Some items can make your gym workout better: gloves, a clean towel, workout plan. However, there are also items that you should NEVER (almost) bring with you to your workouts. Let’s go over 5 of the main culprits.
Phone
Unless you’re a neurosurgeon on-call at the hospital or something like that, there is no point in bringing a phone with you to the gym. It is better to leave it in a locker.
Having a phone allows anyone to disrupt the flow of your workout. You don’t want any interruptions in your workout. You want to do it quickly and maintain a high level of intensity.
Even if you have a workout app or videos on it, you don’t really need a phone. You can memorize the order of the exercises in your workout and you’d better be able to execute them in proper form before you even step into the gym.
In addition, people who talk on the phone in the gym are annoying. They make a lot of noise and no one is interested in their private conversations.
Book
A lot of people bring books or study material with them to the gym. They usually read them while riding a recumbent bike, though I’ve seen people read books on the treadmill or the elliptical or even during rests between sets in a strength training session.
Either way, bringing a book with you to the gym falls somewhere between useless and damaging. It’s useless because you can’t really focus on what you’re reading with all the noise around you and it’s damaging because you can’t really focus on your workout while reading. I tried it a few times and I never got a good workout when I tried to combine it with reading.
Coca Cola Bottle
This is something I saw with my own eyes and I couldn’t believe it. A guy brings a coca-cola bottle to the gym and gulps it down between weight lifting sets.
Let’s put it plainly: coca-cola and other sodas are not compatible with any diet plan or healthy eating routine. You want to drink them, fine. Do what you like. but to bring them to a gym seems very silly. It’s better to drink water or a good energy drink (not caffeine stuffed crap).
Sunglasses
Wearing sunglasses in the gym doesn’t make you look cool, just stupid. There’s no need to wear sunglasses in the gym. There’s no sun.
If you like placing your sunglasses on top of your head as a fashion statement, all I can say is that it makes no good impression on anyone. In addition, the glasses may fall and break. Not a good idea.
Sandals
In most gyms there is a code that requires you to wear shoes. However, in case you do get past the front desk with sandals on, don’t pat yourself on the back. You’re in for a world of hurt if a dumbbell or plate falls on your foot.
A shoe offers protection and you’re asking for trouble if you wear sandals. It can lead to a serious injury.
The bottom line is that you should only bring to the gym the things that you actually need for your workout. What are those things? Gloves and a towel are two items, but there are more options. We’ll talk about those in a future post… coming soon.