A thought on why people wear exercise clothes to walk and jog.

[gojirama]

I walk a lot, and try to throw some jogging in. I want to work up to actual running I wear jeans to walk and even to jog. I don't get why people feel a need to wear special clothes to WALK.

Today, I was out with my kid, walking on both dirt and paved trail, wearing jeans ( as usual) and some rather stylish fur lined boots. I happily threw in running, not feeling encumbered by my jeans, but inspired by the imagination the kid and I threw into it.

Then I got it. Mundanes wear special clothes to exercise because they can't forsee the day when they might NOT be able to change before they have to run. They can't imagine the Doctor materializing and telling them to run for their lives. In their minds, the zombie apocalypse is never going to happen. They will never have to run from dai-kaiju or super villians.

Now, I do sleep in exercise clothes, because they are more practical than pajamas ( these things could all happen in the middle of the night, you know). I will sometimes even wear yoga pants out of the house if I'm going to a Zumba class or actually planning to run. But for the most part, I want to be prepared to run no matter what I'm wearing.

[ETFnerd]

people often say: "ETFnerd, do you really need to wear spandex?"... to which i reply: "i don't need to to do anything... but be careful what you wish for..."

[Eurydice]

I wear jeans to walk and hike too, but I will not lie, they can get mighty uncomfortable. If I'm out hiking in 85-degree heat and it feels like ten thousand percent humidity under the trees and my jeans are hanging off my butt because I've lost five pounds since the last time I wore them, I'm going to be wishing I'd worn something lighter and more moisture-wicking when those jeans start feeling like burlap.

If there's a zombie apocalypse, I'm pretty sure I will run just as fast wearing Lululemons as wearing 501s. At least if I'm wearing Lululemons I can be the zombie with the nice ass-remnants.

[Raikas]

Mundanes wear special clothes to exercise because they can't forsee the day when they might NOT be able to change before they have to run.

Or maybe they sweat more in jeans and want to stay cool? Maybe they only have a single pair of jeans and don't want to get them dirty before their date tonight? Maybe they're the kind of person who wears track pants everywhere and that's just the way they look all the time. Maybe they bought those pricey deodorizing running shorts because they're stopping off at the library and don't want to stink up the room when they go inside? Maybe they just got home from work and part of their end-of-day decompression is changing into something soft and then going for a walk?

And hey, maybe they're off on some other board calling you mundane and judging you for dressing up.

I tend to think that all I can tell about the way someone dresses is what they're wearing and not much else, y'know?

[unicornassassin]

On the day of the zombie apocalypse, I'm going to TAKE OFF MY PANTS so they don't restrict my movements, or snag on something and slow me down. Plus, then I'll keep them cleaner when I need to wear them for warmth, since automatic washers will be broken.

Since I can't exercise pantless at the gym, I wear workout pants that do not inhibit my range of motion.

So there

[tigersheart]

I always chose my clothes, even my 'mundane' clothes based on three things. 1. comfort 2. sorta fashionable 3. ability to do anything in them.

I have always kept in my mind, especially with shoes, that at a moments notice I could very well have to climb a tree/wall, sprint like hell, or do something else on a moments notice that is not normal....like run from zombies!

I do admit though, that I prefer exercise clothes because I like the way they feel, and they usually have more freedom of movement in them than regular jeans.

But I do run in my jeans, as well as my work out clothes. Shoes are not a problem because I am either in vibrams or a type of sports shoe, so I can run, walk, jog, climb, etc, etc, etc.

[Sloth the Enduring]

On the day of the zombie apocalypse, I'm going to TAKE OFF MY PANTS so they don't restrict my movements, or snag on something and slow me down. Plus, then I'll keep them cleaner when I need to wear them for warmth, since automatic washers will be broken.

Since I can't exercise pantless at the gym, I wear workout pants that do not inhibit my range of motion.

So there

Better hope the zombies don't rise in January.

My daughter told her preschool teacher that I don't wear anything when I workout. For the record, I wear my boxer briefs when I swing the KB and I do it well before dawn when everyone is supposed to be asleep.

Around here I see a lot of couples out walking where the woman is decked out in her Lululemons, wicking shirt, and state of the art sneakers and the man is in his work clothes sans tie.

[Naranator]

I recently went out and bought exercise pants just to run in, because my jeans come dangerously close to falling off when I run in them. I guess they don't fit properly. Got pretty tired of this routine: run, yank pants, run, yank, run like a turd with my fingers in my belt loops...give up and walk.

I like your sudden danger theory though. It has merit haha. Time to get some tighter jeans!

[YoDoc]

People wear exercise clothes to exercise for the same reason people wear hiking boots when they hike. It works best. I'm not going to run in jeans just to know I could, for the same reason I don't practice tossing my children onto the roof for safety.

[unicornassassin]

Better hope the zombies don't rise in January.

*Jaw drops* Don't you know about the global warming/zombie correlation? What do they teach in schools nowadays???

[Luthorcrow]

Wait a minute, zombie apocalypse aside, yoga pants are the best thing to hit the streets in the last 10 years. Whether hanging at the coffee house, grocery shopping, walking in the park, etc. let's face yoga pants rock. Short of hot pants coming back in style I cann't think of another recent causal style I would give a bigger thumbs up to.

Death to sweat pants, long live the yoga pants.

As for the zombie apocalypse, if every zombie movie has taught me anything, it's not the zombies you need to worry about, it's the person with you in the bunker, safe house, vehicle, etc., and in the end the zombies always win.

[amandolin]

I will say I love exercise clothes, they are so darn comfy. I where them everywhere, store, school, exercising, doing yard work ect, ect. I don't really pay attention to what other people are wearing while they excercise, I just give them silent props for getting off the couch.

[andygates]

Wait, the OP wears jeans to jog? Freak.

[BookLoverL]

I just wore my jeans to do sprint intervals up a steep hill.

I think generally if I want to wear my clothes to go out in later I won't exercise heavily in, but if I'm not going anywhere, the only requirement is they give me reasonable freedom of movement, which is pretty much all my clothes since when I buy my own clothes I only ever get clothes that let me move. At the start of the school year my mum got me two skirts which were pencil or tulip skirts or something (I have to wear skirts to school because it's in the uniform code) and they annoyed me so much because I couldn't take the stairs two at a time like I usually do because that would cause them to rip.

[kombimankenny]

For me, I like to get 2-3 days out of a pair of work pants so I'll usually change clothes before doing something active. If I'm getting changed, it may as well be into something suited to what I'm doing.

[CalvinHobbes]

If I could live in sweats/yoga pants/a sports bra I would. I only decided to become a nurse because scrubs are comfortable. Kidding...but it's a perk

[ZenGwen]

I wear workout clothes because otherwise I get incredibly overheated and don't have a good range of motion. Honestly, if you're jogging in jeans and not understanding why anyone would go for jogging bottoms, I'm inclined to say you're not working hard enough!

[Rosie]

If I'm only going out for a walk I'll go out in jeans as chances are when I do go for walks I'm with my mum or my boyfriend and we'll want to stop for a mad walk refresher :-p If I have to run at some point during the walk (for example to catch a bus) so be it!

But going on specifically knowing I'll be running I'll put on my running trousers, sports bra, t-shirt etc. Its more comfortable and keeps me dry and at a constant temperature. I wish I could wear my sports bra all the time though. sooo comfy!

[YoDoc]

I wear workout clothes because otherwise I get incredibly overheated and don't have a good range of motion. Honestly, if you're jogging in jeans and not understanding why anyone would go for jogging bottoms, I'm inclined to say you're not working hard enough!

Or maybe the weather is just awesome where the OP is. I know here in Dallas, jeans are almost unbearable in the summer, period. Let alone running, lol.

[KillerGriller]

It's become a running joke in our office, every time the tech I work work with wears high heels or big clunky boots I tell her that they won't be any help in the zombie apocalypse and thank her for sacrificing herself while the rest of us run away...in reality, the ZA will happen on a day where she wears more sensible shoes and I have wicked DOMS from working out/racing...damn you Murphy's law...

[morethanjustamom]

Or maybe the weather is just awesome where the OP is. I know here in Dallas, jeans are almost unbearable in the summer, period. Let alone running, lol.

Louisiana too! I can just barely run in a sports bra and shorts in august here...jeans? No way!!

[bigm141414]

Or maybe the weather is just awesome where the OP is. I know here in Dallas, jeans are almost unbearable in the summer, period. Let alone running, lol.

^Truth....

[unicornassassin]

In reality, the ZA will happen on a day where she wears more sensible shoes and I have wicked DOMS from working out/racing...damn you Murphy's law...

That is so true!

['Roos]

For me I primarily have wool slacks for work (yes, even in summer - it breathes), but I like to get several days' wear out of them before washing, and they tend to pill like crazy when I run/walk long distances in them, so I have workout clothes that I will happily trash/sweat through/get really mucky.

That said:

jogging + humidity + jeans = crotch rot / horrible chafing

Also, if I haven't been working out, putting on the workout clothes help me get in the 'mood'.

[ctfranklin28]

To me, wearing exercise clothes puts me in a different mode away from all of the cares of the world...until I'm done exercising