In this video, I go over my essentials for the gym to help me take my workouts to the next level.
I've gotten countless questions about these item over the years, and these are the 5 staples I cannot live without. If you want to enhance your training and make your lifting better, get stronger, and build muscle, I highly recommend investing money into quality products.
1. Weightlifting Belt: A great way to keep your spine and core braced during heavy lifts such as squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, etc. It helps prevent injuries by keeping your spine in a neutral position and will also allow you to lift a little heavier. I highly recommend investing in a quality belt that will not only last you ages, but also reduce the risk of giving out with some weak material, velcro, etc.
2. Knee Sleeves: I actually have two different kinds depending on the weight I'm gonna use. These are a great addition to leg days in order to keep your knees warm by compressing them and containing all the blood in the area. As you get older, joints tend to wear out and hurt more, and wearing knee sleeves can help not only reduce any pain but also keep them safer.
3. Weightlifting Shoes: Shoes with a raised heel are very useful for people who lack great ankle mobility. If you struggle to squat deep enough with flat-soled shoes and don't have any way to raise your feet, these shoes can improve not only your performance but safety as well. Proper depth is necessary to train the legs through their full range of motion and doing so on raised shoes with a stable base is an invaluable and safe solution.
4. Tension Band/Booty Band: A fantastic tool for leg day warmups, I especially love to warm up my glutes and hips with it. This is also a great teaching tool to remind you and build your hips and adductors to keep your knees from caving in during heavier squats!
5. Versa Grips: These are a great tool to prevent your forearms from being the limiting factor during heavy movements where grip strength plays a huge role, such as deadlifts or rows. By using them, you don't have to focus so much on gripping the bar and rather on exerting all the force on the lift itself. These differ from wrist straps due to the fact that they're made out of rubber and stick very well to metal bars.
