Athletic Clothes To Wear This Winter Season
Unless you live in sunny Florida, where most people spend their December in shorts and short-sleeve or sleeveless t-shirts enjoying 70-degree weather, you’re probably plenty familiar with the challenges of dressing for winter.
Between cold air, brutal winds, deceptively bright sun, and moisture, there are plenty of uncomfortable conditions to contend with when working out a high-quality winter wardrobe full of reliable best-sellers.
The obstacles are even greater when it comes to sportswear! If you’re staying active (especially in the outdoors) year-round, you’re going to need workout tops and bottoms that can help you thermoregulate and stay comfortable.
Unfortunately, such clothes aren’t always easy to find — but Tasc Performance is here to help. Today’s guide is all about what to wear while working out in the winter in order to maintain the right body temperature, combat sweat, and achieve your best performance.
What Are the Best Men’s and Women’s Clothes for Winter Sports?
When you think of activewear, you probably think of running shorts and tees. Maybe a tank top or sports bra are top contenders when you’re considering your best workout clothes. These gymwear basics can be found in most wardrobes, but for a truly complete athletic clothing arsenal that can handle a cold season, we’ll need more than that.
Let’s dig into some of our favorite items, then talk in more detail about what features make them so spectacular.
Fleece Jackets and Pullovers
One of the most popular kinds of clothes for winter is a long-sleeve fleece jacket. Fleece is a type of super soft, napped fabric that has a fluffy and fuzzy texture.
Fleece is known for being warm and insulating, which is wonderful for casual winter activities but can be a problem during exercise. As your body heats up to extreme temperatures during your workout, all that excess heat becomes trapped inside your clothes, making it hard for your body to cool down and threatening your comfort, performance, and safety.
The key to finding the right fleece clothing for workouts is to look for fleece fabricated with breathable materials. These jackets and pullovers are perfect for wearing over a strappy sports top or v-neck tee, then slipping off whenever your workout heats up.
Here at Tasc Performance, our fleece styles, like our Apex Brushed Quarter Zip (available in size XS to XL), are made with a blend of bamboo and organic cotton that achieves the perfect balance of warmth and breathability. Plus, our fleece has excellent moisture-wicking properties, which means sweat won’t be a problem.
Breathable Leggings and Joggers
Leggings and tights are wardrobe staples for ladies with an active lifestyle. With the right materials and design, your leggings can work for you all year long.
Our Allways Full Length Pocket Leggings take athleisure to a whole new level of versatility. Whether you’re exercising or relaxing, these semi-high-waisted leggings have the tools you need in the hot summer or the frigid winter.
At the core of these women’s activewear staples’ qualities is bamboo, our favorite super fabric. Bamboo makes these leggings way more than just your typical pair of sweatpants. A super soft surface, breathability to prevent overheating, four-way stretch, and moisture-wicking cover the bases for workout performance and comfort, while a side hip pocket tops it all off with extra convenience.
Insulated Beanies
Keeping your ears warm is an important part of staying comfortable while working out. A cozy beanie hat can add some coverage for your ears while also keeping your hair (and sweat) out of your eyes.
When it comes to winter workout accessories, this one’s a winner. If this article were a winter gift guide, we’d say insulated beanies (and Tasc gift cards) make the perfect stocking stuffer.
Jackets for All-Day Wear
Depending on how your active lifestyle looks, you may be running back and forth between all sorts of occasions throughout your day. From the gym to the grocery store to lunch with friends, having a style that does it all makes life on the go so much easier.
Try our All Day Jacket for a super convenient style that is built with versatility at its core. Easy to layer, easy to style, and easy to pack, it’s a perfect option for everyday life or travel adventures.
Soft French Terry Hoodies
Build a diverse arsenal of comfy, cozy, workout-ready outerwear with a few colors of our Varsity French Terry Hoodie worn over a crop top or tee.
Thanks to bamboo and organic cotton, this 4-way stretch fabric has top-notch moisture wicking, breathability, temperature regulation, plus odor-resistance, and sun protection. It’s also extremely lightweight, so it’s perfect for exercise or lounging.
What To Look for in Winter Activewear
The qualities to look for in athletic clothes for winter are similar to summer, but there are some special considerations thanks to the difficult conditions of the season, especially if you’re exercising outside.
Breathability
The biggest challenge for winter workouts is maintaining a balanced temperature. Our bodies work towards this goal through processes such as sweating and shivering, collectively known as thermoregulation.
Getting too cold is an obvious threat during winter, but overheating can be just as prevalent if we aren't careful! After all, most winter clothes are built to insulate. In normal circumstances, this means the warmth generated by your body stays inside your clothes and heats you up like an oven.
However, since our bodies become much hotter than normal while we exercise, these kinds of clothes end up keeping that heat trapped. Despite very cold environmental temperatures around you, your internal temperature might be too high, which is uncomfortable at best, and dangerous at worst.
That’s where the right amount of breathability comes in. Breathable fabrics allow varying amounts of airflow so that the warmth produced by your body can gradually escape while fresh air flows in.
Too much breathability or too few layers could leave you cold in winter, but a fabric such as fleece or french terry keeps your temperature balanced.
Moisture-Wicking Materials
To complement a breathable fabric, all your athletic clothes should have moisture-wicking capabilities.
Moisture-wicking is a combination of factors that allow the fabric to absorb moisture from your skin and evaporate that moisture efficiently. This keeps both you and your clothes dry.
This is especially important in the winter when being wet could lead to rapid chilling in the cold air. Bamboo is one of the best moisture-wicking fabrics in the world thanks to the qualities of its parent tree, which is made to survive some of the wettest environments on the planet.
Resistance to Odors
Sweat is just a part of fitness, but unfortunately, it also creates odors. That’s why your biker shorts or racerback bra don’t smell the best after an intense workout. While laundry can work wonders, many of the most popular fabrics, including traditional cotton and synthetic materials, actually trap those odors over time despite being washed.
The resulting lingering stench lowers the lifetime and value of your clothes, ultimately meaning they need to be replaced sooner. Thankfully, bamboo is a naturally odor-resistant material that prevents such build-up, so your workout clothes stay fresh for many years to come.
Comfort Is Key
Performance, durability, and safety are priorities, but none of those factors really matter if your clothes aren’t comfortable.
This key quality goes beyond the first time you slip on a crew neck shirt or some high-rise leggings. The soft material is only the beginning. Material that can stretch and stay dry is crucial for comfort, particularly over the course of a long day or an intense activity.
Comfort isn’t limited to lounging at home — your clothes should support your workout, too, so you can focus on what matters.
Hypoallergenic Materials
Many popular materials for athletic clothes can adversely affect some people’s skin. The risk is made greater by harsh chemical treatments used to achieve the performance qualities needed for comfortable exercise.
Thankfully, bamboo is a naturally hypoallergenic material. Our BamCo® fabrications are also free of chemical finishes while still exceeding in every area of performance power. We call that a win-win!
Natural Sun Protection
Though you may think of summer and spring as the sunny seasons, winter still gets plenty of exposure. Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean UV rays aren’t a threat! The sun’s radiation can penetrate all the way through your gym clothes and to your skin, damaging your skin with enough exposure.
To keep your skin as healthy as possible, choose clothes with natural sun protection properties, avoiding chemical treatments as they can be just as harsh on your skin, not to mention bad for the environment.
Bamboo is an ideal choice, with 50+ rated UPF sun protection (the highest tier of protection in the Skin Cancer Foundation’s rating system) and no chemicals needed.
Stay Comfy This Winter
Don’t settle for scratchy bike shorts and a stuffy winter coat when you work out in cold weather. To elevate your athletic wear, pick up Tasc Performance all-season styles to enjoy comfort and enhanced performance regardless of the weather or the workout.
For more helpful guides like this one, keep coming back to our Tasc Performance blog, which is updated with new arrivals each month!
Sources:
Exercising in the Cold - Health Encyclopedia | University of Rochester Medical Center