Wearing Athleisure: A Motivator to Exercise?

Disclaimer: When ordering online, it is always important to be mindful and do your research about the company’s working conditions. During this time especially, it is important to support businesses in whatever way feels comfortable and works for you. Let this serve as a reminder to check in on your loved ones who are essential workers of any kind, and garner an appreciation for those who continue to do their jobs in the line of danger so that we may stay comfortably in our homes.

It’s been just over a month since our country has been in quarantine, and many trends and fads have already come and gone. We started off this time with the “until tomorrow” challenge, we’ve all baked our own banana bread recipes and now the emphasis on loungewear is becoming very prevalent. 

Quarantine has taken away our daily routines and, with that, our daily wardrobes and reasons to wake up and dress up for each new day. There are memes floating around about wearing the same outfit three days in a row, and they’re funny because they’re accurate. But with all this time sitting in our house day after day, many people have begun or continued working out as an outlet for frustration and a way to pass the time. With our new activities—sitting around the house and working out—comes a new daily wardrobe.

Scrolling through Instagram and Facebook, we see ad after ad for loungewear, athleisure and heavy-duty workout garb—far more than we saw two months ago. Athleisure brands are certainly utilizing this opportunity; with most of their customers stuck at home and operating online, they are advertising everywhere.

One brand that’s doing a particularly tremendous job of this is Free People’s workout collection, Free People Movement. They are avidly advertising online and the Free People instagram page is stocked full of photos of women doing yoga, dancing and jogging in their colorful athletic wear. 

There’s a reason so many colors and styles are selling out on this website: They’re executing their advertising well in a time when people are looking to purchase athleisure, and the clothes are so comfy you could wear them all day and sleep in them.  

While one reason people are purchasing so much athletic wear right now is that they’re working out, the reverse can also be true. One Elon student said, “Workout clothes make me want to work out more when I’m already feeling cute and confident.” Another said, “If I wear my athleisure around all day, I end up working out or I feel like a fraud.” This shows that perhaps athleisure itself serves as motivation to stay active.

Social media influencers are also placing this same focus on health and fitness. There has been a surge of videos and tutorials of at-home workouts, and many influencers post selfies styled in matching workout sets.

For some people, purchasing workout apparel adds some excitement to quarantine. Junior Carlie Davis said, “Clothes add excitement for me. There’s no reason to buy nice clothes now, and it’s fun to still feel cute and productive while we’re stuck in our homes and neighborhoods. I’m thinking of investing in athleisure now. It could heighten the chances we will continue to regularly exercise after quarantine.”

Some of Davis’s favorite quarantine purchases are a sweatshirt and some shorts that help her get through her days at home.

Let us know if your athleisure wear has motivated you to exercise, and tag @theedgemag to show us your cute workout sets.