The Unfiltered Health Podcast
The Unfiltered Health Podcast delivers real, authentic conversations about health, wellness, and longevity. We break down complex health topics, sharing evidence-based insights, practical advice, and personal experiences. Our mission is to educate, inspire, and build a supportive community committed to living well and thriving together—no filters, just the truth about what it takes to achieve lasting health.
The Unfiltered Health Podcast
87 - Our Advice on Wearing The Damn Shorts! Embracing Confidence: From Gym Shorts to Personal Style
This episode dives into the common fears surrounding wearing shorts at the gym during summer, with personal reflections and practical advice on overcoming self-doubt. We discuss the importance of comfort and confidence, the impact of community, and finding the right fit for gym wear to empower listeners to embrace their bodies.
• Addressing the fear of wearing shorts in summer
• Personal stories of comfort and confidence in activewear
• The importance of mindset in fitness spaces
• Tips for trying different styles and brands
• Exploring community support and shared experiences
• Encouragement to embrace comfort over perfection in clothing choices
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Hey guys, welcome back. We are on episode 87 today and we have a really interesting topic today. Raquel and I are basically going to be speaking about shorts and shorts in terms of relevance for it's summer. It is hot, people are training, people are wearing different outfits to the gym, and I know that something that comes up often with clients is clients being too scared or too uncomfortable to wear shorts in the gym, and that's what I want to discuss today.
Speaker 2:Cool. So wearing shorts how is everyone feeling about wearing shorts this summer? Insert crickets Nah, I think shorts look, it's skin, it's your legs. A lot of women feel uncomfortable with that area because we do have cellulite there. It's maybe tight-fitting shorts that you might have. You might have bad experience with showing your body Look. Whatever the reason is, I do think that it is quite individual and everyone has their own specific reasons for not liking their legs. I have always enjoyed wearing shorts, so I'm not exactly the best person to always talk about this, but I do think when it comes to confidence, I can speak on confidence. We all, like, have our moments where we don't feel confident and sometimes, wearing the shorts, you just don't feel like it. So don't wear them, that's fine. Okay, you will wear them when you're confident, so don't put pressure on yourself Having the expectation of like you need to wear them I think feels a little bit maybe more pressure on yourself than you need to have.
Speaker 2:Would you agree?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think I'm thinking back from personal experience. Going up playing soccer. I was always in shorts, so when I'm talking shorts, I mean like baggy soccer shorts, right. So, when it came to the gym and seeing a lot of women wear bike shorts that were quite tight compared to baggy shorts that I was used to, I was really hesitant to wear them. It was something I felt a little bit shy to do, or almost like embarrassed. I felt a little bit more exposed when I was wearing baggy shorts.
Speaker 1:It was comfortable, it was what I was used to. But then, when it came to wearing a bike short, I don't know, for me it just felt a bit uncomfortable. I wasn't sure if I wanted to wear them at the gym. I felt a bit embarrassed, and I don't even know why. It was necessarily embarrassed. It's not like I wanted to impress other people, but it was more just how I felt in myself and my confidence, I suppose. And so I used to spend a lot of summers wearing leggings. Regardless of how hot it was, I would still go to the gym wearing leggings, even though I would be sweating. It would just be because I felt too uncomfortable to wear bike shorts.
Speaker 1:It would just be because I felt too uncomfortable to wear bike shorts, and this summer in particular, I actually started wearing bike shorts and it feels fine.
Speaker 2:It feels fine what was the straw that broke the camel's back? Why? What changed?
Speaker 1:I think I just sort of I had a moment where I was like you know, you're wearing your shorts because it's hot, you don't need to feel. You know you're not exposed. Everyone else is wearing shorts, it's a very normal thing. No one's looking at you, no one cares that you're wearing shorts, it's just you and how comfortable you feel. And so I thought to myself if I wear them and I still feel really comfortable and I just do not like them, cool, I'm not going to wear them again. But if I wear them and I'm like, hey, this actually isn't as bad as I thought, then I'm going to start wearing them more often.
Speaker 2:Okay. So you lowered the expectations, you dropped the pressure and you gave yourself the freedom to go. If I don't like them, I don't have to do it again, but I will try.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So you try it again.
Speaker 1:I try it again. I like them. They are comfy. They are comfy, they're so comfy.
Speaker 2:I think there definitely are some gym shorts that are very revealing and quite short and quite tight in all the wrong places, and I do not like pairs of shorts from certain brands.
Speaker 2:Yes, dresses and I do not like pairs of shorts from certain brands. I usually size up in my shorts, which is maybe why I feel a bit more comfortable. Possibly, maybe not. I size up in my shorts. I'm not worried about the size that it comes up with, like I think that's also something with clothing.
Speaker 2:I find a lot of women. They don't want to be a bigger size, but I think the reality is that our body shapes are all different and from the top to bottom, you're different size. So you know we have hips, ladies, we have hips, child birthing hips. So I think for myself, it was starting to realize that I need to upsize, because I need to have more room, because I also like wearing them and I don't like feeling constricted. I don't like feeling tight in the wrong places. I hate that and if I have a brand that I buy from that does that, I won't wear them and I probably won't buy from them ever again, um, unless I've really brought the wrong size. So I always check my measurements, so it's something I do, but I love that story. I love that you shared that with us, because it's quite vulnerable to share that online on the podcast. But women need to also hear from the females in the industry who don't feel comfortable. I think it's like it's probably not well. Like spoken about a lot yeah, I don't think so.
Speaker 1:I think there's, you know, a lot of people. A lot of clients will see their trainers, coaches, as you know, these confident people in the gym. You know they, they know what they're doing, they're fit, they're healthy, they feel good about themselves, so they're just gonna, you know, wear everything and they're not gonna have any worries. And it's sort of a reminder that, hey, we're human too and sometimes we can have these thoughts of being a bit embarrassed or feeling a bit shy or not feeling as confident to wear certain things and and.
Speaker 1:I think that's important to remember as well.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. When we've got female clients who are coming in who don't want to wear the shorts or maybe they do, maybe they want to try again, like you, what's something that you would like a piece of advice you might give them?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would often say I think it it like I said before, it depends on the style of the short and how comfortable you are. Because I did go on a while back. A couple of years ago I went on a um. I went for a little shop to see if I could find a pair of shorts that felt comfortable.
Speaker 1:And I tried on probably four or five and they all felt just so tight that they felt revealing. That was really short and I just did not like them and that turned me off wanting to wear shorts. I then tried again a couple months later on another brand and the fit was really nice. It was super comfy and then that made me feel less reserved, less shy about wanting to wear shorts and being comfortable with wearing shorts, and so I definitely think the fit is a big one.
Speaker 2:So make sure that, if you are uncomfortable with wearing shorts.
Speaker 1:You just go out and try a few pairs and try a few styles and try a few lengths, just to see if, hey, is it actually the fit. That's worrying me because they don't fit me right, I feel uncomfortable. Or is it because they don't fit me right and I feel uncomfortable? Or is it because I don't feel confident enough? Or you're embarrassed, or you know?
Speaker 2:whatever the reason, that's a good tip. I also think with like brands in store versus online, there's a difference of fabric and material being used, and I do think because the online shops that we're buying from you don't get to try them on. So if you have friends in your network or people that you know of who wear certain brands and you can see the stamp or the logo and you'd like to feel the material, it might be weird to ask a random right. But if you have got friends in the community who are wearing different brands and stuff, maybe ask to feel what it's like. Can you borrow it? Maybe that is going too far, but can you touch it? Can you touch how stretchy it is?
Speaker 2:Because I'm in the industry, often when I have girls come in with different brands and they look nice and they seem nice and they're giving good reviews from it, I'm like can I feel what it feels like? It's buttery, it's stretchy, it looks good. It it looks good. It suits the shape of our bodies. So I want to know what it feels like.
Speaker 2:I feel like even with just non-shorts material like other clothes when I go to the shops. It depends on the brand, because the brands all have different sizes. The brands all have different type of material they use. So I think with clothes, I'm really big on throwing out what doesn't fit and also making sure you have the right fit for you, because otherwise you don't feel good in your clothes. And there is nothing worse as a woman going into your wardrobe and like I have nothing to wear when you have everything. Like the amount of times I've had meltdowns. I've had like so many meltdowns of like I have nothing to wear. I have nothing to wear. I have nothing to wear. It's like you have everything. What's wrong? Like take a breather. It's just either not the day for it.
Speaker 1:It's a comfort level.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's exactly if you don't feel comfortable on the day and you want to wear that thing that you had planned and you don't have any other options. It is like hell Can relate to that, right, but I do think, have yourself some, some like center yourself. Always bring another option, especially if you're like like me and living between two house at the moment. Always have another option, but make sure you get the right fit and go try them on.
Speaker 1:Like I said, definitely, and I think just lower, you know know, lower the expectation, the pressure that you're putting on yourself and wear them like no one's watching, because literally no one is watching when you are training.
Speaker 2:That is. Can you talk more about that please? Let's go.
Speaker 1:I just think often when we go in the gym we're so worried and in our head about the way we look or what we're doing, or if we don't know a particular exercise, we're embarrassed because you know what, if people are staring, people are going to look at me. People don't care. Most of the time everyone is in their own hair, their own little bubble. They're focused, they're training. If they're staring at you, they're probably looking through you because they're daydreaming during their rest break, like most of the time. Most of the time they are not paying attention to you, even though it's kind of like. It feels like when you walk in, everyone, everything goes quiet, all eyes are on you and everyone is just staring. Spotlight theory. No one is doing that, everyone is training, training.
Speaker 1:Everyone's in their own head. Everyone's got it like their things that they're worrying and they're thinking no one is thinking oh my god, she's wearing shorts oh my goodness everyone, quick come, look she's wearing shorts, it's not a thing.
Speaker 2:But also sometimes people also look because they're like inspired that too. So the more I see of the women in the community wearing shorts, wearing awesome clothes, cool colors women like to stare too like. I'm not gonna lie. When I see a girl in a nice outfit, I'm like oh, I love the colors, oh, I like the halter neck, oh I like how it sits on her back, oh, I like how it sits on her legs. Like you're gonna look so it's okay. Maybe take it as a compliment. Maybe someone's actually looking as like in spur of like. I would love to wear something like that one day yep maybe they're encouraged that too
Speaker 1:yeah yeah, they're encouraged to be motivated.
Speaker 2:They're probably like oh, she looks good in those shorts and I also think for the community, who are feeling like the clothing choices out there are a little bit limited. There are definitely other clothing brands who have, like I think the big names have a lot of um, noise and they definitely have a lot of advertising and there's a lot of them everywhere. But I do feel like brands are trying to also have a little bit more size ranges and accommodating I don't know, I don't know all the brands that might be a little bit more niched for some people, but they're definitely there and reach out to a community. There's Facebook groups, there's TikTok. Like TikTok's fantastic for research, I must say, like qualitative research on, like peers, like what people are using for hair, what people are using for their outfits, what people are using for a different sort of niche, like there's a lot out there. It might not be all published, peer review and data or whatever, but there are other things going on where you can find other clothing brands that might suit your body shape better.
Speaker 1:What are your go-to brands for gym shorts?
Speaker 2:oh okay, I've been wearing these elite 11 shorts for like three years yep I need to get a new pair because they're gonna start getting like old soon, but I love them. Crop shop boutique. I always feel like their leggings and their their some of their bras are really nice. Some of these are not super supportive for bigger breast women, so I wouldn't suggest all their gear for like running or any high intensity stuff. It's more just like gym work and maybe yoga or pilates. Um, I'll eat 11. Crop shop boutique and I have one more. I forget. I forget why the brand is. Oh, lululeululemon, lululemon. Look, it is expensive. I try to buy things from there when they have a little sale, but I do find their clothing lasts, like I have a pair of Lululemons. I have three pairs of Lululemons from 10 years ago. Still, yeah, they last, they last. And I use them for different like camping reasons. Now they're a little bit old, they might be a little bit ball-y, but they haven't shrunk and they fit still so good, like, it's fine.
Speaker 1:Yeah, invest in good quality activewear gymwear.
Speaker 2:It feels like a lot to like part with money-wise but at the end of the day I think when you're getting good quality and they're going to last, it's actually quite good and they do they really.
Speaker 1:Last years I've got exactly the same. All my leggings for work elude in them and I've had them all for like three, four years and they've not overstretched it's good they've held their shape. They haven't bald yet like it's good I highly recommend them.
Speaker 2:They're fantastic what are your go-to brands? Obviously Lulu, Lulu.
Speaker 1:Lulu's probably the only brand that I'm comfortable with wearing at the moment. Shorts though I found a really cool pair of shorts from Muscle Republic Okay, and they were really comfy.
Speaker 2:That's good.
Speaker 1:And so if I was to buy shorts again, I'd probably go there.
Speaker 2:Okay, I heard some good things recently about Muscle Republic, so maybe they've changed their material, because last time I used them shorts again I'd probably go there. Okay, I heard some good things recently about muscle republic, so maybe they've changed their material, because last time I used them I didn't really love everything, but that was a long time ago you do have to be um careful on the material.
Speaker 1:Definitely, because I did try on a pair that was more of like a spandex like a shine, yeah like a material and I didn't like them. They're not the ones that, um, I bought in my shorties. My shorties are more like a material and I didn't like them. They're not the ones that I bought in my shorties. My shorties are more like a. They're more of a thicker material.
Speaker 2:I think it's a nylon.
Speaker 1:But they're very comfy and like buttery and smooth. So it depends on the material, hey.
Speaker 2:Go find what that short is and go look on the product details and see what percentage it is of certain things like 95% cotton, 5% nylon or whatever it might be. I always do that with my favorite pair of pants this is another pro tip my favorite pair of gym shorts, gym wear. I go look at what the product details are and see if it's very similar to what I have now so I can go okay, it's going to be similar material, especially with online shopping. You just have to put a little bit more effort. So I can go, okay, it's going to be similar material, especially with online shopping. You just have to put a little bit more effort. Like you can go into the shops and try things on and not like it and then like it whatever get to try it on physically. But if you're online, you do need to be a bit more savvy and understand what material is being used.
Speaker 1:That's clever. Actually, I like that. I've never thought about doing that, because I have bought leggings in the and they've come in and I'm like, oh, they are not the material I thought they were going to be.
Speaker 2:You are not it, you are not, it You're going straight back.
Speaker 1:Straight back where you came from.
Speaker 2:I feel like it's such a hassle to send back, but anyway, it is what it is Such a hassle. Yeah, I hate that. Yeah, all right. Well, that's awesome. We wrapped that up really nicely. I hope everyone feels a bit more encouraged to wear the shorts and maybe find some other ways to tackle shopping, I guess for clothes.
Speaker 1:Go, go, steph. That's it. That wraps us up. If you're thinking about it, if you've been wanting to wear shorts but you feel uncomfortable, just wear the damn shorts.
Speaker 2:Yep, you heard it here from Steph, thanks, guys, see you.