5 Gym Bag Essentials
Fitness trainers, like scouts, have to be ready for anything. Whether they’re training clients in the park or in their basement, clients have to feel challenged and see results, the livelihood barometers of the business.
Based on my own experiencing and perusing other sites, a pattern emerges of key items to have in a bag. Below is a list of the top five that can be purchased at Target, Walmart, and other department stores.
First Aid kit: This includes ice packs (the kind that have to be cracked are perfect), Band-Aids, antiseptic sprays, bug bite remedies and ACE bandages.
Resistance Tubing: This lightweight, weight bearing exercise equipment is portable but provides a wallop of muscle building resistance for almost all body parts. Ideally the trainer should have three tubes replicating light, medium, and heavy weights. Tubing can be used for upper body exercises working the biceps, triceps, deltoids, back and shoulders. It’s great for lower body workouts focusing on the outer/inner thighs and hamstrings.
Jump Rope: This lightweight, easy to pack, inexpensive piece of equipment provides a cardio challenge for all levels of fitness. The only problem is if the ceiling space in an indoor setting is not high enough.
Boxing mitts: Mitts are used with boxing gloves and any repeat client should purchase a pair, or the trainer can purchase a pair for them. They provide another powerful cardio burst with muscle strengthening benefits. Boxing can also be a stress reliever for clients who’ve had a bad day and need to let off steam.
Heart rate tracker – Polar, Fit Bit, Garmin, Jaw Bone and others, provide watch technology that can track heart rate, calories burned, steps walked, steps climbed, etc. For personal trainer needs, the most important indicators during a workout are the heart rate and calories burned. For weight loss a trainer’s goal is to get their client to a target heart rate cardio zone, with running, jump rope, boxing or other cardio workouts. The ability to track this metric over a time frame can identify whether or not the client is fit enough for the goal or needs to be conditioned over a few weeks to get to that target heart rate.
Other secondary items include an extra pair of sneakers, a snack for clients who have fasted too long before a workout and a water bottle. One trainer notes that “it’s not uncommon for clients to head to a workout on an empty stomach. They push themselves, their blood sugar takes a dive, they get dizzy and light-headed and feel sick and sometimes pass out!” Having something for them to nibble on (nuts, protein bar, apple slices), can keep them in the workout.
These items are what I see as essential elements for the trainer’s gym bag. Anything else added to the bag is a plus.
Except for the mitts, all the above items also belong in most workout bags especially if you’re traveling and want to get a workout in on the road. And all these items are unisex because they are adjustable to individual levels. So get your personal training swag on and be ready for working out on the go!
