It is time for a thought experiment. When you go to work, do you try to dress your best? How about when you are going out for drinks or dancing? Of course, you do! The way we dress reflects on how we view the situations — such as work or leisure activities — that we find ourselves in.
Why would you not “dress to impress” when going to the gym? Granted, the clothes you wear to the gym will come out wet with sweat, wrinkled with your workout and, generally, looking like workout clothes, but they can still make a statement.
And the most important statement they can make is, that you take the way you look seriously. You go to the gym to stay healthy and look good. You should not forget that while you are there.
Tip #1: You Get What You Pay For
You do not have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on your workout gear, but investing in superior quality clothes is much better than wearing cheap, poorly made garments. This is especially true once you begin your workout and cheap clothes reveal how poorly made they are.
Running, twisting, and any exercise will stretch clothes in ways they should be designed to accomplish. You can tell if you are wearing cheaply made clothes by the way they fit you during your workout, not before.
Tip #2: Dress For Your Body Style
We are all unique, but physically our bodies follow certain types that look better in certain clothes. If you are short and squat, tight shirts might show off more of your “muffin top” than you might like. Tight clothes will also bind and chafe, making them and your workout uncomfortable.
Wearing comfortable clothes is a good rule of thumb, if an outfit is not comfortable before you start working out, it is only going to get more uncomfortable as time goes on. Dressing for success means knowing what you can wear.
Tip #3: Stay Current
Put the leg warmers back in the closet and save them for Halloween. There are actual psychological reasons — not just fashionable ones — that workout clothes have undergone a change in design over the last 20 years. The clothing industry takes their products a lot more seriously than they did in the past.
Studies have been done to design the best clothes for working out. You may feel ridiculous wearing skin-tight wicking leggings, but reputable manufacturers make them for a reason.
Tip #4: What Is Good For The Goose Is Good For The Gander
For men, specifically, putting a little effort into what you wear to the gym — even beyond washing it once every six months, whether it needs it or not — will go a long way in improving the social aspects of going to the gym. I know that you go there to work out, but you never know who you might meet.
Simple, clean, and not a hundred years old should be some of the primary concerns of males going to the gym. Avoid cheaply made t-shirts that will show off all your body concerns during your workout. Buy workout clothes for men that fit right, and feel the difference.
You go to the gym to look and feel good, it seems counter intuitive that you would not want to look and feel good while you are there. Although your clothes cannot make you get in shape, they can certainly help keep your focus on your workout while you are there. Instead of worrying how your clothes look, you can worry about how you look!
