As I sat down for another warmup set, velcro, and lace up my lifting shoes, all the stuff on the ground spoke to me.
“Wow, Nick, you’ve changed your environment haven’t you?”
Below is a staged photo of all the stuff that I carry in my gym bag, lug around the gym floor, and do it again the next day.
When I first started my fitness and strength training journey, all I had was a pair of running shoes and shaky confidence:
“yea, I can do this, I mean, I wrestled in high school.”
Fast forward 10+ years later and the collection that hopped from gym bag to gym bag, state to state, is a reminder of behaviors reinforced, and how each item (or stimulus 😉) has remained a part of my growing and maintained fitness repertoires.
Here was today’s “every day (gym) carry”.
- Sweatshirt – for that important warmup
- Kindle Fire – to experiment with digital data collection
- Chalk bucket and Goat Tape (w/Holder) – to not lose grip
- Gymnastics grips – for the later workout
- Lifting Belt – keep the belly in and spine stable
- Knee Sleeves – knee is a little cranky today
- Lifting shoes – to hit today’s lift (snatch)
- Pre-workout – good ol’ performance enhancers
I didn’t start with the pile of stuff, nor did it happen overnight.
Over time, I was fortunate to be around others who taught me to lift properly and enjoy the fitness journey. Ultimately, my fitness environment provided key reinforcers for certain behaviors. And if you’ve read this far, the environment not only includes where we workout (the gym, home), but all the people and things that go along with it.
Your pile of gym stuff may look the same, different, or is just getting started.
Keep moving.
