Summer is well and truly underway. But are you equipped? Not just your outside world wardrobe.. But your gym one too?

Being comfortable in what you wear to the gym has a SIGNIFICANT impact on how well you train. So, don’t wave it off as if it doesn’t matter. Because it does.

The only thing you want to be thinking about when you’re in that gym are your lifts. To make sure this happens, however, you have to be prepared.

That’s where this article comes in.

Everything I’ll talk about will be general: giving you a useful and applicable guideline, without making you buy certain clothes from specific brands.

So.. without wasting anymore of your procrastination time, let’s give you some value.

1. Wear a Tank

• Tanks are comfortable

Tanks have increased air-flow- a lot less restrictive than t-shirts. Therefore, they will keep you cooler, allowing the increased temperature of the potentially steamy gym to be less of a distraction.

• Tanks allow you to see muscle contraction better (especially in the shoulders)

You’re doing lateral raises in the mirror.

You’re watching each deltoid contract, every striation shimmer, every muscle fibre pop..

This is only possible when wearing a tank. Get one. And immediately improve your form (if only for lateral raises..)

2. Shorts are good – but keep them.. short

If they go below the knees, they ain’t shorts. They’re shits. (Jesus that’s the worst joke I’ve made in a long time.. oh well, it’s staying in. Might as well add some filler. Got to get that SEO on point.) (if you don’t know what SEO is.. keep it that way. The less people who know, the better it is for me) (luckily for you though, part of SEO is creating useful content.. so rest assured, majority of this blog is useful for you, asides from the last 4-5 sentences- which have been useless and meaningless and a waste of time for you to read).

Anyway.. shorts..

Shorts that are short look much better and are also waaay more practical..

There’s more airflow, more skin on show and also they look good. Yeah sure.. You could say, ‘I don’t give a shit how I look/what I wear in the gym..’, that’s fine. I’m all for that.. But if that is the case, then this article probably isn’t for you. Go read something else, I won’t mind.

Anyway..

REMEMBER: Make sure your shorts have decent pockets as well- zipped if possible. Otherwise they could cause a nightmare situation of your phone falling out every time you lay on the bench.. Quickly escalating to Big Phil dropping a 40kg dumbbell on your new Samsung..

Oh well. Probably time to get an iPhone anyway..

But if you have an iPhone.. Wear shorts with good/zipped pockets. Don’t be silly.

3. Wear a cap

This one applies to me massively..

I love a cap in the gym. There’s something about it. It just looks sick.

It also absorbs and covers up your sweat head (so beware- maybe not wear your freshest one to workout in too much, otherwise it’ll get wrecked).

Wearing a cap – frontwards or backwards- will help keep the sweat out of your eyes, as well as stop your fluids dripping all over the gym floor. It’s not a replacement for a towel though. So, bring one of them as well. Your gym, and every other attendee, and equipment, and yourself.. will appreciate it.

Quick tip with washing caps: be careful. You CAN use a washing machine.. But make sure it’s no longer than 20 mins. You could also just soak it in a sink. It’s up to you..

But NEVER use a drier. It will mess up the panels and mis-shape the visor.

4. Stay away from Grey

Sweat patches.

I mean.. No-one really cares if you sweat in the gym and have patches all over your shirt. Sometimes, when you’re in the zone, it actually feels good to see yourself drenched.. It triggers a primal feeling of pure animalistic tendencies.

But yeah.. On the days you want to avoid it, go for the darker colours, or if you insist.. White.

(Side tip: Wearing white makes you look bigger, by the way)

Also.. For the keen-eyed trolls, yes I KNOW the dude in the image above is wearing grey. I don’t care. It looks like he’s in a pretty air-conditioned gym. He’s allowed. But you aren’t (unless you want that animal feel)

5) Wear an oversized T-shirt

Right.. This is a wildcard tip. A LOT of people will disagree with me massively here. That’s sound. Ignore this..

But for those whole love wearing baggy in the gym.. I feel ya. It feels great sometimes.

In the winter, it’s sound.. Stroll in wearing a nice, snug hoodie, get your pump and start stripping (or keep the hoodie on)

But in the summer.. When the gym is 30 degrees and there’s 40 people in there, respiring and that.. Hoodie is not usually a wise decision.

Wearing a baggie, oversized t-shirt could be the solution..

·       It has bare airflow.

Just like a tank, and oversized t-shirt has a light, flowing feel that will keep you cooler throughout your workout

·       It’s reminiscent of old-school bodybuilding style

You’ll find lots of old photos of Arnold etc wearing this huge, massively oversized shirts in the gym. 

Doing it yourself, and maybe wearing an XL when you’re an L, could get you tee to engage in that zone. If you’ve never tried it, give it a shot.  I reckon you’ll be pleasantly surprised. It’s a nice break from wearing the right tees and muscle-fit, 99% elastane.

So that’s it. I hope you found at least 1 of these tips/rambles.

I understand this is a very subjective article, but its useful once in a while to consume these types of things.. especially when it’s about something trivial, like what to wear for the gym

Remember.. ultimately nobody reeeaally gives a shite what you’re wearing. As long as you put dumbbells back on the rack, wipe up your sweat, and don’t spend 3 hours on the Bench Press station, you could be wearing a Tootoo and Dutch clogs for all they care.

Just make sure you’re always respectful of others and to yourself.

Wear what you want.

… except ¾ length shorts. They’re fucking awful.

Bye.