Towels & Gym Bag Storage Ideas

Going to a gym was something that never crossed my mind years ago; family life and running a busy household always came first, because sometimes it’s not possible to exercise.

Last year I made an effort and was trying to exercise 3 days a week (see here) while my youngest was a kinder. I also had the opportunity to attend 8 weeks of Boot Camp for Women, which really helped with weight loss and also increased my fitness levels.  

Of course this post is not about how many crunches or push ups I can do (as no one wants to read about that); it’s all about organisation here and how I store all those extra towels and organise my gym bag. 

This was our stack of towels, clothes and other items that have piled up over a period of time in my ensuite.

Fortunately, after looking at this pile for days (it had been there much longer though), I got an idea to reuse an old magazine rack and use those good old ice-cream containers for extra storage underneath the rack.

Now we have a tidier space and no more clutter.  

Rolling towels creates more space and room for many others.

As for organising inside the gym bag, rather than throwing everything inside and not being able to find anything when comes the time to use the showers;  I found this fantastic travel pack at IKEA.

 

  1. Is a double sided (two compartments) zipped bag; on one side I store my swimming gear and the other my every day clothes (those I change into after my gym workout & swim).  This is handy for when the changing cubical has little room for all your items of clothing.
  2. One zipper, (same size and shape above) this extra bag I use for my wet swimmers.
  3. Shoe storage bag, so I don’t get my towels and bag lining dirty and smelly.  It’s also big enough to fit two pairs of shoes inside.
  4. This little pouch I store my weight lifting and boxing lining gloves.

 Each time I go to the gym I take the following:

1 x beach towel & goggles
1 x bath towel
1 x hand towel (sweat towel)
1 x face washer & towel hair wrap
1.  Double sided bag = swimmers and change clothes
2. Spare bag for wet swimmers
3. Shoe pack = spare shoes
4. Weight lifting cloves bag
A hair dryer
Toiletries bag, other odds and ends
2 x drink bottles

Inside my toiletries bag, I also carry two chrome hanging hooks.  

There is never enough room in those shower cubicles,  therefore bringing extra hooks to hang over the door or side walls of the shower cubicle is another way to use the small space to its full potential.  Those tiny ledges or seats are not big enough, therefore using the hooks keeps towels from falling on the floor and clothing up away from the splashing of the shower area.

I empty what I need out of my bag first, push it as far as I can towards the doorway and drape my already half wet swimming towel over the edge of my bag to use as a floor mat and the dryer end of the towel is used as a cover.

Of course this set up is not for everyone, however dressing in public (even though it’s a woman’s change area) is not something I like to do, I just don’t feel comfortable with parading my naked body around a public dressing room. It’s bad enough when you have to shelter your children after going swimming and them seeing sagging old ladies in the Full Monty in those public change rooms…

What must I look like then!

 

 

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