Accessories

Start with a gym bag, a water bottle and a shaker. Add support kit as the weight goes up: a lifting belt when bracing becomes your limiting factor, lifting straps when your grip fails before your back does, and wrist or knee wraps when the joints start feeling the load.

Kings Gym stocks knee wraps rather than knee sleeves. The difference matters: wraps are wound tightly around the joint and give you adjustable support and rebound out of the bottom of a heavy squat, which suits powerlifting and near-maximal work. Sleeves give constant, lighter compression and warmth, and suit higher-volume training. If you're squatting heavy singles, wraps are the tool for the job.

Wrist wraps support the wrist joint itself and are used for pressing — benching, overhead work — where the wrist tends to bend back under load. Lifting straps loop around the bar to secure your grip on pulling movements like deadlifts, rows and shrugs. They do completely different jobs, so most lifters end up owning both.

Once you're lifting heavy enough on squats and deadlifts that your bracing gives out before your legs or back do — usually when you're working at or above 80% of your maximum. A belt isn't needed for warm-up sets or lighter accessory work, and using one for everything can mask a weak brace rather than build one.

Yes. The Kings Gym store inside each club stocks the accessories range, so you can check the fit of a belt or the thickness of a wrap before buying. Stock varies by site; the full range is always available online.