to train you to keep stable when working with heavy weights.
Bringing some light body weights to the gym can be very handy when you need the the most!
Now I’m not saying that it is absolutely fundamental that you bring headphones to the gym, but for those of us who want some motivation and enjoy music, it can certainly make you more productive in the gym.
A lot of the time distractions in our surroundings can prevent us from doing our workouts properly, especially with things such as loud noises and machines being used in the background.
Listening to music is a great way to filter out these distractions and help us to ‘get in the zone’.
If you are doing high-intensity workouts, I would recommend getting Bluetooth headphones that can firmly secure into your ear; you don’t want to be reaching for you fallen earphones every minute you do a jumping jack!
