What’s in your bag? 

November 30, 2017

Health and fitness expert Katie Bulmer-Cooke reveals the essentials she always has with her when training

As a personal trainer, I carry my gym bag around with me every day – in fact I’d be lost without it – so this month, I thought I’d share the items that I simply couldn’t live without.

A good pair of trainers are an essential and if you take part in various activities I’d recommend having trainers to suit. I alternate between lifting shoes and running shoes, to match the activity I’m doing. On the flip side, if you want a good all-rounder, opt for a cross trainer and be sure to get the correct fit for your foot.

A water bottle. My personal favourite is my bottle from Hydrate M8 for two main reasons. Firstly, it doesn’t leak and secondly it has little time targets on the side to help you hit your daily water intake.

My iPad. I use an app called The Training Notebook to record all of my clients’ data so that I can check their progress using markers such as body fat percentage, measurements and photographs. I’m quite geeky when it comes to things like this and I love producing graphs for my clients so that they can see how far they have come.

Good leggings. Nobody wants to be that person who exposes their underwear while doing a squat due to see-through leggings. For me, the perfect leggings are high-waisted, never go see-through, and always stay in place without creeping down while I’m training. As you can imagine, after 13 years in fitness, I’ve gone through my fair share of leggings. My favourites are from my own collection with AIMathleisure.

Good snacks. I’m always on the go and between clients and meetings I often need to fuel up, so I always make sure I have a little healthy something in my bag for such occasions. I particularly like snacks by Deliciously Ella, Bounce Balls and little pots that I make up myself with fresh berries or vegetable sticks.

Head phones that don’t move when I’m working out. I’ve tried several pairs over the years but none of them seems to stay put when I’m running. A few months back I went for a pair of Skull Candy Grind Wireless ones and I couldn’t be without them now.

A tape measure. I use this to track both my client’s and my own progress. I very rarely use weighing scales as they don’t always give the most accurate representation of what’s going on with your body. A tape measure on the other hand will provide you with accurate girth measurements for several areas of your body such as waist, thighs, hips etc., so if slimming down is your goal, a tape measure is a great tool to use to assess your progress.

Katie Bulmer-Cooke
UK Personal Trainer of the Year 2012 & UK Fitness Professional of the Year 2013.
Entrepreneur/Consultant/Speaker Bookings: [email protected]
www.katiebulmer.com

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