How to Get to the Gym Before Work, According to Reddit
Exercising in the morning can make you feel great for the rest of the day, and we have tips on how to motivate yourself to want to exercise in the morning . But then you have to face practical hurdles: are you walking straight from the gym to the office? What do you do with your smelly clothes and how do you pack all the toiletries you need? Fortunately, Reddit has the answers.
Bring a bag for your smelly or wet sportswear.
Okay, first question: what do you do when you finish your morning workout and are sweating? Of course, change your clothes and maybe take a shower.
“I always carry two plastic grocery bags in my backpack,” says not_my_legal_name , “so that if I sweat a lot , I can throw my wet clothes in there (the other bag is for my shower sandals).”
Another thing you’ll have to work on is storage space for clean clothes. Packing cubes is one of the popular solutions. There are also sports bags with waterproof compartments for wet or dirty clothes. A user who has been deleted writes , “I am using a dual compartment gym bag. Large compartment for clean clothes, small compartment for stinking clothes. “
Several editors mentioned drying a towel in the back seat of their car if they were driving, or hanging it in a locker, or on a hook at work. If you have space, this can be a great way to make sure your towel isn’t moldy before you can wash it.
Rent a locker at the gym if you can
Some gyms provide additional services for a fee. Two that come in handy here: renting lockers and towels.
With the towel service, you can use your towels in the gym and let them wash your clothes instead of bringing your own each time. “Pay 50 cents to rent a towel,” says Pigenoftesi8 . Some gyms rent out towels for free, some rent out towels (for a towel or a few dollars a month), and some don’t offer them at all. If you are exploring gyms near your work area, ask this and take that into account when making your decision.
Likewise, some gyms require lockers to be emptied overnight, but others allow long-term storage, usually for a fee. Rent a locker and you can store things like toiletries. Willowinteev writes , “You can also put your chalk and other non-sweating items in the gym in there, plus you can leave your athletic shoes in the locker instead of carrying them around.”
Smart packaging
“Purchase packing cubes, mesh bags and / or zip bags and assign one for each ‘group’ of items you need,” writes Trackerbait . “One toiletry bag, one lifting bag, one work clothes bag, etc. Then you only need to make sure each device is in the bag when you go.”
Travel-friendly items will also make things easier, and your duffel bag will be smaller. “A quick dry towel takes up much less space than a regular towel,” writes Vicariousgluten .
“Prepare your toiletries as if you were about to fly ,” in small bottles, writes aaantoniaaa_ . You can refill bottles as needed from your regular home.
Create a system for your workout clothes
Aaantoniaaa_ is full of good ideas and I love their approach to the wash cycle. “On Monday (or a day of your choice), bring your week’s workout clothes to work and leave them on your desk or in your locker. I used to change at work (because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have gone to the gym, laughs) and brought all my work clothes home on Fridays. “
They also recommend that you wear athletic shoes when you get to work (if outdoor shoes are allowed at your gym) and ask colleagues how they are doing if they start exercising earlier.
Finally, they had great advice: “Have extra clothes + shoes that will come in handy at work. Never rely on this outfit as the one that you will be using. This is only for emergencies and accidents or “oh, I forgot” scenarios. “
Get rid of your beauty routine
While you can do full makeup or time-consuming hairstyle in the gym locker room (or work bathroom), several editors noted that they retain their more sophisticated look for days when they can get ready at home. “Gym days are not days when you have to do full contouring or experiment with fancy new techniques. Too much shit to carry, ” says one of the remote users. A look that can be paired with five or six travel products seems to be the consensus.
Dry shampoo is often used to freshen hair. “You can even apply it to your hair before you sweat,” writes Babyumbri . If you’d like to get more involved, elcowi and others recommend that you only wash part of your hair in the sink, such as the area around and including the bangs, then blow dry and style. “It takes me 5 minutes to wash and blow-dry this way, while it takes me half an hour to dry my entire head.”
A final tip from a Reddit editor whose name has been lost to history : zippered plastic bags. “When body gel bursts, you don’t want it to get on your makeup and blouse.”