Athletes have unique training needs.
For most people on their fitness journey in life, going to the gym is about gaining muscle, losing fat, and staying active. However, with athletes, there's an entire other factor - competition.
Athletes are wired to compete.
They are looking to gain that edge and be 1% better each day. There is no better place to build that foundation than in the weight room. However, in order to be the best, you need to have the best (and right) equipment.
So whether you have a gym membership and are umder the guidance of a personal trainer or are looking at training at your new home gym or training facility, make sure you have access to these five pieces of athletic gym equipment.
Here we go.
Dumbbells
Dumbbells are versatile.
Every good strength and conditioning plan is going to have dumbbells.
Dumbbells allow you to train unilaterally - especially with the upper body. So much of sports happens in less-than-ideal positions. In football, for example, you aren't always going to be able to get two hands on a block. You need to train unilaterally to help prepare for these situations as well as increase control, stability, and resilience in each arm.
Exercises like single-arm rows, bench press, shoulder press, and more are great - especially for contact sports.
Olympic Barbell & Rubber Weight Plates
This is a must. Any good gym or training facility must have an Olympic barbell and rubber weight plates.
Hopefully, you know the importance of a barbell and plates as they allow for maximum force production on exercises such as squats, bench press, and RDLs.
But, why Olympic?
Well, if you are already purchasing a barbell, be sure you opt for the one that allows athletes to safely perform Olympic lifts - especially the clean.
The clean is an excellent exercise for body awareness, power, and explosiveness.
Olympic barbells rotate making them safer on the wrists than traditional barbells for Olympic lifts.
Also, please only buy rubber plates.
The type of rubber doesn't matter nearly as much (relatively competitive pricing across the board), but rubber plates allow Olympic lifting to be done. Don't try and perform Olympic lifts with metal plates (and especially without proper coaching and instruction).
Hopefully, this is a given, but you are definitely going to need a power rack for your barbell and plates.
Medicine Balls
Okay, don't go with just any medicine balls. Here we are thinking more of the wall ball/oversized medicine balls.
What makes these so great is that they can be thrown, slammed, and tossed.
Max efforts throw - whether against a wall in a training facility, outside in the yard, or against the floor in a gym, are great for developing power. Rotational throws are especially great for rotational athletes - quarterbacks, baseball/softball players, golfers, etc.
You don't need a ton of these - probably 1 to a max of 3.
Something around 20 pounds for males and 15 pounds for females is great, and if you want to splurge go one ball heavier and one lighter.
Not to mention, these can be great for core accessory work like toe touches and Russian twists.
Adjustable Bench
It's pretty hard to perform a lot of basic strength and conditioning movements without a bench. After all - how are you even going to bench press?
Benches can open up a ton of exercise selections - and even more so with an adjustable bench.
You've got DB rows and incline rows, incline and seated strict press, posterior shoulder exercises like I's, Y's, and T's (great for throwing athletes), and many, many more.
You've also got access to mobility/prehab exercises like couch stretch, elevated pigeon stretch, Copenhagen planks, and so much more.
Bottom line - an adjustable bench is a must. It's going to allow you to fully take advantage of your barbell and weight plates.
GHD
A GHD or glute-ham developer is a pretty awesome machine.
While you may have seen them most often from CrossFitters doing some not-so-super-clean situps on them, that is not in fact the best use of the GHD.
As an athlete, your power comes from your hamstrings and glutes.
These muscles drive power.
With the GHD, you can seriously challenge and train them - leading to greater strength.
Here's one of my personal favorite GHD exercises (there are plenty more):
#1) Back Extension
The back extension is great for strengthening your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back.
You essentially lock your feet in and bend at the hips allowing your chest and head to be perpendicular to your legs. You then squeeze your posterior chain to bring your chest and head back to parallel. If these become too easy - simply add a pause at the top, go slower on the way down, or hold a 25 lb. plate at your chest.