emergency supplies – Finding Fitness

In my years of teaching I have had my share of “OH NO I FORGOT XXXX AT HOME!” moments. They cause unnecessary panic and temporarily throw your rhythm off! While I prefer to not carry a 200 pound gym bag around I’ve learned what’s best to carry a spare of in the car and also in my gym bag.

An extra music device (i.e. mp3 player, CD, etc) — stays with me. I have taught my share of classes where my iPod Touch has not wanted to cooperate. Thankfully I just pull out my backup device and go with it. Granted this leads into bullet #2 as I personally don’t go through the trouble of syncing both devices for every class.

Notes for more than one class — stays with me. I actually keep all my notes for all my classes on me (they are in a spiral bound index card notebook so they are pretty small!). I bought this lunch bag a while back dirt cheap and I keep the teaching – critical items in there. It’s nice to have spare notes on you but nicer to have good ‘backup’ playlists earmarked .. so when you have a technical glitch you are not stressing out, trying to find a new playlist.

Spare socks — stays with me. I have gotten to the gym and forgotten socks .. but thankfully I dug a pair out of my gym bag. Now, a spare pair stays in my bag because if I did it once, …

Bandana / Headband / etc — stays with me. I have to wear a headband or banadana when I teach. I keep a spare one in my lunch bag mentioned above. I could not function without one!

Extra batteries, even if your gym provides them — stays with me. What happens if the batteries die mid class and there are no spares readily available? Oh, that is not fun!

Extra shoes (maybe not necessarily spin shoes) — stays in my car. I’ve forgotten my spin shoes before and thankfully had a spare pair of gym shoes on me. While not ideal, they are better than my flip flops! Most people don’t own multiple pairs of spin shoes and if that’s you, then just keep a decent pair accessible for an emergency.

Extra water bottle — stays in my car. I have taken my main water bottle out before and thankfully had a spare in my car. There are no quick stores nearby and the gym does not sell water. That would have been a long clss otherwise!