One of my biggest excuses for not going to the gym is the time it takes to change out of my work clothes and into my gym clothes. You have to change your pants, shirt, and bra, and my workout clothes are fitted, so in the hot locker rooms, things can get pretty sticky pretty fast. Paired with an hour long workout, and a 15 minute drive home, we’re looking at a good hour and a half of time to get something done that you really only planned an hour for.
Not long ago, I was thinking that I could skip the part where I change, and find some workout clothes that I could also wear to work, and I came across an article on Self.com. Now, my office has an extremely lax dress code. Essentially the only thing we can’t wear are t-shirts with logos, leggings as pants, bright tennis shoes, sweat pants, and inappropriately short or low-cut clothes. Generally, we just have to use our judgment. That said, the clothing mentioned in the Self article pretty much violates every one of those rules, so I can’t imagine how it would work for anyone with a stricter dress code.
So I thought it through, and this is what I came up with.
1. Figure out what you’re going to wear to the gym.
My workout outfit is pretty basic. I wear a perfect tank from Old Navy, leggings, a sports bra, a regular bra, and running shoes.
Pretty basic, right? But SO not something you can wear to work. Except, I HAVE worn half of this outfit to work. In the winter, it was so cold that I was wearing leggings under my jeans. And I regularly wear the perfect tanks as undershirts because they’re so comfortable, and I’ve even worn them with cardigans and denim shirts.
2.Layer!
The goal here is to put on your gym clothes first thing in the morning and have no excuse when you’re driving home after a long day at work. Here are some examples, one a little dressier, and the other a little more casual.
3. Rock it!
Don’t leave behind your accessories and hair. I’ve found that braids are best because they keep your hair out of your face, and if you’re wearing jewelery, you can just take it off and throw it in your gym bag with your heels when you get there. As for the sports bra, you can forego it altogether if you want to, or just wear it throughout the day if you need it. When I’m at the gym, I wear it with another bra because I need as much support as I can get, and I’ll just lift up the tank top and slip the bra on over my head without taking the tank top off. This isn’t the best solution, but it’s better than peeling off all of my clothes and spending 15 minutes changing.
Do you have any suggestions to help speed up your gym process? What do you think of the outfits I’ve put together here?
