16 of the Best Gifts for the Fitness Fanatic’s Gym Bag

If you’re buying gifts for somebody who’s into working out, they’d probably love a big-ticket item like a Peloton or squat rack. But what if your budget is smaller, and you just want to help them stock their gym bag with helpful, smaller items? Here are the best fitness accessories that they’ll actually use.

Barbell collars

Every gym that has barbells should have good collars, but reality doesn’t always live up to our expectations. Collars will often be missing, broken, or rusty as hell.

The perfect headphones

The ideal headphones for the gym or for running should be sweat-proof, comfortable, and incapable of falling off mid-workout.

Recovery lounge gift card

Do saunas, cryotherapy, compression boots, and massages actually help you recover better? The evidence is mixed, but what we know for sure is that a lot of folks love the stuff. Look for a “recovery lounge” or “recovery spa” in your area and grab a gift card for a day’s services.

The exact same shoes they already have

Every form of exercise has a preferred style of shoe. For lifting, you want specific heeled or flat shoes. For running, you want shoes that fit your feet and feel comfortable on the run. For cycling — indoor or outdoor — you want shoes that work with the type of cleats you use on your pedals. Shoes are a personal choice, but they’re also something all athletes go through multiple pairs of.

So if you can’t get them to drop a hint about a new type of shoe they’d like to try, all you have to do is sneak a peek at the tag inside their current pair. (This is especially good for runners, whose shoes wear out so quickly they’re basically disposable.) They’ll be grateful for a fresh pair.

Good sunglasses

This one is for the runners and other outdoor sport enthusiasts. Sunglasses tend to slide off your head when you’re slick with sweat, so runners swear by specific brands that don’t slip and that ideally have a polarised coating.

A water bottle sleeve

For somebody who doesn’t want to tote a whole duffel bag around the gym, a water bottle sleeve is incredibly useful.

Lifting straps

Straps can help you hold onto a bar or dumbbell so that your grip strength doesn’t have to hold back your training for the rest of your body. Regular lasso-type straps are great for most folks.

Good socks

Any old socks are fine for the first few miles of a run, but once you’re doing serious mileage you need better socks to avoid blisters. Cyclists and other endurance athletes have similar needs.

Micro plates

A great item for gym beginners is a pair of 0 kg micro plates. In most gyms, the smallest plates are 1 kg, meaning you can only go up 2 kg when you’re ready to add weight. (Sometimes the 2.5-pounders are hard to find, so it could be helpful to have your own pair of those, too.)

Foam rollers and stretching gear

Gyms often have stretching and foam-rolling items, but if you’re going to be rubbing your body all over something, it can be nice to have your own.

Massage gun

Massage guns are another of those technology that may or may not actually help recovery, but that can definitely feel good on sore muscles.

Toiletry bag

After you work out, you have to wash up. For someone who regularly showers at the gym or who goes in the morning and has to freshen up for work, a well-organised toiletry bag will be a substantial improvement over fishing for mini bottles at the bottom of their gym bag.

Knee sleeves

Knee sleeves are the kind of thing you don’t realise you need until you give them a try. They don’t prevent injury or (usually) add weight to your squat, but they make your knees feel nice while you’re lifting.

Deadlift wedge

Changing the plates between sets of deadlifts is one of the more awkward gym tasks, but a deadlift jack makes the job a lot easier. But since most of us don’t have room for an entire deadlift jack in our gym bag, try the lightweight ones.

Phone tripod

Taking videos of your lifts can be a great way to check your technique (or make a funny TikTok clip of your fails). A proper tripod does this job a lot better than leaning your phone somewhere or having a wobbly-handed gym buddy hold it.

A good gym bag

Of course, the ultimate gym bag gift is the gym bag itself (which you can stuff with any of the previous items if you’d like to really go all out).