How to decide what to wear while you workout
For some people deciding what to wear during your workout can be almost as hard as the workout itself. That can be true for folks who are either picky or it can also be for people who are intimidated by the very thought of working. If that’s the case this article is for you. The rest of this article will dictate the types of clothing you can wear with various types of workouts. Regardless of the type of exercise you're doing, the three most important things are that you're comfortable with what you're wearing, it allows your skin to breathe and the clothing itself is stretchy enough that it doesn’t hinder your performance, so here we go.
Shirt
As far as whether it’s a sweatshirt or t-shirt that is up to your general comfort level. In the running community conventional wisdom dictates that you should dress as it’s 10 degrees warmer than it actually is. Why? Because your body is going to gradually warm up as you run if you run and warm up correctly. Even if you start too fast your body will still warm up exponentially. The same basic idea can be true if you're doing any other activity outside.If you plan on biking fast the same thing can apply.
If you chafe you may also want to wear an undershirt and make sure you have easy access to the chafing areas if you can safely and decently do so and it may not be a bad idea to bring some body glide with you if you have this issue.
If you're doing something more casual that won’t cause you to sweat and/or you're doing something that’s indoors as long as the clothing allows your skin to breathe and it’s not quite as essential and you can be a little more casual.
Pants/shorts
For pants or shorts that could be more tied to what your actual activity is. If you plan on doing something outside where you are actually carrying objects like your wallet, your water, cell phone, etc you may want to consider whether or not the type of pants you buy have pockets.
If you don’t feel that’s possible or you don’t want to look you can also consider buying some type of pouch that you put your objects in and if you plan on carrying a lot with you for whatever reason you may want to consider the depths of those packets as carrying too much can cause your pants to fall down.
As far as whether you wear pants or shorts the same basic rules with shirts and t-shirts apply as far as at what temperature you're comfortable but if you are planning on sweating outside you should pretend that it’s 10 degrees warmer than it actually is.
If you're doing activities that are more lowkey you have much wider options. I, personally, have done yoga in my pajamas lots of times if it’s being done in the morning. .
Socks
Of all the types of clothing these are the most important pieces of clothing that should feel comfortable especially if you're going to be doing an activity where you are going to be on your feet for an extended period of time. Why? Because without comfortable feet you're not going to be able to perform as well and it’s highly unlikely you’ll be as comfortable. If you plan on doing something that involves sweating it’s a good idea to get socks that are sweat wicking which is something you can get at most sporting goods and specialty running stores.
Shoes
So this one can get tricky and expensive and is the most important piece of clothing you wear during exercise. Why? Because if you buy the wrong shoes you can get hurt. The degree to which this can happen can vary based on the degree to which you're doing them. The main two things to take into consideration is the type of exercise you’ll be doing and where you are going to be doing it. For example, if you are a runner and you plan on running a technical trail that is not the same shoe as if you were to run on the road or a less technical trail.
By less technical I mean there aren’t as many rocks and sticks in the road. In addition if you specifically do a running, as a five time marathoner myself I would recommend you get fitted by a running shoe specialist at a specialty if you have never done so, however that is just for running. When it comes to other types of activity it just depends on the activity, for tennis obviously you’d wear tennis shoes, for weight lifting you could wear regular cross trainers.
Bras
If you're a woman and your chest hurts while working out and you aren’t having any problems with your breathing an improperly fitted bra could be to blame. Sports bras are different from regular ones because they need to hold your breasts smaller than a normal everyday bra. You can get fitted at almost any store that sells them.
So why is wearing properly fitted and comfortable clothes important? It can impact your comfort and overall ability to perform at your respective sport.
