Lizbeth Rodriguez
Being a beginner at the gym can leave you with some questions on what you should pack into your gym bag. Not to worry--you came to the right place! There are so many things that one can bring with them in order to make it better, however, for today, we're going to discuss the best items specifically for a glute day.
As someone who started with an empty gym bag, I've found three essential items you'll want to pack for your future glute workouts. They make all the difference!
These must-haves provide comfort and support for your workout, resulting in more optimal workouts, and gains that you don't want to skip out on. With that being said, let's jump into the three essential items you should have in your gym bag for every glute day.
1. Barbell Pad
If you include hip thrusts or glute bridges (which if you don't already, what are you doing??) in your glute workouts, you know that having a cushion is a non-negotiable if you don't want pain and bruising on your hips. That's why the beautiful invention of a barbell pad was made!
Some gyms may already have a machine specifically designed for hip thrusts and already have cushioning with it, which if your gym does, that's great! Some of them, however, can still feel not too great on the hips, even with the padding it comes with, which can be a little pinching on the hips and lead to bruising.
A barbell pad is made of pure foam and is made to be thick plus super comfy in order to prevent all that from happening in the first place. You can easily set it up on a smith machine or a regular barbell, and go as heavy as you can on those hip thrusts, pain-free. It's an easy solution to upping the weight to get bigger and stronger quicker.
In case you don't know how to set up hip thrusts on a regular barbell, here's a video from my TikTok page for my visual learners:
Setting Up Hip Thrusts With A Barbell
2. Lifting Straps
Lifting straps are a highly necessary piece of gym gear on glute days--that is if you include deadlifts (or RDLs) in your glute routine.
The RDL is a very popular exercise that is a variation of deadlifts, and if you regularly include this exercise, you know that it requires heavy weight that may be a little too heavy for your grip to hold onto. At least enough for your legs to get tired. If you're a beginner to the weightlifting scene, you may not need these at first, but over time when your legs become stronger, chances are you will, which is absolutely normal because leg muscles are so much bigger than forearm (grip) muscles!
This is when lifting straps come in, which are SUPER important in order for your glutes to keep getting bigger.
You never want to let your grip get in the way of finishing your set of RDLs, or deadlifts in general. If that is happening to you, you aren't allowing your glute to maximize its growth and strength. Your set should be finished once your legs give out, not your grip.
That's what lifting straps are for. These give a crazy amount of support when holding heavy weights, and you'll forget you ever even had a grip problem in the first place. Most importantly, they'll help you achieve more glute growth considering that you can easily finish your sets until your glutes are tired.
Another tip: you can use these for your pull days (back) in order to have a better focus on those back muscles.
3. Ankle Straps
Ankle straps are primarily used for performing cable kickbacks, and you can't really perform them without these babies! To be real with you, I've seen people (try to) use D-handles as an alternative, but that method is really uncomfortable and inconvenient (yes, I speak from previous experience).
Kickbacks are a great accessory exercise that you don't want to skip out on at the end of your workouts, especially because you can perform them in so many variations! Using your ankle straps, you can target your glute minimus doing kickbacks, your glute maximus, AND your glute medius! It all depends on the ankle you are kicking back at.
If you're trying to grow those glutes, grabbing yourself a pair of ankle straps and targeting all 3 muscles of the glutes is crucial. They'll help even it all out!
To Recap,
a barbell pad, lifting straps, and ankle straps is all you need in order to have a highly effective glute day. After reading this, it is up to you to figure out what you may need or what you may not need!
If you happened to need all three, just know that I offer these items in a kit at an affordable price. It is a kit specifically designed for glute days!
Glute Day Inspired Fitness Gear Kit
If not, I also offer them separately in multiple colors on my website:
Hopefully this helped you learn about some of the different items you can start utilizing at the gym, and to help you fill your gym bag. Follow me on Instagram and/or TikTok @pumphysics to join the PUMPHYSICS community and for more content!
