Last night I ordered a bunch of new stuff for the gym.

A couple different handles, fractional plates, resistance bands of different tension...

While barbells and dumbbells will always remain a key part of boosting athletic performance, there's nothing wrong with using other training tools to spice things up once in a while.

You see, the mind craves variety.

And I believe that altering not only the physical stimulus you receive from lifting weights, but the mental as well, will lead to more progress and less boredom down the line.

So unless you're planning to compete in powerlifting, why not deviate from the holy trinity of squat, bench, deadlift?

There's hundreds of exercises you can perform with a little bit of creativity.

That's when investing a few hundred bucks into additional equipment will pay extra dividends.

So what equipment should you buy then?

I've compiled a neat lil' list to get you on the right track today.

Let's start from the top of the body and work our way down...

* Neck harness

A thick, strong neck garners instant respect. And is the #1 antidote against concussions.

* Resistance bands

Great for hitting your upper back with extra volume via banded pull-aparts, face pulls, pulldowns and rows.

* Slingshot

Takes stress off your shoulder joint when benching.

* Fat Gripz

A thicker bar decreases stress on the elbows and shoulders on curls and presses.

* Wrist straps

Better grip on heavy rows, deads, power cleans and single-leg DB exercises.

* Weight vest or belt

For overloading chins and push-ups when body weight becomes too easy.

* Gymnastic rings

If you want sick upper body strength development.

* Hip Thrust Pad

Name says it all. Best pad for hip thrusting on the market. Yes, better than the Hampton thick pad we used for years you've probably seen in our training videos.

* Squat shoes

Perfect for Oly lifts and barbell squats. Can't go wrong with Nike Romaleos here. Though several of my athletes favor the Adidas Power Perfect II. Both excellent options.

To learn how I use these - and plenty of other - training tools to whip my hockey players into shape, go to:

http://www.NextLevelHockeyTraining.com

Yunus Barisik