Most people carry a trusty bag to the gym, but what do they actually keep inside of that thing?

While it may vary a lot, we will go over the top 6 accessories you should be carrying in your gym bag for ultimate success + we might go over a few bonus tips so make sure you read all the way through.

First though, let’s go over the bag itself because we need that to put the accessories in.

How to choose a gym bag

Many people opt for a backpack or a duffel bag to bring to the gym.

It doesn’t really matter what kind of bag you decide to bring to the gym, it is more so a matter of what bag has enough space to carry your stuff and what is most convenient for you to carry. I would take into consideration the features/design of the bag and the material of it too though. You want a material that won’t get too dirty easily or stain. Something water resistant such as Polyester may be helpful as you will likely carry liquids in your bag.

I haven’t tested many bags myself, but I’ve been using a medium sized Vooray Duffel Bag for over a year now and I absolutely love it. It has a versatile design, and plenty of room for what I need. It also has hand straps and a shoulder strap so that I can be comfortable carrying it however I want.

For backpacks, I see many people go with WOLFpak which is a tactical military style bag. I’ve never used one myself, but it looks like it has a lot of pockets & room to carry everything you need. Any brand bag is fine though as long as it fits your needs!

It is annoying to have to switch out bags often if you have a bag you use for multiple different things so I would just pick one bag and dedicate it to keeping your gym stuff in it solely if possible. This reduces the chance of you forgetting things.

Top 6 gym bag accessories

Now that we’ve gone over the bag itself, let’s go over what goes in it.

1 – Lifting straps

When lifting heavy, the first limiting factor is generally your grip strength. While we can do things to improve our grip strength (and should), lifting straps will be your best friend when training heavy close to failure. They will give you that extra boost you need to hit a few extra reps without the danger of your grip slipping.

2 – Wrist wraps

Wrist wraps are used to provide stability and wrist support on pressing movements mainly such as bench press or shoulder press. The more heavy duty ones help keep the wrist straight so it doesn’t flex backward and cause wrist pain. They also have light and medium wrist wraps which are more flexible but provide less support. It all is a matter of what you feel works best for you and your training style.

3 – Weight lifting belt

Weight lifting belts are used for trunk stability when lifting heavy loads. You should learn how to properly brace your core first before trying to wear a belt. The belt will not help you engage or build your core muscles but rather support the base you already have so it is important you understand how to brace. Proper bracing + a belt works for the best support. Many people use them in hopes it will help them lift heavier but this is not true. If you can’t lift the load without the belt on, don’t try to with the belt on. It is not a magic strength enhancing device. All it is meant to do is support you and help you keep good posture/form when fatigued. Additionally, if you have poor form before wearing a belt, the belt will not magically make you have better form. Learn proper form for each exercise before wearing a belt for best results overall. If you aren’t lifting loads above 80% of your 1RM, you don’t necessarily need to wear a belt.

4 – Ankle straps

These come in handy when you need to use the cable machine for leg exercises. You can do a lot of different exercises with them so if your gym is packed and the machines you want are taken, this might be a good item to have handy. Exercises done with ankle straps generally require more core strength but can help you work on leg definition. The cables work your body a lot differently than a machine would. Plus, how are you supposed to do those cute kickbacks everyone raves about without these?

I personally use Gymreapers for my my straps, wrist wraps, lifting belt & ankle straps. Code ERFIT to save 10%.

5 – Foam roller

One of the most underrated/forgotten about workout accessories (in my opinion) is the foam roller. Not only can you use a foam roller as a part of various different exercises, but you can also use it to roll out your muscles before and after your workout. Foam rolling is a form of self-myofascial release (SMR). It helps relieve muscle tightness, soreness, and inflammation, and it can increase your joint range of motion before working out (helps prevent injury). Foam rollers come in many different lengths but I personally like the 12″ foam roller because it gets the job done and its small enough to fit in your gym bag.

6 – Resistance bands

I love using bands for warm ups to enhance flexibility and mobility. During your workouts they can help to provide additional resistance as well in movements like squats. I’m not a huge fan of bands like that for those purposes as I don’t really think they are that effective but I definitely recommend getting a superband with light or medium resistance for your warmups. Many gyms have them already, but if yours doesn’t or they are hard to find, it doesn’t hurt to buy and bring your own.

Bonus tips

Other things you may want to include in your gym bag that aren’t necessarily considered accessories:

• Water – no explanation needed, stay hydrated friends.
• Pre/post workout supplements – if you take any, it helps to just have them in your gym bag at all times.
• Shaker bottle – to mix your supps and water of course.
• Deodorant – incase you forget to apply before or need to reapply.
• Extra pair of wired headphones – incase your wireless ones die or you forget them.
• A disposable razor – more so for the ladies in case you forget to shave your pits (lol).
• Extra hair elastics/headbands – the number of times I’ve broken a hair elastic while trying to fix my hair at the gym is unbelievable.
• A lock – people are thieves so lock up your bag in the locker room if you have anything of importance in there.
• A change clothes – I mean, you never know what can happen. Just the other day, I spilled my energy drink all over my butt in the car and had to walk into the gym like that (high key looked like I peed myself and I didn’t have a change of clothes). Luckily, there was a hair dryer in the locker room and I blew dry it before I made it back onto the gym floor haha. Lesson learned.
• Shower toiletries & flip flops – if you shower after the gym, this will be useful.
• Dry shampoo – if you don’t feel like washing your hair because that is a lot of effort.
• Hair brush – because your hair turned into a nest and you need to look presentable wherever you’re going next.
• Gym towel – The gym equipment is nasty and most people don’t wash it after use so make sure to use a towel or clean the machine before you use it. It can also help if you’re just really sweaty and need it for that.
• Extra shoes – some people use different shoes for different activities so make sure you keep those in there too.
• A snacky – everybody gets a little hungry during their workouts so it doesn’t hurt to keep a protein bar or something similar in your bag so that you don’t go into a hangry panic after your workout.

Now that I’ve racked my brain for everything I can think of….

What are some of your gym bag essentials? Drop them below in the comment section.

P.S The Freshman Fitness App is officially out! Head over to the app store now to check it out. It has full workout routines, body part specific workout routines, recipes, an exercise library broken out by muscle group, lots of learning and a community with other members of the app for support!

Until next time,

Coach Emily