Actively engaging with active wear

Actively engaging in active wear

I pulled my shoulder at the gym this week. But I wasn’t lifting weights or speeding along on the rowing machine—I was trying to get sports leggings on.

I’ve only recently bought sport leggings, the kind that Instagram and Facebook advertise everywhere they can. Those ones with wicking technology and a pocket for your phone and every pattern available because they’re trying to appeal to as broad a market as possible. I’ve spent months resisting them, because I didn’t want to spend loads of money just on clothes for the gym, especially when I felt like it was just to look good. My trainers are eight years old, most of the shirts I wear for exercise are just oversized band t-shirts from my teenage years, and up until very recently, I wore shorts—loose fitting, jersey shorts because they were comfy and easy to exercise in. And yet I soon found myself fussing with what I was wearing, trying to make my shorts (which were barely above my knee) longer, trying to look more like the other women at the gym, trying to feel like I fitted in. It was almost as if there was a uniform no-one had told me about. Close-fitting plain t-shirts, pristine trainers, shiny hair neatly tied back, and sport leggings in every pattern. Eventually, I caved, bought sport leggings and now I feel like I fit in at the gym. Or at least, my legs do.

Photo by Emily Sea on Unsplash

Googling ‘how to look good at the gym’ is an eye-opener. There are endless articles on what you should wear to look cute; on what hairstyles pair well with headphones and trainers; on how to look attractive while sweating through a workout. Activewear is a huge part of this: it has its own trends and fashion seasons; it’s even spawned ‘Athleisure’, where clothes designed for working out are worn elsewhere, such as social occasions or even at work.

Knowing what to wear at the gym—knowing what other people will be wearing at the gym—does make you feel like you belong there and feeling like you fit in somewhere can give you more confidence. With the gym, that can lead to you going more often and taking your time over your workout while you’re there. But a lot of these articles are focused on how to look good at the gym, rather than just straightforward advice on wearing appropriate clothes for exercising. It’s that pressure to look attractive at all times creeping in. You can’t just wear comfy, exercise appropriate clothes—they have to be colour matched, accessorised properly, and aesthetic must never be compromised on.

Looking good, in and of itself, is not a bad thing, but the societal pressure to always look your best, even when sweating in a gym, is a whole load of pressure you don’t want when you’re just trying to get a bit fitter. I want to be fitter. I want to be healthier, and going to the gym is one way to achieve that. But if I spend all my time there worrying about how I look and what I’m wearing, suddenly my attempt to be physically healthier is mentally unhealthy.

So, I’m going to keep wearing sports leggings—that pocket really is very handy—but my eight year old trainers and oversized band t-shirts are staying too. That way my only injuries will be if I accidentally fall off the treadmill rather than blows to my self esteem.