4 strength training tools a certified personal trainer says are worth having

Schunder has had the same Inzer Forever Lever Belt for “at least 15 years,” he says, and his history with the 13mm version goes back to his powerlifting days. 

“I’m a bigger guy,” he says. “I used to do a lot of powerlifting [and] strongman stuff. Don’t do much of it anymore really, but this belt is amazing.”

“I like to put a caveat to this because I do think not everybody needs to use a weightlifting belt,” Schunder says. “Weightlifting belts primarily are going to be used for tools and sport-focused strength training.”

One reason he prefers this model is its lever design compared to more traditional buckle-style belts. 

“I really like the lever belt because some of the other belts that you can get actually look like actual belts,” he says. “So they loop and they tighten real tight, like you would put on pants.” 

For Schunder, that quick-release design also has a safety advantage. 

“I like [it] a lot more from a safety standpoint simply because if someone passes out or if you pass out, it’s a lot easier to get a lever belt off of a person versus a strapped-in belt,” he says. 

And there’s a much less technical reason he was drawn to the belt in the first place: the snap. 

“This is going to sound stupid, but the reason I liked it is because I had a friend and every time he would deadlift, he would snap [and] unsnap it–and it’s really satisfying,” he says. 

After 15 years, the “pure leather” belt has also proven durable for Schunder, although its substantial build comes with one tradeoff: “it’s so bulky” and “takes up a lot of space.”

“Having a good set of lifting straps is really good to continue to progress certain movements without grip being a limiting factor,” Schunder says. 

Part of the draw of the Gymreapers straps for him is that they stick with a straightforward loop-style design that has been used by lifters for years rather than something more complicated. 

“This is a very common wrist lifting strap [design] that’s been around for decades,” he says. 

With a cushioned section at the wrist and a long piece of fabric that wraps around the weight, these straps are exactly that classic style he prefers.

“With that little extra piece of fabric, you wrap it around a dumbbell or kettlebell and then you tighten it with your hand,” he says. “And it takes a lot of the weight out of your grip when you go to pull stuff and carry things.”

That simplicity does come with a learning curve, however. 

“If you’re new to them, they can be kind of annoying because you can mess up where the loop goes sometimes,” Schunder says. 

He also mentions that using the straps requires a certain amount of hand dexterity. “I also don’t think they’re necessarily great for people who might need some ADA stuff because of the amount of hand dexterity you might need for it,” he says.

“There are some other types of straps that are going to be better suited for them.”

“My biggest problem with a lot of multi-stack weights is that they have too many knobs and buttons that break,” Schunder says. 

“Anyone who has worked with dumbbells knows that stuff is breaking fast,” he says. The PowerBlock, on the other hand, keeps things simple. 

“This one, it’s just a pin,” Schunder says. “You pin it in, you pull the weight out, and it’s no different than a weight stack on a lat pulldown machine.”

“It’s essentially one dumbbell that makes up and can be utilized as the effective use of ten dumbbells or ten sets of dumbbell weights. So it’ll go from ten pounds to 100 pounds.”

Aside from being able to hop to just about any weight he wants, it also saves him a ton of space. Schunder says, “they are the most effective use of space in a gym setting.” 

The only thing giving him second thoughts about the set is the price, although they’re still worth it to him. He says, “they are very expensive, but they’re very good quality.”

“These are the bands that we use in our gym setting,” Schunder says. “They last a really long time and they get a lot of use out of them.”

That heavy gym use is exactly what has proven their durability to Schunder. 

“I just utilize them at the [Trilogy] gym space,” he says. “When I work out, I’ll use them there and they last a great amount of time.”

And when he reaches for them, Schunder has a favorite move. “I love them for an exercise called Pallof presses or any kind of Pallof anti-rotational exercise,” he says.

What really separates the EliteFTS bands for Schunder is how their quality compares to other alternatives he’s tried. 

“Some of the stuff, they’re made kind of cheaply,” he says of other resistance bands.  

“These are made by somebody who utilizes them with some of the heaviest lifts ever done by human beings,” he says. “So they need to be able to handle some pretty substantial weights.”

“I think they’re the best of the best,” he says.