What’s in your gym bag? (Here’s mine + a few reviews)

What do you keep in your gym bag? Besides the obvious (shaker bottle, training log, headphones etc).

I’ve told the silly story of my actual bag before so we won’t go into all that again (just in case the Boots Parenting Club people are reading… )

Here’s a glimpse into what I’ve got in my gym bag at the moment:

“Figure of 8” type lifting straps from Legacy
I don’t use straps much, but when I do it’s for pull ups and rows – I find these straps really quick and easy to use

Fat Gripz lifting aids
I love these for bicep training and any pulling exercise. You put them round the bar to basically create a thicker bar, to increase muscle activation and train your grip.

Symagrips
You can’t see these in the pic – they are a pair of rubber grips you put round barbells, dumbells, even ropes and other cable attachments so you can brace your hands during the movement and activate the muscle slightly differently (also adds a layer of “Steritouch” protection between your hands and particularly grotty gym kit!)

Liquidgrip liquid chalk
I do like to use chalk particularly for deadlifts, but quite a lot of gyms don’t allow it (!), so Liquidgrip is good to have in your bag just in case!

Smartshake shaker/storage bottle
I’ve blogged before about my love of Smartshake bottles before (I do particularly love the neon ones though)

Paraben-free deodorant Bionsen
(so fresh, so clean… 😉 )

Beet It Sports shots for pre-workout
I’ve been using these as a pre-workout recently and really rate them. I actually think they’d be fantastic to take backstage at a bodybuilding comp just before pump up. Beetroot juice contains high levels of naturally-occurring nitrate which converts into nitric oxide in the bloodstream. (Nitric oxide is the “NO” part of all those big-name pre-workouts!) Nitric oxide is a vasodilator, which is why the Beet It Sports shots are so good as a pre-workout to help performance and stamina. Note – they are pretty high in carbs (as you’d expect, since they are beetroot juice!) but ITCFYM (“if that can fit your macros” hee hee) then go for it! Best served very cold – I keep mine in the fridge then pop in my kit bag on the way out the door. Oh – and they carry the Informed-Sport logo, too – great news for those of us who are drug tested in sport 🙂 I might have a party soon and create the exclusive “Beet It Sports Shot Bloody Mary” 😉

Sockwa shoes
These little minimal/slipper type shoes – Sockwa G4 – are actually designed for “barefoot running” and come from Barefoot Britain but I’ve been using them for deadlifting and absolutely love them. When I was still planning on doing a powerlifting meet, I was told they would be fine for wearing in competition (for the deadlift, anyway). They’re so comfy! I haven’t run in them so can’t comment on how they feel for their intended use, but for deadlifts they get two thumbs up!

Emergency zombie apocalypse SOS bag
Finally, there’s a little bag of essential items (ie mostly food) in case, you know, I suddenly find myself emerging from the gym to a world where food has ceased to exist, all shops have been burned to the ground, and my “anabolic window” is threatening to eat away at all my gainz. I keep a couple of little sachets of oats in there, some sample sachets of whey (Bulkpowders), some pre-workout (it’s Mezza Turbonox) and some lovely fragrant wipes from Mendill (I reviewed these just before Christmas). Because when the apocalypse comes, I want to my glycogen stores to be full AND my skin to smell nice. You understand.

What’s in your gym bag?

What’s in your gym bag? (Here’s mine + a few reviews) is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.