When it comes to thinking about working out, about fitness, or yoga, one thing that comes to mind is what to wear. Is yoga clothing necessary or a luxury? In this article, I make the argument in three parts why wearing the proper workout clothing is anything but a luxury. I share three reasons why yoga apparel makes your training better. The first point is that in all walks of life, the uniform worn is not optional. The second point is all about comfort. Finally, I write about one’s ability to take workout clothing out of the gym and into the world making it quite flexible. So let’s see what I mean.
In all walks of life, uniforms play an important role in both comfort and identification. You identify the police by their uniform. Firefighters have a particular look wherever you go. Sports franchises are identified on and off the field by what they wear. Work as an executive in business and you have to wear a suit. Lawyers and Judges in Great Britain and most of the Commonwealth wear formal wigs in court. I could go on and on but I am certain you get the point. Identification is not the only reason to wear a uniform. Police and firefighter uniforms are designed for protection. Many sports uniforms, once one looks beyond the team identification issue, often comes down to protection as well. Football players wear uniforms that protect vulnerable joints and body parts from serious injury. Hockey players wear protective padding as well. Soldiers on the battlefield wear body armor and kevlar helmets designed to stop bullets. Carpenter’s pants have pockets for nails, loops for hammers, and places for pencils, measuring tools and more. In short, pretty much wherever you turn, you see people wearing uniforms for identification and protection. There must be a reason for this kind of human behavior. Yoga clothing, including yoga pants, sports bras, and other tops are designed for a practitioner to work out in comfort, to stay cool during workouts and to be durable. Like other sports and walks of life, yoga clothing is designed to elevate one’s experience at the yoga studio or at the gym, while running, jogging, or biking. In fact, yoga clothing is the perfect clothing for your fitness experience.
Yoga clothing is designed to be comfortable. Yoga requires some unique stretching postures that twist one’s body into what seems like impossible positions. It is important that the fabric used to create yoga clothing is stretchable yet supple enough to return to its original shape when the stretching is over. Yoga clothing should also provide support when needed. I, personally, can think of nothing worse than yoga attire that bunches up in the joints or in the crotch, causing one to constantly be pulling the fabric back into place. This means that yoga clothes must feel almost like a second skin to the wearer. Another important feature of yoga clothing and comfort is the ability of the fabric to wick moisture from the body to the fabric, exposing sweat to the surrounding air only to act as a kind of air conditioner making the body feel cooler. Highly stretchable fabric with the ability to wick moisture assures a most comfortable experience.
The best thing about yoga clothing is that it is able to perform a dual role in your wardrobe. Not only great in the yoga studio or gym, yoga clothing has also become a casual fashion statement as well. While some critics bemoan the breakdown of culture and society as more and more women are wearing yoga pants and sports bras as standard daytime apparel. Not only is this an economical use of one’s casual wardrobe, but it is also providing women with additional choices for how they present themselves to the public. This newfound freedom is, I am arguing, not a breakdown of culture or society, rather it is a bold statement by women that our time has come…finally.
I am arguing that because is yoga clothing focused on comfort in fitness training, it is the uniform of choice for the yoga studio and gym. Yoga apparel is the perfect clothing for one’s practice. What follows, then, is that one should not only seek out yoga clothing but seek out the most comfortable clothing one can afford. If your workout clothes bind or chafe you’ll quickly lose interest in continuing your fitness program, in whatever form that program is expressed. Comfort also extends to the ability of your yoga clothing to wick moisture away from the body and into the fabric. This allows a cooling effect that translates into greater comfort. Finally, I argue that in spite of social and cultural critique bemoaning the wearing of a workout ensemble outside the gym, what is actually going on is women are making a bold statement about comfortable clothing and the economy of reducing one’s casual wardrobe size to include dual-purpose clothes.