Article: What to Wear to the Gym: A Men's Training Kit Checklist
What to Wear to the Gym: A Men's Training Kit Checklist
What to Wear to the Gym: A Men's Training Kit Checklist
Your kit should disappear the moment you start training. If you are pulling at a sleeve, hitching up a waistband or sweating through a soaked shirt, your gear is taking attention away from your work. Build the kit once, properly, and you stop thinking about it.
Here is how the pieces of a men's training kit fit together, from the layer against your skin to what you carry it in.
Start with the layer against your skin
The first layer does the hardest job in the gym. It sits against your skin while you sweat, so it needs to breathe and it needs to move sweat away from your body instead of holding it.
Sportmonkey PRO training tees are cut in breathable, moisture-wicking dry-fit fabric, and they are the base every other piece builds on. Start with the Dry-Fit Black Running T-Shirt and you have a tee that works for lifting, running and everything between.
Want a second one for the wash cycle? The Dry-Fit Running Blue T-Shirt and the Dry-Fit Grey T-Shirt give you the same job done in a different colour.
Bottoms you can actually move in
Your legs set the range of motion for every squat, lunge and sprint in the session. Shorts give you the most freedom. Joggers give you warmth and coverage when the gym floor is cold.
The Performance Shorts in black are built for training days where you want nothing in your way, and they come in grey and dark blue too. The Performance Joggers in dark blue are the piece for cooler sessions and colder runs.
One rule: choose bottoms you can move in without adjusting them between sets.
Layers for the cold mornings
Cold air changes the kit. You still want dry-fit next to your skin, then a layer over it that you can take off once you are warm.
The Dry-Fit Long Sleeve turns a summer kit into a winter one. Over the top, the Performance Hoodie in black or the Running Jacket in black handles the walk in, the warm-up and the run home.
Layer it like this: dry-fit first, hoodie or jacket second, and shed the outer piece when you hit your working sets.
Be seen on dark runs
Winter training means fewer daylight hours. If you run before work or after it, being visible is part of the kit, not an extra.
The Black Reflector T-Shirt and the White Reflector T-Shirt sit in the PRO running range alongside the Running Jacket. Wear them on the road, on the track and on the path, wherever the light is low.
A tank for the hottest work
When the gym is warm and the session is hard, less fabric means less to manage. The Tank Top in black is cut for easy movement in lightweight, breathable fabric, and it works just as well for a coach on the floor as it does for an athlete under the bar.
Carry it all
The kit only works if it arrives with you. The Sportmonkey PRO Duffel Bag carries your gear, your shoes and your towel to the gym and back, session after session.
Then get comfortable
Training kits end the session, comfort wear starts the recovery. The Unisex Fleece Hoodie in black is made from high quality materials with an incredibly soft inside, so it works on the sofa as well as it works on the drive home.
Train hard. Stay comfortable. That is the whole idea behind the Sportmonkey range.
Your men's training kit checklist
- One dry-fit training tee, two if you train most days
- Performance Shorts for full range of motion
- Performance Joggers for cold sessions and winter runs
- A dry-fit long sleeve for layering
- A hoodie or running jacket for the outer layer
- A reflector tee for low light runs
- A tank top for hot sessions
- The PRO duffel bag to carry it all
Build it once, then train
You do not need a locker full of gear. You need the right pieces, in the right order, so nothing distracts you from the work. Start with your base layer, add your bottoms, then build the cold weather layers as the season turns.
That is a kit that performs from the first warm-up to the last set.
