Your Expensive Workout Leggings Are Actually Worth It

They say when you look good, you feel good. And it turns out this ethos extends from your everyday life into the gym. According to Shape, that “athleisure wear” you felt so guilty about splurging on is actually an investment in your overall fitness.

When you sport fun and fashionable workout gear, your brain gets a boost — a phenomenon called “enclothed recognition,” the article states. It means you’re more motivated because you’re more confident in the clothes you’re wearing … and that helps you push harder, maintain focus, and build discipline when you work out. “Clothing influences behavior and attitudes because it carries a symbolic meaning. So, what you wear is actually subconsciously changing how you act,” the Shape article continues, drawing on findings from a study by the Journal of Experimental Psychology.

So basically, those Lululemon leggings don’t just make you look totally adorable on the treadmill; they also most likely help you run faster or endure longer sessions — because you already feel good. Dr. Jonathan Fader, a psychologist for the New York Mets who was interviewed for the story, likened high-end exercise gear to a costume for a performance. “As a result [of wearing workout clothes you love], you expect to have a better performance, making you more mentally prepared for the task.”

So it’s not just your imagination: when you get suited up in your Ivy Park bodysuit, you really are channeling Béyonce.

The Shape story also claims that fashionable fitness garb can prevent sports-related injuries, keep you more comfortable, and even intimidate your opponents (providing you’re playing a competitive sport).

An article in the Atlantic echoed these findings, pointing to the same study about enclothed recognition, and went further by exploring the effect one person’s expensive yoga pants can have on another gymgoer’s perception of that person’s fitness. “I see girls at Hatha yoga wearing Lululemon clothes, and they look the part, and I think: They must be really good,” psychologist and personal trainer Susan Rudnicki told the Atlantic. “They have their life together. I’m an instructor, and even I feel that.”

Enclothed recognition was first reported by Northwestern researchers Hajo Adam and Adam Galinsky in 2012, when their study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology was released. The researchers found that when study subjects wore lab coats, their productivity increased. “Physically wearing a lab coat increased selective attention compared to not wearing a lab coat,” is how the pair put it. Both the symbolic meaning and physical experience of wearing the clothes had an influence.

So if you truly want to up your exercise game, it seems, it’s time to up your consumerism game, too. Ready, set, go (shopping)!

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