The sun was boiling hot over my little Texas neighborhood. I was determined to run my sixteen miles in prep for my marathon no matter the crazy heat outside. Minus a small break to stop and stretch out the intense cramps in my legs, I’m excited to say I finished the run and survived the heat.

I’ll be totally honest with you, training for a marathon in Texas is not a fun thing to do. Texas summers are hot, humid, and sticky. Those ingredients are obviously not ideal for intense outdoor workouts.

Maintaining Modesty in the Heat

Despite the heat and gallons of sweat dripping down my face, I decided to do something completely radical and totally abnormal. I decided to maintain my normal modesty standards and stay covered while working out in the blistering heat.

As most of you know modesty and workout clothes don’t really fit in the same sentence these days. Especially when it’s over 100 degrees outside.

Modern Workout Clothes

The last time I walked through the workout section in a modern clothing store, I saw yoga pants, sports bras, spandex shirts and shorts, short running shorts and skimpy tanks tops. The exercise world is lowering the modesty bar and slowly but surely girls are getting used to dressing in skimpy clothes while working out.

In my mind this dilemma is very similar to the swimsuit dilemma.

As we’ve mentioned in past blogs, bikinis are the new norm and sadly most of us have just accepted them without a second thought. Most of us have created different (conflicting) modesty standards for the dry world and the wet world and have somehow justified this major inconsistency.  

Instead of having one set of standards for modesty, we now have modesty standards for the dry world, the wet world and now the “sweat” world.

Workout clothes now categorize under a new and different set of modesty standards…just like swimwear.

Must Ask Questions

Why is it okay to “undress” at the gym, but not okay in everyday life?

If we’re not okay with wearing skin tight pants and a bra to the grocery store, why would we be okay with wearing that to the gym? If we’re not okay with revealing our thighs in everyday life, why would we be okay with wearing mini athletic shorts on a run?

As Christian women, we realized it doesn’t make sense for us to be gung-ho about modesty in one location, then drop all the ‘convictions’ in another. What changed? Our bodies didn’t change. The guys around us didn’t change. Reflecting Christ didn’t change. The only thing that changed was the location.

It challenges our inconsistencies and encourages us to rethink our conflicting modesty standards.

Despite the intense pressure we feel to undress and look sexy at the gym, we have opted to honor Christ instead. We have decided to maintain the same standard no matter what location we’re in. And guess what?! Once we got the hang of modest athletic wear, it’s really not that hard. We have learned how to pair cute shorts with fun shirts to create a stylish, yet modest athletic look.

We’ve unashamedly worn our modest gear while playing sand volleyball, going for a run, working out at the women’s gym, playing basketball, and even running a marathon!

Help us Set a New Trend

Our hope is that you will join us by setting a new trend in the workout world. Fashion, modesty and exercise can totally go hand-in-hand. We don’t have to ditch fashion in order to look fun and cute while working out.

I want to hear from you.

• Do you have a double standard when it comes to your workout clothes?
• Do you think it’s okay to have different modesty standards for the dry world and the sweat world? Why or why not?
• What tips do you have for maintaining fashion and modesty while working out?