How to choose your sportswear when going to the gym

If your local gym has reopened and so you no longer need to rely so heavily on home-based workout resources like YouTube videos, you should probably still stop to consider what you should wear at that gym – especially if it will be your first ever time at one.

Though the sportswear market has flourished recently, you shouldn’t just assume that any given tracksuit as essentially as good as another. Here’s how to sort the gems from the… germ-ridden.

Make sure you can move properly in that clothing

Deciding what to wear for a gym session can have very different implications to, say, deciding what to throw on for a dinner or party. For example, it’s not enough that your sportswear fits you; it also needs to let you speedily move unhindered while you’re wearing it.

You could end up doing a lot of lunging, jumping and squatting in that gym, so you should try making such movements in your chosen athletic attire to test whether it can accommodate them.

Choose sportswear that lets your body breathe

In the modern age, it’s not just our face masks that need to be breathable; in this age and, indeed, any other, our sportswear needs to follow suit. That’s because, otherwise, your clothing could prevent your sweat from evaporating, as Everyday Health warns.

As sweat is trapped inside your clothing, your body temperature could become disconcertingly high and you could start feeling irritated – an unwanted distraction during your workout.

You should feel…naked

No, that’s not quite a suggestion that you should simply forgo the sportswear altogether and instead let it all hang out, so to say. After all, the gym staff might have something to say about that. However, when you do don sportswear, it should ideally feel as though it isn’t even there.

Of course, “ideally” means that you might not quite get there – but, if you keep feeling the need to adjust or fidget with the clothing, that’s a warning sign, a Harper’s BAZAAR piece implies.

Choose the right kit for the job

Naturally, workouts can significantly vary, and this is a big reason why the same applies to gym gear. Of course, you probably already know that you shouldn’t bring, say, a yoga bra to a high-intensity-interval-training (HIIT) class, and clothing brands can give you a few extra pointers.

They often do this by categorising kit and footwear according to the type of training for which it is best suited. The clothing’s material doubtless plays a big part in exactly how pieces are categorised.

Choose the right material

Workout clothes are available in various fabrics, and which of them you slip into can affect your workout for the better or worse. Spandex, for example, ought to be reserved for workouts like yoga and weightlifting, where there’s a broad range of motion.

Meanwhile, polyester is good for practically any kind of workout, says CNET. Hence, it’s not hard to buy polyester tracksuits for men and women alike and take advantage of this durable fabric.

 

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