Accessories for bodybuilding

Weights, dumbbells, machines and suitable sportswear are all needed for weight training and fitness. Of course, you'll also need something to keep you hydrated during your workout, and a towel to protect your equipment from perspiration. For a beginner to bodybuilding, this equipment is more than sufficient. With time and practice, loads will gradually increase, and the movements used will multiply and become more complex: certain accessories will become indispensable.

So, let's take a look at the must-have muscle-building accessories, some of which are safety-oriented, others more geared towards performance enhancement. You'll have to pay the price, but it's better to equip yourself for a good workout. Belts, gloves and straps are the order of the day...

Accessories for safety

One of the fitness accessories that exercisers are going to have to get their hands on very quickly is the strength belt. This product is available at all prices. It's nothing like a sweat belt or abdominal belt. This belt, which can be made of leather or synthetic material, is designed to protect the lumbar area during bodybuilding exercises. In fact, during training efforts, the abdominal and lumbar straps contract to sheathe and stabilize the torso.

Strength belts

When properly tightened, the power belt will support the abdominal and lumbar muscles and, under the pressure exerted by these muscles, produce an increase in intra-abdominal pressure. The result is greater sheathing and, consequently, better protection against lumbar injuries during your strength training exercises. All athletes with back problems need a lumbar belt. It's one of the most crucial fitness accessories.

We invite you to visit a bodybuilding accessories comparison site to find THE right product and THE right belt at the right price.

Gloves

the next fitness accessory is not essential, but for reasons of comfort or safety, ends up being used by many exercisers. We're talking about gloves, simple gloves for bodybuilding. Handling barbells and dumbbells leads to calluses on the hands. Not only does this become painful over time, it's also not very aesthetically pleasing.

The second aspect of using sports gloves is that, during hard muscle-strengthening training, the user sweats, and this sweat on the hands no longer ensures a proper grip on the barbell or dumbbell. Gloves will absorb this sweat, ensuring a more secure grip.

You'll find gloves just about everywhere to ensure your bodybuilding sessions go smoothly. Domyos gloves for the most affordable prices, for example, or others. All choices are available, at all prices.

Banded gloves

There are also gloves that wrap around the wrist. The wrist is reinforced by a strap incorporated into the glove. This strap protects the joint from the stress and pressure imposed by the load. This prevents the wrist from being broken (bent). A bent wrist implies a loss of strength.

Elastic bands

In the same vein, i.e. to strengthen joints, we find bands for wrists and knees. These special fitness elastic bands are used to strengthen joints subjected to high stress when handling heavy loads. They guarantee joint stability to protect tendons and ligaments. The elasticity of these sports accessories does not prevent freedom of movement, even if they do have a slight impact on ease of flexion.

Buy this fitness and bodybuilding accessory by consulting a sports brand comparison, with features and prices.

Performance-enhancing accessories.

Support straps

These straps are worn on the wrists to strengthen the grip when rolling up the bar or dumbbell. This strengthened grip means you can work for longer without the exercise being limited by hands opening up because of the weight being shifted, or by tetany of the hand muscles.

These straps are mainly used and useful for pulling exercises (rowing, deadlifts and pull-ups), but some athletes also use them for certain pushing exercises.

Pulling hooks

Another system exists to strengthen the grip on the bar during bodybuilding exercises. It is similar to a hook incorporated into a strap worn on the wrist. Once again, this prevents the hands from opening up during exercise, limiting the load used or the length of the set.

To make the pull-ups harder and increase the resistance imposed on the muscles worked, athletes use a belt to which weights can be attached by means of a hook. This belt can therefore be used to carry weights. Definitely a fitness accessory to buy expressly before your next sports session, then put in your bag! You'll find this type of product at affordable or top-of-the-range prices online.

Resistance bands

Over the past few years, more and more top-level exercisers have been using resistance bands to provide extra resistance as their range of motion increases. The fact that these bands become progressively tauter as the movement is executed implies an increase in resistance.

These elastic bands can be used for a wide range of movements and are a good way of overloading the muscles, or making the work harder, as the tension is at its highest at the highest point of the movement (at the exercise's dead center).

Another product to add to your sports bag, along with gloves, belts, pump handles, hooks, elastic bands, training sheets, skipping ropes and other sports shoes!

These are just some of the men's and women's accessories you'll find in the gym, and they'll help you practice safely. They'll also enable you to put additional or at least different stress on your muscles, encouraging your body to adapt. Test each product if you haven't already. Visit your favorite website for men's and women's bodybuilding accessories, to check whether each product on our list is available in stock and for delivery!

Author Alexandre CARPENTIER

Bodybuilding Champion N.A.C 2012

Alexandre shares his bodybuilding experience with MegaGear blog readers