Outfit Of The Week 4/26/26 – 5/2/26

Today’s edition of “OOTW” is a strictly utilitarian ensemble. It’s what I wear to the gym!

Now, pretty much all you guys are aware that my exercise of choice is chopping wood. But there’s only so much wood on my property I can cut without having to take down more trees so sometimes I need to come up with different workouts.

Also, for a long time I felt that even though my strength and stamina were excellent for swinging an axe, it would behoove me to increase my overall strength and fitness by incorporating some standard weight training into my life.

So, back in March I found a local gym that was pretty bare-bones and inexpensive and signed up.

It’s been a wonderful (and somewhat humbling) experience!

Over 10 years ago, I used to weight train regularly. The office in which I worked had a really awesome gym (power rack and everything!) so I would work out on my breaks. This was when I was also doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Being a much younger man at that time, I didn’t really give much of a thought to my diet. I was very strong, but I was about 215 pounds, which, I discovered, is a bit too heavy for my body.

Fast forward more than a decade. The years of chopping wood have kept my weight where it should be. I also have a screwed-up shoulder which limits the kinds of weighted movements I can do (goodbye traditional back squats and overhead presses).

I am also over 40, which means I need to be much more intentional with my nutrition, rest, and consistency.

Basically, at this age I just need to be smart about what I’m doing. I find that I listen to my body much more than I did before and I don’t let my ego get in the way. If I feel a twinge or something doesn’t feel quite right, I give it some rest and come back another day.

What was so humbling at first, though, was realizing just how LONG it had been since I did these movements! During my first few workouts I moved VERY light weight, just to get my body used to it again. I kind of forgot how to fire all my muscles at the same time in order to lift heavy weights.

Honestly, those first few workouts were kind of a bummer. I knew the kind of weights I could lift years ago and always kind of thought I would be able to move somewhere close to that even now, especially since I feel pretty fit from the wood chopping.

But it’s amazing how specialized exercise is, so it’s important to get proficient at a bunch of different things so that your body is as useful as it can be.

At this point, I’m about 7 weeks in. I feel like my “noob gains” (the rapid improvement you make when you start lifting weights) are starting to slow down. Up to now, I have been able to add weight to the bar pretty regularly… definitely every week, but sometimes with each workout, depending on how I am feeling.

But now things are starting to slow down, so I will need to continue to be on-point with my nutrition and rest.

So, with all that being said… what do I wear to the gym?

Well, even though I love clothes, I was never one of those guys who cared much about what I looked like when I was working out. In my opinion, workout clothes should be functional above all else. It doesn’t matter what they look like.

You guys also know that “high performance” clothing is basically just marketing nonsense, so you don’t need anything fancy.

To the gym, I wear a regular, cotton t-shirt, some nylon, gym shorts, and a pair of old Converse Chuck Taylors.

The reason I wear these shoes to the gym is because they are good weight-lifting shoes. They don’t have much cushioning in the sole, which is good for needing to push off the floor as effectively as possible. I have a pair of running sneakers, too, but I don’t wear those while weight lifting.

Come to think of it, I have had these shoes for probably close to 18 years at this point! The reason they have lasted me so long is because I ONLY use them for weight lifting. I don’t wear them around as normal shoes, so the only environment they’re worn in is the dry, climate-controlled confines of a weight room.

These shoes are proof you don’t anything high-tech to get results in the gym. These shoes are basically just rubber and canvas. And they have lasted almost two decades.

In examining these shoes while writing this article, I noticed a spot on the toe of the right shoe where the rubber has worn away. That’s odd, I thought. What would cause that? And then I realized that whenever I finish a set up push-ups, I bring my right leg forward as I get up and the toe rubs against the floor. I wonder how many times I have done that! It’s like the slow erosion of a riverbed.

Oh, some of you will probably laugh at my socks. Yes, I am wearing wool socks to the gym and no, there is no motive or intention behind that. Those socks were the socks I was wearing out and about that day under my heavy boots and I’m not swapping out my socks before hitting the weights. I’ll definitely swap out my jeans for gym shorts, but I am not changing my socks, especially in a yucky locker room.

So, there you have it. A wonderfully practical outfit for my new endeavor. Less than 2 months in, I am feeling great! It might be in my head, but I feel much stronger and I feel like I look better.

When I instruct my son to chop wood, I always tell him that there are no wasted swings. Basically, as long as you make contact with the wood, you’re making progress, even if you didn’t strike in the exact spot you wanted.

The same goes with the gym. The only wasted workout is the one you don’t do. There are plenty of times I go into the gym expecting to have a terrible workout (maybe I’m tired or pressed for time or something), but it never feels that way. Sure, some workouts might feel harder than others, but as long as I’m doing it (doing something), I am making progress.

Have a wonderful weekend!