Have a favorite workout outfit? So do we! That’s why each FBG is sharing her favorite exercise get-up for this Question of the Week!
Asking me to choose my favorite workout outfit is kind of like asking me to choose my favorite Clueless quote. I love many of them with equal passion, but I totally understand that some are appropriate for almost any occasion (such as: Ugh! As if!), whereas others (like: Amber: Miss Stoeger, my plastic surgeon doesn’t want me doing any activity where balls fly at my nose. Dionne: Well, there goes your social life.) are best saved for just the right time.
So, like Jenn, I picked items that I’ve had around for a while. I’ve run, I’ve danced, I’ve lifted weights, and I’ve done yoga in these clothes, and it’s all been good.
Believe it or not, the only item in this picture that I think I’ve reviewed are the pants. (That doesn’t mean I don’t love the things I’ve reviewed and totally dug, because I do! God, this is so hard!)
These Perfect Core Capris from lucy come up a little higher in the waist than a lot of workout capris, and the fabric in that area is designed to help hold you in. My lower ab area is a little softer than I’d like, and I love having just that little bit of extra support. It feels good, and I know it helps me look as fit as I feel. There’s also an interior pocket that can work, if needed, to hold money or maybe a key fob, although truthfully, I’ve never used it for that.
Another perk: These are plain enough that, when I travel, I can use them as leggings under a tunic in addition to packing them for potential workouts. I’m all about saving space!
Let me give some full disclosure here — my husband works for Oakley, so I end up checking out a lot of their gear, which means you’ll see a few Oakley pieces here. For the record, no, he generally doesn’t get my stuff for free. None of the Oakley items I’m featuring here were free (although, even if they were, I would be totally honest about whether or not I loved them, obviously). And I got no pressure from him to include anything from the brand — I just genuinely like it.
So, with that out of the way, let’s talk about my top! Even though I cannot remember the name of it for the life of me! I love how it’s bright like a highlighter, and here, you can see the back has two different types of fabric — the racerback strap is mesh-like, so it looks awesome against my tan back.
Another bonus — this is one of the few tops I feel comfortable wearing without a sports bra, at least for lower-impact activities like spinning or yoga. Running … yeah. I still need a little extra something up top. Often, though, when I find a top that’s tight enough in the bosom, it’s really snug around my midsection, and this is still firmly in body-skimming (rather than belly-squeezing) territory.
Speaking of support, I go through a lot of sports bras in a week, but I usually save my favorite (read: most supportive and non-bouncy) one for my long Saturday morning runs, and that’s the Shock Absorber Run Bra Top (which I reviewed a while back). I had to use a stock photo because, well, mine was in the dirty clothes, and if you think I’m digging through all of that to pull out a smelly bra to photograph, you either overestimate my commitment to my job or underestimate the funk of my dirty clothes. So, anyway, I still wear it, still love it. Great support, almost never any chafing.
I love wearing a sport-specific hat in the summer like this Oakley Sweet Spot Hat (complete with bonus cat hair on the brim) — it works a bit like a sweatband so I don’t get sweat in my eyes, it protects me from the sun, and, if I get super hot, I can shove a handful of ice in it and slap it back on my head. Hey, it’s less gross than putting it in my sports bra.
And my glasses are also from Oakley — the style is Commit, and I have a few different lenses I can pop in, so if it’s not too bright out but I still want to protect my eyes (especially important on the bike), I can just pop in lighter lenses and my vision isn’t affected. Also, they stay in place on my “ski slope” nose, which is sometimes an issue for me.
And now we come to shoes, and I don’t have customized or pretty shoes to show you. These are the Mizuno Wave Riders I wore for my epic Leadman Tri and the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon. They might not look so hot (and don’t even ask how they smell), but they’ve carried me through a lot, and I love them for it. Also, I use Yankz so my shoes slide on and off without me ever having to adjust my laces. I can’t even express how much I love those things.
Oh, and there’s the jacket, too, which I forgot to individually photograph, apparently — I got this C9 by Champion jacket from a friend as a birthday gift about a hundred years ago (or maybe more like eight or nine years, but still), and it’s really held up. It’s great for slipping on after a run when I walk into air conditioning, and it’s a nice weight for running outdoors when there’s a chill in the air. And I seriously love that the pockets zip — makes storing things so simple.
Now, I know some of the other girls had distinct preferences regarding socks and underwear. I, too, am a fan of the C9 By Champion Socks, and I’m pretty sure I also got them at Target, and until we did these posts, I had no idea that’s what Jenn and Erin wore. Wiggy. But as far as underwear goes, I don’t know. I don’t really have any favorites. Give me a thong that doesn’t cause ass chafing (<— is a sentence I never thought I’d put on the internet) and I guess I’m a pretty happy girl.
Do you find that you’re picky about certain items and considerably less so about others? —Kristen