After 16 years in and out of gyms I am still surprised to see how many guys just walk into the gym straight off the street with only the clothes on their back…and the guys wearing jeans DURING their workout, well that’s just wrong.
If you are serious about taking care of your body and you make time to get to the gym then you need to make sure you bring the proper gear.
Yes, I know you can still get a great workout without any gym gear or gadgets but if you want to “protect this house” as Under Armour says then you need the right tools.
So after seeing my 2 year old daughter Matea tearing into my gym bag the other day like it was her toy box I thought I would share with you what lurks in the smelly and sweaty darkness of MY gym bag to help me stay lean, strong and pain-free.
1. Under Armour Gym Bag
I used the same old Adidas bag for over 10 years until I needed more room for my gear so I picked this one up at a Sport Chek store. It has room for all the gear you see, is strong and durable and matches my Under Armour shirt, shorts and socks. No I am not endorsed by them it’s simply the most comfortable workout gear which can be found at www.UnderArmour.com
2. Nike Frees
Surprisingly the sneaks I wear to the gym are Nike, but for ONE reason. These aren’t your normal running shoes which is not as great as you may think for running or training. I have the Nike Free’s 7.0 which are almost completely flat on the bottom keeping your heel flat to the ground and more flexible allowing your feet to move almost like if they were barefoot which is great for long term structural alignment and stability from your toes to your back. Online at www.Nike.com or at your local sports store.
3. Foam Roller
Your muscles are like rubber bands and most people have little “knots” or tight spots in their muscles that they don’t even realize how it’s affecting their mobility and range of motion inside and outside the gym. Foam rolling breaks up these tight spots like a 400lb Samoan giving you a massage. Yeah, it’s not enjoyable but the benefits are. I got mine short one which fits in my gym bag here, www.EliteFTS.com
4. Bands and Balls
You only see one medium size band here but a pack of different sizes are great for stretching, dynamic warmups and for simulating free weight movements. For you guys who can’t do a chinup on your own these are also great for helping you along by looping the band over the bar and placing your knee in the loop. Great way for your wife to do them too! The small yellow ball is also used similar to the foam roller but can get at smaller trigger points like your feet and your glutes. Got the bands at www.EliteFTS.com and this ball or a tennis ball found at your any sport shop will do.
5. Jump Rope
It might be “old school” but it is one of the most effective forms of exercise equipment for burning off that belly. Great for workout warmups and high intensity cardio. Not convinced? Try it for a couple minutes! Dirt cheap at Walmart.
6. Kleen Kanteen Stainless Steel Water Bottle
One thing I do see a lot of at the gym is guys sucking back their protein shakes in those supplement branded plastic shaker bottles in hopes of putting on muscle. But little do they know those cheap plastic bottles leak BPA and estrogen-like compounds into the liquid contributing to man-boobs, not perfect pecs. We got a whole bunch of these stainless steel water bottles for us and even little Matea at www.KleanKanteen.com
7. Chalk
Get a grip and use gym chalk to help you strengthen your grip and hold on to heavier weights. If your gym doesn’t allow chalk I would consider training at one that does or just be sneaky with it and clean up the weights afterwards. I still use an old Tubberware container that my dad used for his gym chalk for over 20 years! Don’t use your kids colored chalk, get the right stuff! My block from www.Heavyweights.net has lasted me a while.
8. Training Journal
I think this is a MUST if your are serious about progressing and getting results from your workouts. Think of this as you would with tracking your financial statements, but you will get a better return on your investment with a training journal. I have been using these MuscleMag training journals for years and find them to have a great layout for recording your exercises, sets, reps, goals and comments. Plus one book last’s almost a YEAR training 3-4 days a week. www.Amazon.com or Amazon.ca for me.
9. Tunes
Before I got my iPhone I used this other small Mio MP3 player with headphones for years to keep me focused and intense in the gym. Luckily I train in a small dungeon of a gym where most of the time I can just connect my iPhone or player to the little stereo and crank up some Linkin Park. I am sure you know where to get an iPhone, but just in case you just woke up from the dead, www.Apple.com
10. Belts, Straps and Wraps
These all seem to get a bad wrap lately (excuse the pun) but I think they all have their place in your training. Belts, straps and wraps just help to keep your form tighter and support you during heavy lifts. I only use my belt for low rep heavy squats, usually under 4 reps. Wrist wraps for heavy dumbbell presses and barbell presses and wrist straps for heavy dumbbell shrugs. Don’t be like some guys and be wrapped up like mummies because of years of bad training habits. Use them, don’t abuse them.
Again EliteFTS is the top company in the world for gym equipment and gear. It’s where most pros and their gyms get their gear, and I can see why. Also love their hoodies for staying warm during the cool days heading to the gym.
Miscellaneous items:
Gym towel- You do sweat during your workouts right? A large towel is also good if you have to do any exercises on the dirty floor. Got this one free with a tub of creatine.
Weight Collars- My gym don’t have any so I bring my own. Got them off Ebay for 5 bucks a pair.
Purple Fat Grips- wraps around the bar to give you stronger forearms with a thicker grip and red tape and yellow paint marker to mark grip widths on barbells and racks. The grips were free with tub of protein powder or you can get Fat Gripz at www.FatGripz.com
Membership card- My gym finally realized it’s 2010 and is installing a swipe card system along with new dumbbells and equipment
Calculator- To add up the thousands of pounds I lift during my workout. Math was always my worst subject….
Back Up Tunes- Linkin Park Hybrid Theory CD and extra batteries for when I don’t have my iPhone with me…which I hope is NEVER
I certainly don’t get any compensation for mentioning these sites, (but will gladly accept it!)
So what’s in YOUR Gym Bag?
Let me know by leaving a comment below…
FACT:
A lot of gym rats might be able to load up the bar with hundreds of pounds for endless sets of the bench press but can’t even do 10 correct push ups…
I don’t think you have any business bench pressing if you can’t properly perform 20 perfect pushups.
If you can’t handle your own bodyweight, how functional is it to lie down on a bench and press additional weight?
Don’t get me wrong, the basic barbell bench press is a great upper body exercise for building muscle, but it’s depended on WAY too much to build a strong chest and shoulders.
Most people consider Pushups and Bench Presses both chest dominant exercises. But there is a big difference between the two…
The bench press is an open chain exercise and the pushup is a closed chain exercise.
The “chain” just refers to the kinetic chain of your body, which simply means that all of your body’s muscles are inter-connected in a “chain” and therefore the movements you make are also part of a that kinetic chain.
Open chain exercises allow your feet or hands to move freely like in a bench press, dumbbell curl or leg curl.
Closed chain exercises keep your feet or hands in a fixed position like on the ground during pushups or squats and even chinups.
Closed chain exercises are safer and more effective for real world functional strength because they allow your bodyweight to move through space in a full range of motion while distributing muscular stress through many muscles instead of isolating and stressing single muscles.
A big reason why so many bench press addicts develop shoulder problems is because of not the shoulders directly but due to the lack of movement in your upper back when pinned to a bench during bench presses.
The muscles in your upper back surrounding your shoulders blades and scapula play a crucial role in stabilizing and allowing movement of your shoulder girdle during pressing movements.
Pushups eliminates this problem by allowing your upper back to contract in a full range of motion when you lower yourself to the ground.
Plus for busy dads bodyweight exercises are great because they can be done anywhere without any equipment!
(here is my favorite pressing exercise)
So if you want to incorporate a simple but intense pushup workout into your workout routine give the 100 rep pushup workout a try.
Once or twice a week at the end of your regular workout aim for performing 100 pushups and time yourself to see how long it takes you.
Do as many reps as you can and do however many sets it takes you to reach 100.
For example if you can do 20 pushups at one time before failure start with 20 but as you fatigue you will probably drop down to sets of 10. You will obviously need more rest between sets as you get closer to 100.
Take as much rest as you need to get at least 10 reps for each set until you reach the 100 rep mark.
Most guys in pretty good shape will be able to complete 100 reps anywhere between 5-10 minutes.
Don’t worry how long it takes you. Just record your time and push hard to beat it the next time around.
Before you know it you will join the pushup century club and have the perfect pecs to prove it!
Perfect Pushups Tips
*Keep your abs braced tight and your hips in line with your body.
*Tuck your chin in like a “double chin” and look straight down at the floor to form a straight line from your head to your toes.
*Push your elbows and upper arms back in a 45 degree direction opposed to straight out to your sides.
PS. Be sure to check out my training article in the April/May issue of Inside Fitness magazine!
15-Minute Bodyweight Workouts For Busy Dads
One of the most common requests I get from busy dads is for short bodyweight workouts that they can do anywhere at anytime.
So I dug into my training “tickle truck” and created Muscles In Minutes, 15 Minute Bodyweight Workouts For Busy Dads.
The envy of every Canadian kid growing up: Mr. Dress Up's "Tickle Trunk"
Finally you have no more excuses for skipping workouts and getting in great shape!
With The Dad Fitness Muscles In Minutes workouts you can lose that gut and build rock hard muscle anywhere at anytime.
Whether it’s before work, after work or even during work! (it’s better than coffee and donuts during your break)
You can always find 15 minutes to squeeze in a quick workout so you can start looking better and feeling better.
• You don’t need an expensive gym membership.
• You don’t need crappy home workout equipment.
• You don’t need a lot of time.
Thanks to a marvel of science we call gravity all you need is your bodyweight to get fitter and stronger despite being a time-crunched dad.
Here is a sneak peak at Day 1 of Muscles In Minutes.
Muscles In Minutes is now available and is included for FREE when you get the Dad Fitness System.
Click Here To Get Started TODAY!==>http://www.DadFitness.com
I am going to have to make this post quick as I am only running on fumes today…..zzzz…
..oops almost drifted off there…
Our baby 10 month old daughter is in the painful process of teething and I was up most of the night with her last night.
I can’t imagine how painful this must be for a baby as I have been having some pain with one of my wisdom teeth the last few weeks myself as well.
What’s the point of getting wisdom teeth anyway!…I am wise enough
So after us watching lots of late night TV and with only a few hours of sleep for the both of us I still managed to get to the gym today when my wife came home for lunch.
The key to long-term consistency with your workout routine is sometimes you just have to go do your workout anyway without thinking if you feel up for it or not.
Once you start you will start to feel better and be glad that you did.
I usually get my Dad Fitness workouts done in about an hour but today I never had that much time so I supercharged my workouts with SUPERSETS.
By working opposite muscles back to back, such as chest and back without rest I saved time and had an intense workout and was finished my normal one hour workout in half the time!
Working opposite muscles in this way actually allows the opposing muscle to recover faster in between sets because the opposite muscle has to relax for the other to contract.
I was soaked after this 30 minute workout and even had to time to drop into the convenience store on the way home for a post-workout chocolate milk.
Here is what I did today.
A Incline Barbell Bench Press, 1 max set of 3-5 reps
B1 Flat DB Bench Press, no rest, 4 sets of 6-10 reps
B2 Bent Over DB Rows, 4 sets of 10 reps
C1 Rope Cable Upright Rows, no rest, 3 sets of 12-15 reps
C2 Hanging Leg Raises, 3 sets of 10-15 reps
So for days when you seemed too rushed to get a quick workout, take your normal workout and superset the exercises to get it done in half the time.
All 16 weeks of the Dad Fitness workout program use supersets to save time so you can be a super dad and get on with your day.
Get your super workouts here==>Short Fat Loss Workouts
Sean Barker, CPT
Learn the “The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose Your Beer Belly” in this FREE report from Sean Barker at www.dadfitness.com
Range of Motion is Critical For Building Muscle
By Sean Barker, CPT.
If your not sure what I mean by ROM, its Range of Motion. This is the complete range of movement that you perform every exercise from start to finish.
But how many people get carried away with increasing the weight they lift only to sacrifice the proper exercise execution in which the exercise should be performed. A good many, and I admit I have done it in the past as well.
We all like to load up that bar giving us the feeling that we are super strong by slapping plate after plate onto the barbell. But doing this only builds your ego, not your muscles. It also greatly increases your chance of serious injury when performing exercises without a complete range of motion.
Increasing your poundage’s over time is the cornerstone of getting bigger and stronger in the gym. But not if it comes at the expense of doing the exercise with improper form. Whether it’s bench presses, squats or any exercise that requires you work the muscles over a complete range, people have a tendency to slowly develop bad training habits of limiting the range in which they complete the exercise.
This might enable you to use a heavier weight, but its not maximizing muscular overload it’s limiting it as the muscles are only getting half the stimulation that they should be. Plus, your joints and ligaments are picking up the slack, which is provoking injury.
Adhere to proper weight selection that allows you to work the intended muscle with your desired number of reps. Always remember that your weight should be chosen based on how well you can perform the exercise, not the other way around…
Sean Barker, CPT
Learn the “The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose That Beer Belly” in this FREE report from Sean Barker at www.dadfitness.com
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