This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SavvySnacking #CollectiveBias

Some days I feel like I don’t have even one second to spare.  I tell my kids we have to move in “warp speed” all too often to get to and from school, the gym, wrestling practice, bible study… and the list goes on and on.  Everything in our household moves smoother if I can manage the energy to plan ahead.  Having a pre-packed gym bag with all the essentials is just one more thing that makes my life a little bit easier.

All of the items in this bag make for a successful day at the gym, including activities for the kiddos, a few equipment necessities, toiletries, and of course post-workout snacks!  I’m excited to tell you about Lorissa’s Kitchen products! You can enter the #SavvySnackingSweepstakes to win a $100 Walmart gift card to purchase some great Lorissa’s Kitchen snacks for your gym bag and your healthy life on the go!
Lorissa’s Kitchen #SavvySnackingSweepstakes 

How to Pack a Gym Bag for Busy Mom Life

I put my gym items into a few different categories for organization purposes: equipment necessities, toiletries, kids’ toys, and snacks.

Equipment Necessities:

• Shoes: CrossFit Nanos or Nike Metcons, Lifting shoes, and a pair of flip-flops for running errands afterwards.
• Jump Rope: Probably my all time favorite piece of gym equipment.  It’s super light, perfect for traveling, and can bring up the intensity in any workout.
• Weight Lifting Belt
• Knee Sleeves: It took me a good year of doing CrossFit before I purchased my first pair of knee sleeves, but I lOVE the extra support when I do squats, especially with heavier weights.  Knees are a high injury body part that I like to have protected.
• Wrist Wraps: Great support for your wrists.  I use these for any movement over head like push press or wall balls.
• Long socks:  A necessity for rope climbs and super easy to keep stored in your bag.
• Lacrosse Ball or Rolling stick:  Great for rolling out your tight muscles while you’re at the park with your kids after the gym.  You can check out how to use these items in our post on Post-Workout Care.
• Water bottle:  A MUST for you during your workout, but also for the rest of the day while out running errands after the gym.
• Headbands and Hair Ties:  I’m headband obsessed so I always keep extra headbands and hair ties in my bag.
• Hand straps:  Toes to bar, pull ups, and bar muscle ups all require good hand protection!  I always have these handy!
• Athletic tape:  In addition to the hand straps, I’m often taping my thumbs for bar work.  If you’ve ever torn your thumbs, you know it’s not only painful, but takes what seems like forever to heal!

Toiletries:

• Hand sanitizer: If you CrossFit, you’re a mess after the workout, but regardless of any gym you go to you’ll be touching equipment a million other people have touched.
• Wipes:  Great to have for the kids who will also need a good scrub down after spending time in kid jail or day care.
• Chapstick:  Nothing worse than leaving the house and realizing you don’t have any.  Keep it in an easily accessible pocket.
• Lotion
• Feminine Products

Kids’ Toys:

• Action figures or dolls:  These are great because they’re QUIET toys that won’t annoy you during your workout.
• Coloring or sticker books:  Another quiet toy win!
• iPad:  When my kids start to get a little nutty in kid jail, they get to watch a movie, show, or play a game on the iPad.  There are few times during the day when my kids are allowed screen time, but my one hour at the gym is definitely one of those times!

Snacks:

• Lorissa’s Kitchen Korean Barbeque Beef, Lorissa’s Kitchen Sweet Chili Pork, and Lorissa’s Kitchen Szechuan Peppercorn Beef:  I love that Lorissa’s Kitchen has provided us all with a delicious portable protein snack!  It’s so important to fuel your body with protein post workout.  It’s hard for the busy mom to prep and cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner, let alone think about snacks.  Lorissa’s Kitchen snacks make it SUPER easy for healthy choices on the go!  These snacks are high in protein, low in carbs, no MSG, no preservatives, and gluten-free.  Did I mention they’re grass-fed beef?!  You can find Lorrisa’s Kitchen products at Walmart near the checkout lines by the beef jerky.

Enter the #SavvySnackingSweepstakes to win a $100 Walmart gift card to purchase some great Lorissa’s Kitchen snacks for your gym bag and your healthy life on the go!   Lorissa’s Kitchen #SavvySnackingSweepstakes

• Fruit and/or nuts

What did we miss?  What’s in your gym bag?

Let us know what your gym bag essentials are in the comments below or on our Facebook page where we love getting personal.  You can follow us @stayfitmom_Tracy and @stayfitmom_Krista  on Instagram, and subscribe to Stay Fit Mom for healthy recipes, workouts, and most of  all inspiration and encouragement!

If you liked this post you might also like our 10 Favorite Things for Post Workout Care

or our 31 Day At Home CrossFit Workout Plan