You need to wear a hat while working out! You’ve likely seen me wear a hat to the gym… I do 99% of the time. But, you may not know why. There is actually a very important reason that I workout while wearing a hat…. it literally makes my workouts better. Don’t believe me? Try it! Give it a week and report back to me to see if your workout effectiveness increased.
I usually pick my entire look out based on what looks cute at the moment except for my gym hat. I wear a baseball cap to the gym regardless of if it goes with my outfit or not.
This is why…
1. FOCUS + PERFORMANCE
I was a gymnast was I was young. Gymnastics taught me many life lessons and skills.
Side note – if I have a daughter some day, I am definitely going to encourage gymnastics. How I had the confidence to do a cartwheel on a balance beam in front of hundreds of people when I was just 5 years old – I will never understand. I’ve been able to build on that foundation ever since and am so grateful for gymnastics in my young life.
Another thing I took from gymnastics was the correlation between your look and your performance. Aesthetics plays a role in gymnastics, especially at the meets. Our hair had to be slicked back. Your pony tail was so tight it gave you a headache. There wasn’t a loose hair in sight.
I remember my coach once did all of our hair meet-style (slicked back, tight pony, etc.) but just for a practice. Her point was to show us that our performance actually increased when we did this. And, boy was that point proven!
That taught me how I dress for a workout plays into how I feel in the gym and therefore, how I perform.
I’m sure you can relate to this… you’re at your home in your PJs and it’s 2 pm, you feel tired and lazy even though you slept 8 hours the night prior. In contrast, when you get up at 6 am, shower and get dressed, you’re energized and ready for your day. You feel the part you’re trying to play.
The clothing you choose to wear to the gym should remain your personal preference. My best friend always wears a huge, baggy sweatshirt to the gym. She says she loves the way she gets super sweaty and feels covered up.
Personally, I like to wear tight, fitted clothing and I don’t like to overhead so I usually wear a tank top. That what I wear to feel most comfortable in the gym.
Okay, I think I’ve made my point on how our look can definitely affect the way we feel and therefore, what we can do.
This leads me to why I wear a hat… I noticed that when I began wearing a hat to workout, my performance increased.
Why? FOCUS.
First off, I believe BIG TIME in triggers. Triggers to are signals to the brain. My hat is the trigger that it’s time to workout. I usually don’t wear a baseball cap any time other than the gym so it’s my mental switch… check out of life, get ready to workout.
Also, and most importantly… a hat to me is like a horse wearing blinders. You’re zoned in. It doesn’t matter how fast the girl one treadmill over is running. You have no awareness of the chick next to you or how much weight she is squatting. You’re focused on YOU and YOUR workout.
A baseball cap is like an invisibility cloak.
I put it on and I lose sight of everyone else at the gym. Physically, it actually limits what I see, ha. Mentally, it helps me focus and we all know that focus leads to greater performance.
So, if you want to increase your focus during your workouts, try my hat trick.
It doesn’t matter what kind of hat… I mean… you can get all cute and buy a collection of ten. I tend to wear the exact same black, Nike hat ( THIS
is the one I wear) most days.
The goal to the hat trick is that it becomes your mental trigger that it’s time to focus and it helps eliminate distractions at the gym. It keeps you focused on becoming your best self.
2. GYM HAIR, DON’T CARE
Need another reason to wear a hat to the gym?! I spend 5 less minutes in the morning in not attempting to make my hair look presentable. A pony tail & hat looks super cute even when your hair doesn’t because an effortless, messy bun takes a whole lot of effort some days – agreed?! lol
Have I convinced you to try out a hat during your next workout?? Try it out! I hope it works magic for you too!
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