The clothing you wear to workout is just as important as bringing a water bottle. Choosing the right clothing, therefore, for your workout is so very important.

Choosing, however, the right exercise clothing is not always easy to do, especially if you are a bit self-conscious about your appearance that I find to be the case with those easing back into exercising. So with that in mind, the best choice is both, practical, objective as well as, subjective, in that it reflects who you are, and your individual taste for fashion. You want your clothing and footwear to be stylish, but they also need to be functional. We wouldn’t want to wear something that’s so practical that you’re wearing something your mother would wear; but of course, I would like to think my daughters feel I have great taste in fashion, so that wouldn’t necessary be a bad thing.

First of all, we want to wear clothing that is appropriate to the sport or activity. That’s a given. If we choose baseball, we wear the appropriate attire, which includes cleats. However, if your activity is just that – to be active, play a little racquetball, hit the cardio machines or run the local trails – to choose the proper attire isn’t that simple.

The best advice I could give regarding workout clothing is that you pick fabrics that breath wicks away sweat. There are many breathable synthetic fabrics that “wick” the sweat away from your skin, which can help it to evaporate quickly and keep your body cool. Clothing made out of fabrics containing polypropylene or fabrics such as COOLMAX® and SUPPLEX® are a good choice for exercise and other activities in which you are likely to sweat a lot, as they allow the sweat to be evaporated from the skin but do not soak clothing and leave you feeling sweaty and uncomfortable.

Cotton shirts and pants, on the other hand, absorb the sweat, and they don’t pull it away from the skin or help it to evaporate quickly. That’s why cotton workout clothes can feel heavy and wet as you exercise.

Equally important is choosing the proper footwear. Having the right, supportive, shoe is extremely important for physical activity, especially weight-bearing activities. Likewise, choosing the right kind of footwear depends on your exercise routine. Certain exercises require shoes that are light in weight while others require more ankle support. If you perform more than one type of workout, you may want to buy a different pair of shoes for each activity, especially for high-impact exercises such as running.

If you’re a runner, for example, you will need lightweight shoes that are designed specifically for running. It’s a good idea to go to a running store to buy your shoes, instead of a standard shoe store. The sales staff will measure your foot and look at the pronation of your foot; whether it over or under pronates, as well as, your gait. If you’re a distance runner, make sure to let the salesperson know how any miles you run each month. This will help them to recommend the right kind of shoes. Now get out there and have some fun!