Dressed for Success
“…Get dressed, for success…,” sang Roxette, and even if fashion proves to be something that goes in one era and out the other, the clothes that one wears to gym assume a significant role in the social rituals associated with exercising with others. One advantage of being in prison (or, at most of our high schools) is that you never have to consider what to wear. Dressing to visit one’s health club, however, can constitute traumatic decision-making, especially if you’re a regular and fret about becoming branded as Morgan, the Monotonous One-Outfit Member.
Mark Twain slyly noted that clothes make the man: “Naked people have little or no influence on society”. Further, we know that one of the few things that set us apart from the animals is our ability to accessorize. Most of us have learned that a thing of beauty is a job forever, and we tire of all the nonsense of those who claim that beauty is only skin deep. What do they want? An adorable pancreas?
If you work-out in a gymnasium, sharing the aerobic studios, exercise machines and change rooms with others, you’re conscious of being under scrutiny and feel constrained, to some degree, by dress codes where functionality is only one criterion in the choices you make. Women, they say, dress for the critical approval of other women. Men, in their ignorance, foolishly assume that it is for them. Gay men know it’s the former. The average jock dresses less knowingly, naively making a range of statements through the training gear he selects. The aspiring macho jock boasts cut-away vests, shredded tank tops and stressed t-shirts, all designed to enable the barn-door expansion of the lat muscles so favoured in their routines. The more conservative trainer is seen usually in sensible shorts and t-shirt, proclaiming some sponsored fun-run or company logo( If people don’t want to listen to you, what makes you think they want to hear from your t-shirt?).
Some 30 years ago, in South African gyms, males and females trained in separate facilities. This conservative lunacy (separate development?) is mostly defunct and the mixing of genders make for a happier and more relaxed training environment. Now, one can observe a small number of girls with leotards and outfits so tight that straight men find it difficult to breathe.
One overhears a fashion-following darling confiding to her companion on the stair-climber next to her that she bought her leotard for a ridiculous figure, and being told, “Yes, I know, but how much did you pay for it?” In today’s gym, a narcissist is someone better looking than you are.
Clothing and fashion, then, are strange things. Fish-net stockings and forcing feet into 10 cm high heels is ridiculous. I told my brother to stop wearing them. But, frivolity aside, how one dresses to exercise does play an important part in one’s successful achievement of goals, and fashion can sometimes interfere with optimum execution. Women tend to suffer in long, lycra-type tights, at least to the knees or ankles, over which shorts, leotards, t-shirts are worn. For modesty, this is very effective, but, in the heat of the workout environment, they prove to be uncomfortable and encumbering.
Exercise, necessarily, increases body temperatures quite radically. Increasing one’s energy output, ‘burning’ energy, pushes body temperature up. To increase the efficiency with which the body helps dissipate this heat, the sweat one gives off needs to combine with the outside air. The evaporation of sweat secreted onto the surface of the skin, our largest organ, is the body’s most effective way of dissipating increased heat. The more of this surface exposed to the air, the more efficiently the cooling mechanism works. However, naked workouts are not the solution (too many wobbly bits on show, and the sight may be so repulsive that gyms would have to have their mirrors insured!). Instead, one needs to find workout gear that is comfortable, allowing unrestricted movement, while proving to be ‘breathable’, so that the skin’s cooling mechanism can do its work.
Nylon fibres tend to prevent this breathing, trapping heat and increasing the bacteria that cause those nasty smells that one associates with the worst of exercisers. Natural fibres, such as cotton, on the other hand, score highly in the breathing department; when choosing socks, especially, cotton is the route to take. There are cotton socks now available with built-in anti-bacterial agents that have been shown to repel odour-forming microbes.
Training, one sweats and clothing gets wet. If one stays wet, this can cause discomfort, clamminess and chaffing, all of which hinder performance. Today, there are new man-woman-made fabrics on the market, being used for sportswear, designed to have ‘breathable’ attributes. These are made from fibres that ‘wick’ or pull away moisture from the skin as you sweat, passing it to the outside of the garment, from where the sweat evaporates swiftly. The gear is pricey, but the fabrics work and complement the cooling system of the body.
Good training shoes, it is said, can hide a multitude of shins. Of all the exercise gear one buys, a good pair of shoes is the most important piece of equipment in which to invest. Technology has created specialist shoes for every sporting activity. In the gym, a good cross-trainer is your best buy, as they are designed for any of the rigours of exercising, absorbing shock, supporting and cushioning feet correctly, and can be used for aerobics and walking. Buy cheap, and your feet will suffer. Tatty, rip-off look-alikes feature none of the technological advantages built into the Nikes, Adidas and other respectable brands on the market, and apart from providing poor support, they will soon disintegrate, leaving you wishing you had invested in the real thing at first.
Rotate footwear, to allow thorough drying before re-use. Remember, too, that you want to keep your feet athletic, not suffer athletes’ feet. Protect feet from the fungi lurking on gym change room floors. Wear cheap flip-flops on those wet floors when you shower, and avoid those mats shared with the feet of thousands of strangers. Dry between your toes thoroughly, and always change those cotton socks after every workout. If you take care of your feet, they’ll give you tens of thousands of trouble-free kilometres. Remember, if the shoe fits, get another just like it!
For success, select your fabrics with care, allow the body surface to breathe, support your feet with good trainers, and put colour into your outfits. In that way, you’ll show that you’re a unique individual, just like everyone else!