What are vegan gym clothes?
Unless your shorts and tees are made from leather, wool or other animal materials, then they’re probably vegan. Does a leather t-shirt even exist? If it does I hope it’s perforated and you have stocks in talcum powder (we all remember that scene from Friends with Ross).
A quick google search for vegan gym clothes will have either 2 things, a tonne of “ethical” clothing brands for women, or t-shirts with “vegan man”, “vegains” or some other crap printed on them, none of which are breathable materials suitable for gym clothing.
What’s on the market which won’t have you looking like a douche?
Adidas
Adidas have long been working with the likes of Stella McCartney to produce ethical clothing and vegan gym clothes, a few years ago even released a range of their favourite footwear as 100% vegan, replacing leather and suede. In their workout clothes they list two types of products, Primegreen and Primeblue.
Primegreen
The Primegreen range is made using 100% recycled materials as Adidas aims to eliminate using any new polyester by 2024 – well done Adidas. Their Primegreen gym clothing range is huge – with over 400 products to search through, you’ll probably find something you like – but if not, here are some of my favourites.
For your usual gym days I like their Aeroready designed 2 move t-shirt, It’s plain, lowkey with a nice fit for your regular gym goer. Now for something a bit special, the Heat.rdy warrior t-shirt is my go to for squats and bench. The upper back part of the t-shirt is grippy with some rubber like material, which is perfect for keeping the bar on your back, or to help keep your shoulders in place when benching, stop all that slip n slide under some heavy barbell.
Primeblue
Primeblue is a material made with at least 50% parley (not the herb, that’s parsley) ocean plastic. Parley ocean plastic is sourced from our coasts, shorelines and beaches, before it ends up in the sea, our fishes and their friends. What’s in the other 50% you say? Depending on what you’re buying, the primeblue range has over 1200 products, so check the other materials before coming over to my house with your vegan pitchforks.
Suppose you’ve been moving weights for sometime and want to show off your 15” biceps, the primeblue aeroready 3-stripes slim t-shirt is a good choice for impressing the boys at your local gym. Made from 93% recycled polyester, and 7% elastane (required for the slim fit showoff bit) it’s a nice addition to your gym garments. If you fancy something a little less revealing, you know, after one too many beers and the bloat is still around, then I like the 25/7 primeblue t-shirt, made from 53% recycled materials and 47% cotton, it’s a tad thicker which is perfect for those early morning sessions.
Nike
Nike are a tad slower to the recycled material party with vegan gym clothes, no vegan specific range just yet, soon I hear. I know some of you are die hard Nike fans, and only the worlds strongest man Luke Stoltman would pry you away from the tick, and I heard he’s busy, so instead I’ll add some options from the Nike range too.
Nike offers a range of products made from sustainable and/or recycled materials, albeit only a fraction compared to Adidas at 116 items, come on Nike, pull your socks up. Nikes fitness apparel are known for their Dri-Fit range, and have a somewhat sustainable range using recycled materials, my only gripe here is the price of their items, most of which will set you back £50/£60.
A favourite from their range is the Nike Pro Dri-FIT ADV t-shirt, it comes in 3 colours, the lighter grey probably being the best and is made from at least 75% recycled materials, not bad Nike, not bad at all! It does have a very breathable front and back though, so as long as you don’t mind showing a little skin, it’s a lot less skin than those tank top wankers…we all think it, I just said it.
Let’s move downstairs, shorts, useful for those 3 days of sun in Britain. The Nike Yoga Dri-FIT short is where I would put my money, made from 75% recycled materials, they’re soft and stretchy, and most importantly, the pockets have ZIPS! How many shorts must leave out zips, how else can we securely carry our phones around the gym for those selfies…
Reebok
I’m a big fan of the Reebok Vegan nano gym shoe, which you can read about here in my vegan gym shoe blog, but how do they compare in the vegan gym clothes arena? Which a range of over 250+ sustainable clothing options, there’s a few options I would consider when upgrading your gym bag.
The Reebok Graphic Series T-Shirt is a steal at only £20, made from 100% recycled materials, and comes in 3 handsome colours. Unfortunately, it’ll let everyone know you’re here to do some training…get past that and you’ve got a decent cheap gym tee.
How else do you let everyone in the gym know you’re serious about training, you buy something with Les Mills on it of course. Made from 100% recycled materials as part of their reecycled (clever) range, are these Reebok Les Mills® Epic Two-In-One Shorts. If you can get over the name and shameful stares in the gym, they’re actually perfect for a leg day, with an inner compression tight they’ll keep your quads and hammies nice and toasty for those extra long rests in between the heavy sets, plus they have a cool pocket above your ass.
