How to Pick Appropriate Workout Attire

There is a silly myth that when you start working out you need to go buy some “workout clothes”. Nonsense! Work out in whatever is comfortable and forget about what other people might think about you not wearing the “appropriate” workout clothes. Like there is such a thing. In the 80′s it was spandex, in the 70′s it was short-shorts, now it’s knee-length shorts, basketball or running shoes and a t-shirt.

I’m comfortable in jeans, a t-shirt or tank top, and boat shoes. I rarely see anyone in the gym wearing jeans which boggles the mind. Jeans are the de-facto uniform of millions of blue-collar physical laborers. If jeans are good enough to work 12 hours a day lifting heavy shit and doing other laborious activities they are certainly ok to lift weights in for an hour. Unless you’re doing leg exercises jeans are perfectly acceptable to lift in. Hell, I even wear jeans sometimes when deadlifting or squatting.

As for the shoes, I pick the shoes with the flattest sole. All the basketball shoes that cost $150 bucks a pair are a waste of time and money for lifting weights. The soles of those shoes are arched for “heel support” and throw you off balance. The foot is a perfect invention by itself, you don’t need heel or arch support from your shoes just like you don’t need mittens or gloves for hand support.

Work out in whatever is comfortable to you and stop worrying about what other people think.