Which gym accessories should you invest in?
Which gym accessories should you invest in: does an intermediate lifter with serious goals need any training accessories, and if so, which ones?
Training accessories certainly aren’t cheap, and few people can afford to buy everything they need at once. So which gym accessories should you invest in when you can’t buy them all in one go? I now feel I have everything I need. The following list, and the order in which I suggest buying these accessories, is by no means definitive. It is simply my subjective take on the order in which someone with more serious goals might buy accessories to support their training.
Let me start by saying that, in my view, you don’t need anything beyond workout clothes in years 1 – 2 of training at the gym. Seriously. Focus on your nutrition: get your everyday diet right, establish your training split, learn proper exercise technique, work hard in your workouts and make a conscious effort to progress.
When it comes to buying accessories, here is the order I would follow:
No. 1: lifting belt
Why should a lifting belt be your first purchase? To put it briefly, whatever your goals in the gym, much of what you do revolves around the squat. The squat is the king of exercises and the cornerstone of every program. If you’ve successfully completed your first couple of years of training, worked hard and made deliberate progress, your squat weights have probably increased enough that it’s time to start supporting your back with a lifting belt. Besides, the squat is far from the only exercise you can use a lifting belt for.
No. 2: knee supports
I should quickly clarify that I’m not talking about the specialist knee wraps used by powerlifters, but ordinary supports that provide a little stability around the knee. The basic ones sold in pharmacies here in Estonia: “Select” supports, as well as those blue pull-on knee sleeves (I don’t know the manufacturer). Why do light knee supports take second place? Essentially, for the same reason the lifting belt comes first: after your first year of training, your squat weights have probably increased enough that giving your knees a little extra stability while squatting would make sense as an injury prevention measure. In practice, though, price probably means knee supports are bought first, since they are considerably cheaper than a lifting belt.
No. 3: wrist wraps
Wrist wraps are certainly important. Given their average price, they are probably the first accessory people buy. And there’s nothing wrong with buying wrist wraps before a lifting belt. My ranking is based more on which exercises should receive the most emphasis in practice. Wrist wraps may not do much for you when squatting, but there are plenty of other exercises where stabilizing or supporting your wrists with wraps makes the movement feel secure and is appropriate. All presses, shoulder exercises, biceps and triceps exercises, and back exercises too—wrist wraps are never superfluous.
No. 4: lifting straps and magnesium chalk for a better grip
Lifting straps and magnesium chalk could easily share a place with wrist wraps. They come 4th, however, because straps are useful for a relatively small proportion of the exercises you actually do. I also think it’s important not to rush into buying lifting straps early on, as this leaves your grip weak. Developing a secure grip matters. Virtually every exercise you do begins with gripping a piece of equipment, and a secure grip takes practice and getting used to. Lifting straps certainly have their place in training. Once you have some training experience and your weights have increased considerably, you’ll often find, particularly on pulling exercises, that you can’t place the maximum training load on the target muscle because your grip gives out before the muscle tires.
No. 5: a tub of creatine
Although creatine isn’t a piece of equipment, I’m still including this supplement on my list. There’s not much to say here. In my view, supplementing with creatine isn’t important at all until you’ve been training for 2 – 3 years. The same old advice applies: getting your everyday diet right matters most. And although creatine is one of the first supplements to buy, you really shouldn’t worry much about it during your first 1 – 2 years of training.
No. 6: squat shoes
I find squat shoes an interesting accessory. Again, I want to stress that I’m speaking purely from my own perspective. I only learned relatively recently that such shoes even existed. Not that I discovered these raised-heel lifting shoes half a year ago, but I don’t think I knew anything about them 6 – 7 years ago. Still, I think they’re a relatively new accessory that is becoming increasingly popular across Estonia’s gym scene. There are probably several reasons for this. General knowledge about training has improved. Knowing why these shoes are used, understanding the importance of squatting, and being able to get hold of them have probably all contributed to their growing use in Estonian gyms. They are certainly something of a specialist item, too. Of course, you should never skip a squat just because you don’t have squat shoes.
First, you should spend a good few years practicing to establish, above all for yourself, just how good you are at squatting. But once you have accumulated years of training experience and squats are a regular part of your programs, I believe squat shoes are certainly worth trying and, if they suit you, buying. Ideally, you would have the chance to try them for a while first to see how squatting in these specialized shoes with raised heels feels. The reason people use them is that elevating the heel changes the body’s biomechanics in a way that makes squatting feel more comfortable and natural for many. Broadly speaking, weightlifting shoes with raised heels are credited with the following benefits: squatting feels more natural, and it is easier to reach good squat depth, so even people with very poor ankle mobility can squat to a decent depth with ease. Raised heels also help prevent excessive forward lean when squatting, which in turn reduces strain on the lower back. Squat shoes change how you balance under load, allowing you to keep your back much more upright than when squatting without them.
Even with all these benefits, I believe you can comfortably get through your first years of training without specialized squat shoes. But as you gain training experience, I would certainly recommend investing in a pair.
7. Knee wraps
Although I had owned knee wraps for a long time, looking back, I now see them as fairly specialized accessories. And the stronger the wrap (the color indicates its stiffness), the more specialized it is. You will certainly need them if you train for powerlifting, but even then, you should first consider how seriously you intend to compete. I would go so far as to say that, of course, you can own a pair, but recreational lifters, even quite advanced ones, will be fine without them. First, most people do not know how to wrap them, and second, many never lift weights heavy enough to need them at all. That holds true even though the weight you can lift for a maximum of three reps is relative and differs from person to person. In my view, they are needed specifically for powerlifting performance, rather than for recreational lifting. When wound tightly, these wraps impair your ability to feel your own muscles working. They certainly contribute to performance and are necessary with very heavy weights and at elite level, but recreational lifters, even quite advanced ones, do not need to use them this way. What matters is training your own muscles, joints and movements. And how much of your overall training volume consists of such short sets anyway?
To conclude, the ranking above was based mainly on the importance and benefits of different exercises. In practice, things certainly do not work this way, and I am not suggesting they should. These are simply my thoughts and my perspective. People are, of course, different, with individual characteristics and preferences, and all of that matters. So does price. Although the lifting belt takes first place, in practice people will certainly buy light knee supports, wrist wraps, lifting straps and lifting gloves first, simply because they cost less than a lifting belt. But if you noticed, lifting gloves do not appear on my list at all. That is because I do not think lifters at any level need them. Yet I think they were the first accessories I bought myself. You never stop learning!
It is also worth remembering that even a 2 %, 3 % or 6 % change in your daily physical activity can make a difference over time, and the broader goal of good health remains even when 84 % of your attention is currently focused on gym gear.
Author: Janar Rückenberg
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