1 | 100% cotton tees
I know, we should be at the gym to work out, sweat it out and gain fitness, not to indulge in a mini fashion show. But even if we were to disregard the fashion disaster of you wearing an incredibly old, stretched out cotton t-shirt with old sweat stains, such 100% pure cotton tees should still be left at home when you hit the gym, for they tend to absorb sweat and doesn’t release it quickly enough through evaporation.
The end result is to have heavy, sweat-soaked cotton fabric sticking to your skin while you work out and produce even more sweat in a cool, air-conditioned environment, which will not only give you chills but also cause some major skin irritation. Let’s not even talk about how badly such old cotton tees smell when they are drying up after absorbing sweat.
Always opt for technologically advanced fabrics like CoolMax or Dri-FIT if you’re planning to sweat it out.
2 | Baggy attire
The last thing we’ll want to see at the gym is that hip-hop wannabe flying off the bike during spin class because his baggy sweatpants got caught in the pedals. You may be a little self-conscious and will like to hide the flabs while you work out amongst people with hot-bod that seems worthy to go on the cover of Men’s Health or Shape, but loose-fitting clothes and gym equipment simply do not complement each other.
The safety hazard of getting bits and pieces of your clothes caught on moving parts of an equipment aside, it’s also harder to see if you’re maintaining the correct body posture and movement if you’re clad in very loose clothing. Exercising in the wrong form may do more harm than good for your body, so be sure to sport fitted clothes that allow you to keep checks on maintaining the perfect form during workouts.
3 | Untested pieces of short or airy apparel
Your new tank top or shorts may look modest when you’re standing up and looking at your image in the mirror but it may become X-rated the very minute you bend over to do some push-ups or hold your leg up while doing the 3-legged dog pose in your yoga class.
While you may not think too much about flashing yourself at your fellow gym mates, do spare a thought for them because they’re really just there to burn some fats and build up some muscles, not to find out how deep your cleavage is. Always check your new apparels at many different angles before heading out.
Bend over, lean sideways, squats, or even checking from the back while doing leg lifts. For those well endowed ladies, do remember to also do some jumping jacks to access the bounce factor.
4 | Trinkets and accessories
Any piece of jewelry that swings, sticks, or simply too expensive to get scratched or damaged will have no place in the gym. In other words, as long as that piece of accessory distracts you and makes you think of anything else other than your workout, leave it back at home or in the locker.
Even if certain pieces of jewelry does not pose as any form of distraction or risk getting caught in any piece of gym equipment, there might be a chance of sweat build up in all the nooks and crannies, which will eventually becomes the best spot for bacteria growth.
5 | Too-tight attire
If you’ve got it, flaunt it. Right? Well, no. Other than compression clothing, which supposedly gives you more muscle endurance and prevents skin irritation from sweat accumulation, nothing else should be so tight against your body like a second skin for it might hinder your movement, especially during those arm lifts or lunges, resulting in poor form.
Lastly, to add on as a bonus pointer, just remember to wear something! Taking off your shirt at the very moment you feel some itsy bit of extra body heat just screams “narcissist” and it’s a great distraction to your fellow gym mates. And no, there’s no need for any form of categorisation into ‘good’ distraction or ‘bad’ distraction here.
It doesn’t matter if a ripped body or a flabby one is revealed beneath the top. Just remember to keep your clothes on if you do not want anybody else in the gym to hate on you.
A Civil Engineer in the day and a glutton who runs an online website sharing some humble opinions related to food and beauty by night time, with the motto of “exercise to keep fit, so as to eat more!” I love food, and has a weak spot for desserts! The good thing is that I love my gym time as much, keeping me balanced on my weighing scale.
