10 Things Everyone Should Have In Their Gym Bag
Whether you work out in the morning, afternoon, or night, having a perfectly packed gym bag is what sets the ballers apart from the kids who are just screwing around. It took me a long time to succumb to the ways of the thoughtful, prepared gym bag, but once I did, my confidence in always being prepared to crush a workout sky-rocketed.
I’m lucky enough to work in a building where a free and very nice personal training gym is open to the building’s tenants. I’m also lucky enough that my coworkers/upper management respect the lunch hour, so I do most of my workouts from 12-1. If that particular day is extremely busy and/or I have plans after work, I’ll go in the morning. Regardless of when I go, my gym bag is always 6 steps ahead of me.
Now, I’m sure most of you are wondering how the fuck I’m able to workout during lunch and head back to my desk looking even halfway decent. I wondered the same as you years ago, damning lunch workouts and the people who partook in them to hell. But once I started working where I am now, I realized the lunch hour is what works best for me so I had to figure it out. The two key ingredients for me have been: 1) having curly hair and 2) caring but not really about my appearance. Allow me to explain.
Having curly hair is a serious advantage in terms of refreshing after a midday workout. Because I air dry my hair almost always, I have no qualms with taking a full shower and going back up to my desk with wet hair. Sometimes I’ll pull it back into a slick bun to be done with it. Sometimes (very recently), I’ll use this blowout tool to dry it wavy/straight. However I do it, I’m not super particular about my hair, which works to my advantage in terms of midday workouts. But almost always, I rely heavily on the new headband trend to cut way down on primping time and hide the sweaty, disgusting mess that is my post-workout hair. Having such unpredictable hair has made it difficult throughout the years to put any trust into it, so I’ve found ways to work around it and most of those ways are via accessories.
I hope that answered your inquiries. Alas, I digress. This post is about spilling out the guts of my gym bag, so let’s dump this bitch out and dive in.
First and foremost is the gym bag itself. I love Vooray’s “Trainer” duffel a lot, but personally have this Herschel duffel and have for a long time now. I just really like it and it works.
And now, WTF to pack in it:
Don’t get thrown by the word “baby” in the name of this product. These bags are for any and all creatures who sweat or swim and need somewhere safe to throw their soiled clothing. I have them and get SO ANGRY when I forget them because throwing my nasty ass leggings and sports bra straight into my gym bag just isn’t right.
Speaking of stinking up your bag, you should always have some sort of bag deodorizer in there to keep things at bay. I love these natural charcoal bags, but have also dabbled in Arm & Hammer balls, too (yes, that sounds like “Armie Hammer’s balls,” and I wish).
(Can you tell I’m v concerned about smells post-gym? Who can blame me?) Sometimes* I don’t take a full shower after my midday workout. If I have to make a meeting or my workout took a bit too long, I rely on the good ole fashioned body wipe and you should, too. Use three, who cares?! Whatever it takes to get the job done (these are great BTW).
*A lot of the times.
If you don’t want to take soap to your face post-workout, these Cetaphil face wipes are magnificent. I have SUPER sensitive skin, and these don’t irritate it at all. I actually use one before I wash the makeup off my face at night, too. They’re just great!
Let me tell you something about see-through toiletry bags: they make life a lot easier. No more shoving your hand inside and putting your senses to the test on what feels like your mascara but is actually your eyebrow gel. These bags are cheap and perfect, and travel very well if you want to bring them on trips! I keep mine full of my backups at all time in my gym bag. Speaking of…
THIS SET OF TRAVEL BOTTLES IS LIFE. I don’t know why it took me so long to get them, but OMG—game changers. I filled them up with conditioner, shampoo, body wash, hair gel/creme, face moisturizer (into one of those twist top ones), and face wash and it’s been so clutch. I used to pack all of that SEPARATELY, LIKE A DOUCHE. Like FULL bottles of each in my bag. I can’t. Just get these and thank me later.
Different from backups of everything because you can’t transfer deodorant or anti-chafe stick to a travel bottle, but you can bite the bullet and buy double of it so you have a designated gym bag deodorant/anti-chafe stick/fuck, even perfume honestly. I’ve done this and the less I have to remember to pack every day, the much, much better. I even have a gym razor so I don’t have to remember to grab mine every time. Sure, it’s pricey but only for a second and you will be thanking yourself later when you’re not spending every evening RE-packing your shit. Trust.
Another thing to not fuck around with is making sure you have plenty of these in your gym bag so you’re never stuck in a hairy situation (GET IT). But really—relying on yourself to remember to pack bobby pins and hair ties is honestly just cruel. Buy bulk and have them in your gym bags at all times so you’ve never that girl working out with her hair down or with sweaty strands in her face that could’ve been held back by a simple pin.
Left field, I know BUT I have found that keeping these in my gym bag at all times has come in so handy when there is a move I don’t have the equipment for at the gym OR there’s a resistance band move yet the gym doesn’t have them on-hand. Plus, they’re really nice for stretching!
10) EXTRA SOCKS AND UNDERWEAR
You laugh, but do you know how easy it is to forget to pack socks and a thong? EASY. Like, a little too easy if you ask me. This is why I always have at least one backup pair in my gym bag at all times. Trust me on this, guys. And the next time you forgot to pack either and are putting on your backup pair, DM me and lemme know.
Add it all to cart (including your favorite deodorant, razors, perfume, etc) and then add it all to your gym bag so you’re prepared to crush your workouts and your post-workout glow up.
You can do this, bitch. LFG.
xox,
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