Our guide to the best gym clothes for men leaves you no excuse not to reach a personal best in style
Athleisure has well and truly been adopted by the mainstream, with Nike and Adidas topping the biggest grossing names in the clothes business.
As more and more of us take to regular fitness routines, we’re spending more time in sweat-wicking shorts than suits, so why wouldn’t you treat these clothes like the rest of your wardrobe and express your stylistic idiosyncrasies?
At the very least, replace the worn, mud-stained sports top you used through school with some purpose-built, lean gym attire.
There’s no better time to be dressing shipshape when you exercise, so here’s everything you should know before upgrading your fit kit, plus the GQ edit of the best gym clothes for men you can buy right now.
And if you're looking for something to stow your new purchases, or some functional training shoes to go with, check out our picks of the best gym bags and workout trainers.
1. The top
Sweat-wicking is the name of the game when it comes to gym tops. If you’re working out at max effort – be that at the gym or at home with a resistance band, kettlebell and dumbbells set-up – you’ll want a top that can quickly mop up any moisture perspiring from your back and underarms, and dry just as fast.
Different sports brands have trademarked their own technologies to do this.
The most renowned is Nike’s Dri-Fit, a polyester fabric with high-performance microfibre construction to support the body’s natural cooling system by taking sweat and dispersing it evenly throughout the surface of the garment to speed up evaporation.
Lululemon’s Metal Vent tech, meanwhile, boasts smart sweat- and odour-resistant features knitted into the fabric where it’s needed most thanks to is tops seamless design.
2. The bottoms
What’s the difference between running shorts and training shorts? Typically, the training kind will be a little longer, falling just above the knee, constructed so as to inhibit the movement of your leg during a given exercise.
They’ll also tend to be a little more convenient for the gym as they’ll feature pockets, something running shorts often come without.
That said, if you can find a good running short that works for the gym, then winner, winner, chicken broccoli and sweet potato dinner.
Running shorts are primed for freedom of movement, so are an optimal choice for cardio-focused workouts.
3. The base layers
Let’s get one thing straight: no matter how good you think your derrière looks in them, men’s tights should only be worn underneath a pair of shorts.
There’s not a single person in the gym who wants to see the outline of your member as you perform a hip thrust. That established, it’s well worth incorporating base layers into your gym kit for a few reasons.
For one, base layers keep you warm when you train outdoors while also absorbing sweat for enhanced comfort.
From a performance perspective, they also provide support thanks to their snug fit, thereby reducing risk of injury, while some fitness experts swear by base layers for better activation of the muscles.
They look good too, exaggerating the silhouette of your harder-worked muscles, especially the calves and shoulders.
This article originally appeared on GQ Middle East | Author: Aaron Toumazou
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