The importance of proper athletic clothing

Believe me, it’s worth the money

By Rebecca Peterson, Assistant Editor

One of the biggest obstacles between myself and fitness—aside from a love of cheese, white bread, and lying down for long periods of time—is a lack of athletic gear. The outfit, the undergarments, the footwear, it all adds up, and like many students I’m pretty strapped for cash. For a while I thought that I could get by with cheap stuff: Sports bras from Old Navy, old runners from high school gym class, cotton capris from Garage that I’ve had for an embarrassing amount of time that are basically falling apart.

Last kickboxing class, as I kept hauling my capris up and readjusting my ill-fitting bra (with no support for my G-cup tatas), my sparring partner looked me up and down and told me what I already knew: “You really need new workout clothes.”

Working out without proper gear can seriously injure you—I know this because my body has been screaming this at me for the past few years. Running without proper shoes with sufficient arch support can cause injuries to basically everything below your torso; Hell, it can knock your spine out of whack. Proper athletic clothing is meant to breathe and allow unrestrained movement (hint: Staying away from polyester is a good idea, as the fabric tends to trap sweat and can cause skin irritation and odour issues). A good sports bra will keep everything in place and will prevent back problems and the pain caused by free-swinging body parts.

I know how important this is, but it’s hard to convince myself to shell out what can amount to hundreds of dollars for things that I realistically will only wear once or twice a week. Good running shoes generally run between $90-140, sports bras (especially good ones that can fit someone of my size) can be $50-90. It’s easy to convince myself that what I own already can probably last me just a little longer, that when worst comes to worst I can probably just do naked yoga in my room to keep healthy.

Still, in the interest of giving advice that I should really follow myself: If you’re able to, I highly recommend properly gearing up for working out. Good workout gear can last a long time, and will keep you from hurting yourself in ways that might be hard to fix.

Maybe on my next paycheque, I’ll force myself out to SportChek and bite the monetary bullet. In the meantime, I just hope my decades-old capris don’t fall down during my next kickboxing class… again.