Not all gym accessories deserve a spot in your bag. Josko and Brandon, gym owners at Kraken Fitness in North Burnaby near Brentwood, blind-ranked eight common gym tools on a tier list — and the results might change what you buy next. Lifting straps earned S tier, heel wedges and pull-up bands landed on A, and foam rollers got sent straight to D. Here’s why each tool earned its rank.
Watch: Gym Tools Tier List
S Tier: The Must-Haves
Two gym accessories earned S-tier status from Kraken’s trainers: lifting straps and the hip thrust pad (but only when used correctly).
Lifting Straps — Josko carries these in his gym bag and uses them for every pulling exercise. The reason is simple: on a row or a deadlift, the forearms and grip will fatigue before the back muscles do. That means the set ends because the hands gave out, not because the target muscles were finished working.
Lifting straps remove the grip bottleneck. Josko explains that he can get roughly eight reps on a row without straps and ten reps with them — and those extra two reps come almost entirely from back work. The forearms and biceps aren’t the limiting factor anymore, which means the back gets trained harder.
Brandon addresses the common criticism: “If you can’t grip it, you shouldn’t be lifting it.” He disagrees. There will always be a point where the hips and back are improving faster than grip strength. Straps let those bigger muscle groups keep progressing without being held back by smaller ones. Just do separate grip and forearm work if you want to strengthen your hands.
Hip Thrust Pad — This one comes with a major asterisk. For hip thrusts, it’s S tier because hip thrusts are nearly impossible to do without one. A cold barbell sitting directly on the hip bones is painful enough to ruin the exercise entirely. The pad is what makes hip thrusts viable.
However, if someone is using a hip thrust pad for squats — which is what these pads were originally designed for — it drops to D tier immediately. The pad creates an unstable surface on the upper back, shifts the bar position unpredictably, and can even slide during the lift. Kraken’s trainers never recommend using a bar pad for squats.
A Tier: Seriously Useful
Two accessories landed in A tier: heel wedges and pull-up bands. Both solve real problems that affect a lot of gym-goers, especially beginners.
Heel Wedges — These are small angled platforms that elevate the heels during squats. Brandon explains why they’re valuable: many people lack ankle mobility and struggle to hit proper depth in their squats. Heel wedges compensate for that mobility limitation instantly, allowing deeper squats without needing to first fix ankle flexibility.
The practical appeal is strong. A pair costs between $20 and $40 on Amazon. Compare that to Olympic weightlifting shoes, which can easily run $150 to $250 and serve the same basic function — elevating the heel. Heel wedges are the budget-friendly alternative that does the job.
Josko points out a common gym hack that’s worse: stacking plates under the heels. People do this constantly, but it’s obviously not ideal. The surface is uneven, it can shift mid-set, and it looks sketchy. Heel wedges are flat, stable, and designed for exactly this purpose. They didn’t quite reach S tier because they’re only relevant for people with ankle mobility limitations, but for those people, they’re a game-changer.
Pull-Up Bands (Long Loop Bands) — These large resistance bands have dozens of uses beyond just assisted pull-ups. Josko keeps a set in his gym bag and considers them close to S-tier.
For pull-ups specifically, they’re the best tool for progressively building toward unassisted reps. If someone can do five regular pull-ups but ten with a purple band, the path forward is clear — keep reducing the band resistance over time until the assistance isn’t needed anymore. Brandon emphasizes this progression: start with a thick band, work down to thinner ones, and eventually drop the band entirely.
Beyond pull-ups, long loop bands work for stretching, warm-ups, and supplementary exercises. That versatility is what pushes them into A tier — they’re not a one-trick tool.
B Tier: Solid but Not Essential
One accessory landed in the middle ground: fabric hip bands.
Fabric Hip Bands — These are the thicker, cloth-based resistance bands designed for glute activation and hip work. They earned B tier because they represent a meaningful upgrade over the cheap rubber loop bands that sit in D tier (more on those below).
Fabric hip bands don’t slide around during exercises. They last significantly longer than rubber ones. And the resistance on the heavier versions is actually challenging, unlike rubber bands where even the “heaviest” option becomes easy within a few months.
Josko recommends keeping a set in the gym bag. They’re compact, useful for glute warm-ups and hip exercises, and genuinely functional. They didn’t reach A tier because they’re supplementary — you can have a great workout without them. But they’re worth owning, especially for lower-body training days.
D Tier: Skip These
Four accessories got ranked D tier. This is where Josko and Brandon were “very polarizing,” as Brandon put it — “S or D, nothing in between.”
Foam Rollers — Josko’s take: “I personally think foam rollers are completely worthless.” The reasoning is specific. Many people believe foam rolling solves mobility issues permanently. It doesn’t. What it actually does is open a small temporary window of slightly increased range of motion — maybe 10 to 15 minutes of improved flexibility before everything tightens back up.
Brandon agrees and adds a twist. The most useful things a foam roller can do aren’t what it was designed for. It can be used as a prop for certain exercises — a foam roll bridge, hip hinge work, thread-the-needle stretches — but those uses have nothing to do with myofascial release. And for those exercises, you could just use something else anyway. As Josko puts it: “Everyone has one collecting dust in the corner.”
Rubber Loop Bands (Booty Bands) — The cheap, thin rubber bands that come in packs of three or four landed near the bottom. They have some use for shoulder warm-ups and hip mobility, but they’re extremely limited. Even the “heaviest” resistance level in a typical set isn’t very challenging — most people outgrow them within a couple months.
Brandon prefers fabric hip bands (B tier) for any exercise these would be used for. The rubber versions slide, roll up, snap, and don’t provide meaningful resistance for anyone beyond a complete beginner. They’re not useless, but they’re close.
Knee Sleeves — This ranking comes with a caveat: for competitive powerlifters, knee sleeves would be higher. But Kraken’s audience is regular gym-goers, not powerlifters, and for regular people, knee sleeves are mostly pointless.
The common belief is that knee sleeves prevent injury. Brandon says that’s not what they do. A neoprene sleeve might warm up the joint slightly, but it’s not going to prevent a catastrophic knee injury during a squat or deadlift. And for powerlifters who wear them extremely tight for a small mechanical advantage — Josko points out that the extra weight lifted is coming from the sleeve’s compression, not from actual strength gains.
Hip Thrust Pad for Squats — As mentioned in the S-tier section, these pads were originally designed for squatting. But using them for squats creates an unstable bar position on the upper back, limits how much weight can be handled safely, and even risks the bar sliding off. Save the pad for hip thrusts, where it genuinely makes the exercise possible.
FAQ
What gym accessories should beginners buy first?
Lifting straps and a pair of heel wedges cover the most ground for the least money. Straps cost under $15 and prevent grip from limiting back exercises. Heel wedges run $20 to $40 and fix squat depth issues immediately. Both fit in any gym bag and get used regularly.
Are foam rollers a waste of money?
For their intended purpose of myofascial release, foam rollers provide only temporary relief — a small window of improved mobility that closes within minutes. Kraken’s trainers rank them D tier. The money is better spent on accessories that directly improve training performance like straps or heel wedges.
Do knee sleeves prevent knee injuries?
Knee sleeves do not prevent knee injuries during regular gym training. They provide mild warmth and compression but won’t stop a catastrophic injury during a heavy squat or deadlift. For competitive powerlifters they serve a different purpose, but for everyday gym-goers they’re unnecessary.
What’s the difference between rubber and fabric hip bands?
Fabric hip bands are more durable, stay in place during exercises, and provide meaningfully harder resistance at the top end. Rubber loop bands slide around, snap easily, and max out at a resistance level most people surpass within a few months. Fabric bands earned B tier at Kraken, rubber bands got D.
Should I use a squat pad on the barbell?
Kraken’s trainers recommend against using a pad for squats. The pad creates an unstable surface between the bar and the upper back, shifts bar positioning, and can slide during the lift. Learning proper bar placement on the muscles of the upper back is safer and more effective long-term.
Ready to Start?
Kraken Fitness is a personal training gym in North Burnaby near Brentwood. If you’re unsure which equipment and accessories actually matter for your training, Kraken’s coaches can help you focus on what works and skip what doesn’t. Try a free week — no commitment, no pressure.
About the Author
Josko Kraken is the founder of Kraken Fitness in North Burnaby near Brentwood, and Brandon is co-owner. Together they host the Kraken Power Podcast and have over a decade of combined coaching experience helping everyday people transform their health at a gym built for non-gym people.
[Josko]
What’s going on guys? In this video we’re going to be doing a tier list on gym tools. By the way, if you don’t know us, my name is Josko and this is Brandon.
We’re gym owners here in Burnaby, which is near Vancouver in Canada. And the way that we have this set up is we don’t really know what the tools are. We’re just going to have somebody off camera right now hand it to us, and then we’re just going to decide where to put it.
So these are going to be very common things that you see in the gym. So let’s see the first one. Okay, very first one.
We have these. They’re like heel lifts, heel wedges, heel raisers, as people call them. And I think that these are actually very useful.
Brandon, do you think these are useful?
[Brandon]
I think these are very, very useful, especially for people who don’t have mobility through their ankles and they want to get really good depth in their squats. Awesome.
[Josko]
So I think they’re good because then you don’t have to buy like squat shoes. These cost like I think anywhere between like 20 to 40 bucks on Amazon. And you can just drop them on down on the ground.
A lot of people in gyms that when we see them, they like try to put their heels on plates, which isn’t obviously ideal. These are way better for you. And so, yeah, I think that I want to put this up pretty high.
Yeah, I don’t know if I’m going to put it on S tier, but I’ll put it on A tier. I agree with that. So A tier, definitely the heel wedge, just so you don’t have to buy like Olympic weightlifting shoes.
All right. So next one, what do we got? So we got the cheap rubber bands here.
The bands for your glutes, though. They call them booty bands, I guess. They’re bands almost.
The loop bands. Yeah. So I think that there is use to these.
Honestly, I just don’t think they’re that great. And these ones like they’re usually really cheap and crappy. And there’s only like a few mobility exercise that I typically do with these.
But what about you?
[Brandon]
Yeah, they’re pretty niche. I actually prefer the ones that are more fabric rather than the actual rubber ones. For most exercises.
But these are going to be used for warming up your shoulder sometimes, maybe your hips. But to be honest, it’s not going to get as much use as other things maybe in this list.
[Josko]
And honestly, even at the heaviest setting on these, setting, I guess, but the hardest ones are typically not even that hard. So you can easily work your way up within a few months like using the heaviest band. So honestly, I’m going to put them on D tier.
D? Okay, yeah. D or C?
Let’s see. There are some uses. There are some uses.
I’m leaning more towards D. We could put it in between C and D. C, D.
Is that even allowed? Sure. All right, we’ll get the next one in.
So the next one is knee sleeves. So here’s the thing. There’s two types of people that wear knee sleeves.
There’s power lifters that are coming to the gym. And then there’s also just people that like have a bum knee and they think that this is going to help them through their squats. So with the power lifters, I think knee sleeves are great.
That would probably go on S tier. But for like the regular gym person, I think that these are kind of pointless.
[Brandon]
Yeah, like if you’re using it for injury prevention, it’s not really going to do that. If you’re just a regular gym goer, it might help you warm up your knees a little bit. But other than that, it’s not going to prevent you from like totally catastrophically injuring your knee during a squat or a deadlift.
[Josko]
And honestly, it doesn’t even make you that much stronger when you’re power lifting. Yes, it does. They usually have their knee sleeves on really, really tight.
Like they can barely get them on. And in that case, like, yes, you’re lifting more weight, but however, it’s the knee sleeves that are allowing you to do it. So you’re technically not even that much stronger.
So C, D.
[Brandon]
We rate everything D in this list.
[Josko]
I don’t like them. All right. I think that they’re pointless.
I think it’s just a waste of money. Do you, yeah?
[Brandon]
Sure.
[Josko]
Yeah. I mean, if you’re a power lifter, I think they’re great, but that’s not who this video is targeting. All right.
So next one, we got a hip thrust pad. So obviously these are great because then you could do hip thrusts. Otherwise, you’re just going to have a cold, hard bar on your…
Well, most people use it for squatting. Yeah. Okay.
So that’s actually a good point. If you’re using this for squatting, this definitely goes down to D tier. Yeah.
Because this is going to cause your bar to be imbalanced on your back, and you’re not gonna be able to lift that much weight. It even has risks of it sliding off your back. So definitely these, if you’re using them for squatting, D tier.
But as like, if you were to bring these in a gym, like in your bag to use for hip thrust, S tier. Yeah. Because you can’t do hip thrust.
Otherwise, you can’t do hip thrust without them.
[Brandon]
Don’t use them the way that they’re actually designed to be built for.
[Josko]
Yeah. They were built for squats. Don’t use them for squats.
Okay. Next one is pull-up bands. That’s what people call them.
They also call them resistance bands, I guess. Long loop bands. Yeah.
Long loop bands. There’s tons of names for them. I think most people are calling them pull-up bands these days, because that’s what most people are using them for.
So I think these are great. And I think it is useful to have these inside your gym bag. I have them inside my gym bag.
I think this would go into A tier. Because like A or S, I honestly think these are great because you can also do like stretching with them and other exercises. So I would put them on A or S.
Especially if you are working up to doing a pull-up for the first time, this is the only way to really do it well. Or if you can do five pull-ups, five regular pull-ups, and you could do 10 pull-ups with the purple band, then great. Exactly.
[Brandon]
And then you progress to the next one. And then before you know it, you’re lessening that band resistance, and you’re getting to do them unassisted. So let’s go A.
We gotta save some special things for us.
[Josko]
I don’t know how many more things we have. All right. Next up is foam rollers.
So I personally think foam rollers are completely worthless. There’s like nothing I would ever use a foam roller for. A lot of people are using them incorrectly.
A lot of people think that it’s going to solve mobility issues when in fact it does not solve any issues, like mobility issues permanently. It almost just opens up a small window for you to be able to work within after you, let’s say, roll out your tight hip flexors. But your hip flexors are still going to stay tight despite you using a foam roller.
So I honestly would put this on D tier. I hate foam rollers, but you know what’s funny about this one?
[Brandon]
Just kind of like this. It’s like the most useful things for a foam roller are not what is actually designed to do. Like you can use them for specific exercises like a foam roll bridge or stabilizing one piece of your body, doing a hip hinge, etc.
Or, you know, thread the needle kind of exercises. Not exactly what they were designed to do to actually release myofascia.
[Josko]
So and with those kind of exercises, like you could just use something else too. Like the foam roller is just convenient because it’s in the gym, but you don’t even need to use it. Everyone has one collecting dust in the corner.
Yeah, yeah. Or sitting under something. So honestly, I would put them on D tier.
Sure. Okay, it’s going on D tier. There’s nothing going to be in the middle.
Yeah.
[Brandon]
We’re very polarizing.
[Josko]
S or D? Nothing in between. What do we got next?
Okay, so now we got hip thrust bands. Oh, these are the ones I was talking about. These are the fabric hip thrust bands.
So honestly, these are actually way more useful. They don’t slide around. They last way longer.
They’re also much stronger. The higher end resistance on these is actually hard. So like these ones, I would put them in like a B.
All right, let’s get something in the middle here. But yeah, these ones are really good to have in your gym bag. Super, super useful.
But this is the last one. Yeah. Okay, and so we also have, this is the last one.
Yeah, so this is the last one. We also have, these are straps for lifting. And I have these in my gym bag.
So I think they’re really useful. I use them specifically for any kind of pulling exercise. So I can just not use the forearms and the biceps too much.
So I can just focus on my back. So that’s why I have them and I really like them. So I would put these on S tier.
I think so too.
[Brandon]
I think with these lifting straps, some people will make fun of you being like, oh, if you can’t deadlift that weight with your hands, you shouldn’t be dead lifting at all. That’s not true. There’s going to be a point where maybe you have certain injuries that limit you from picking it up with your hands.
But your hips and your back are, you know, improving at a much faster rate than what your grip is. So this allows you to continue to train, you know, the bigger parts of your body while not being limited by your hands or your wrists.
[Josko]
Yeah. Typically, like when I’m doing like a row, I can get maybe, let’s say eight reps without these. And then I can get 10 reps with these.
And that’s obviously going to come mostly from my back. So that’s why I like them. I don’t want my biceps or my forearms to give in before my back.
So just go do some bicep or forearm exercises after. Exactly. So I’m going to put this one on S here.
And so, yeah, if you’re looking for fitness equipment to purchase to put inside your bag, now you know which ones are most worth it and which ones you shouldn’t get. But yeah, that’s pretty much it for this video, guys. If you like this one, leave us a like and subscribe to the channel and we’ll see you in the next one.
See ya.