Whenever I go to the gym, there are a few things I go without. Things like my personal yoga mat, heart rate monitor, my little iPod shuffle, & a water bottle. They all serve their own purpose, and if I ever forget one, then my entire workout is completely thrown off.
So you may be thinking, “cool… so you take a mat, a water bottle & music with you to work out, what’s so special about that?”. It’s the specific items & brands that I want to share that allow me to a) get the most out of my workout b) make my workout easier, c) help me stay healthy in more ways than working out.
Bose In Ear Head Phones
Do you have any idea how annoying it is to be running along, doing your cardio, which already sucks & having your ear phones falling out every 2 seconds? Well, it’s the worst & can completely ruin your work out. I have super tiny ears, so a lot of earphones won’t work for me, but these do! I hate the ones that wrap around my ear, ones that completely cover my ears, or the cheap ones with the little balls on the end. These Bose ones perfectly outline your ear & will never fall out. Amen to that!
IPOD SHUFFLE
Okay, this little guy is my best friend. Along with my headphones falling out, another one of my work out pet peeves is having cords flying everywhere and getting in the way of my work out. I clip him onto my shorts, then line my head phones up under my shirt so that I don’t have any cords in the way. I have a workout play list that I constantly update and sync with this little guy so it’s really hassle free. The only thing that stinks is that I can’t have Spotify on it, but it doesn’t really bother me since I update this playlist anyways.
POLAR HEART RATE MONITOR
This has been the newest addition to my workouts & my favorite. I promise it has literally changed the way I work out. I wear the strap right below by sports bra, so that it can get a good read of my heart rate. Then, the watch allows me to track my workout. It has been really helpful in showing me which workouts that I do that are the most affective. It shows me which ones am I really working hard in, which ones burn the most fat & which ones aren’t doing either. It’s a super cool gadget and it’s crazy for me to think I have been working out this whole time without one! One of the things I also really like about it, is that it gives an accurate estimate of how many calories your burning. In some exercises I thought I was burning way more than I actually was, so it was definitely a wake up call on the effectiveness of some of my workouts.
GLASS WATER BOTTLE
This is an easy one that you can find anywhere. I love it because it holds a lot of water, it’s easy to drink out of & I don’t have to worry about it getting hot in my car! <- Thats the biggie!! There is so much out there about how horrible plastic water bottles are for you, so I jut try and keep it safe with this little guy. I specifically got my from LuLu, but like I said, you can buy them anywhere. Target, HEB, Marshals, Amazon, you name it, they’ll have one.
WORKOUT MAT
A workout matt, is a true personal preference, but it’s an important one! Think about this though, all of those mats at the gym, how often do you think people are actually courteous enough to wipe down after every work out? The answer is, not many. Those mats have so many germs on them its un real and super disgusting. I know that I am a germ freak, but really, those mats are so gross. So while you could just wipe the gyms mats down yourself before using them(that’s what I do if I forget my own), it’s still a lot more safe to keep yours with you, so that you know for a fact that it’s clean and germ free.
So yeah, those are my little workout buddies! Also, be sure to follow my Instagram account @lifetolauren for more inspiration! On Sunday’s I will start posting my weekly workouts so be sure to check them on there.
If you’re in Houston, I hope you’re enjoying the rain this morning as much as I am!! Fingers crossed it cools things down for awhile!!
xo,
Lauren