Water Bottle/Other beverage like Gatorade

This one nobody should disagree with. Being well hydrated during any workout is a must so always make sure you have a water bottle or other beverage at your side when you start to get dehydrated. It will keep you healthy and prevent fatigue.

Heart Rate Monitor

This one isn’t absolutely necessary but have a Heart Rate Monitor equipped will let you know when your working hard and when your slacking. Which lets you know if you should be trying harder then you are. If you use it to make sure you keep the heart rate high you’ll know your getting more from working out.

Work Out Gloves

Again this one isn’t necessary for everyone but the majority of people who workout have weight lifting included into it. From personal experience, especially for the male, comes a point where the weight we lift is really heavy which really rips up your hands making your hands jagged and hard. (Tip: Opposite sex will prefer hands that don’t feel like rock) So If your one of the many who weight lifts, gloves are a small investment that go a long way. Been using my gloves nearly a year and they are still in great shape and best yet my hands aren’t messed up at all.

Towel

This one is simple enough but also does great things. Whether you stay home or go to a gym it’s still a good idea to have a towel. A Towel allows you to wipe off sweat and prevent slippage of weights and things like that. Nothing would be worse than trying to bench press a huge amount of weight only to have it slip from your hands from sweaty palms. Also bringing a towel with to the gym allows you to wipe down machines before and after using them, usually gyms have a policy on this.

Music Player

Still it’s a preference but Music always goes a long way. Nothing beats that feeling when your favorite song come on and you start to attack your workouts with increased energy and motivation. Music is such a great motivator that listening to it while working out will more then likely increase your performance to some degree.

These items can be found in hundreds of locations, even on this site.

-Tip #1-

Slower Lifting. So its no problem for you to curl 50 pounds 25 times fast? Well with slower lifting you’ll be increasing the effectiveness with each rep significantly. Each curl should take about 5 second between contracting and releasing. This is more effective then just cranking out 25 reps in 20 seconds.

-Tip #2-

Good Form. This one should apply to every exercise you do. I see lots of people at the gym who stray from good form and it’s costing them a more effective work out. Make sure when lifting you are using weights where you can keep your good form during reps rather than struggling to lift weight that’s too heavy to keep perfect form.

-Tip #3-

Intensity. This one can be a key factor in getting a much better work out. Some people spend hours at the gym working out when that isn’t necessary. If your workout feels like it’s getting to easy and your no longer as sore after your workouts chances are your not pushing yourself hard enough. Rather then working out for 2 hours with low intensity kick it up into high gear and do a more intense workout for an hour. What do I mean by more intense? I mean lifting heavier weights or increasing resistance. As you can imagine this will push your bodies limits much quicker and give you a more effective workout.

-Tip#4-

Protein. This one is crucial for people interested in increasing and keeping their muscle size. Muscles need protein to rebuild and grow. Without it, your muscles aren’t rebuilding the way they should and that means your workouts less effective. While it’s generally better to get your proteins from the food you eat, it’s not always possible. Consuming a Protein shake before your workout and after, combined with the proteins you get from food, should be more then sufficient to stimulate your muscle growth.

-Tip #5-

Change it up. Are you still doing the same exact workout you’ve been doing for months? Well that’s a problem, you’ve probably reached a plateau, what’s a plateau? Well in terms of working out its the point where your workout has stopped earning you good results because your body has become used to the workout. It’s far more effective to change your workout and work the same muscles just in different ways. This is going to be way more effective and give you a much better workout.