Choosing the Best Clothes and Gear for Walking

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Updated on December 01, 2020

Beyond fashion, you need function and comfort in your walking clothing and gear. Your walking clothing should be comfortable and loose-fitting to allow you to move.

And while some items may seem like a good idea (e.g. cotton socks), they're actually not. Familiarize yourself with what to wear and what to avoid before you start walking.

Socks

Choose: High-tech fibers

Avoid: Cotton

Your socks should be comfortable, and the modern running socks made from CoolMax or other high-tech fibers are preferable to cotton, which hold sweat next to the skin and allow blisters to form more quickly.

Your walking socks should be made of a sweat-wicking fabric. They should be anatomically designed, rather than tube socks, so they stay in place at toe and heel. You have a few options on what socks to buy, so be sure to do your research.

Walking Pants

Choose: Sweat-wicking fabric

Avoid: Denim

Denim is not a good walking choice. In hot weather, it is heavy and hot and holds sweat next to your skin. In wet weather, it soaks up rain like a sponge. If you end up wet from either sweat or rain, you may experience chafing. Instead, choose walking pants made from a sweat-wicking fabric.

Hats, Sunglasses, and Sunscreen

Choose: Moisture-wicking hat, sunglasses, sunscreen

Avoid: Cotton hats

It's always a good idea to cover your head and shoulders to protect yourself from sun exposure. If you walk for an hour or more you could get too much sun on your head, shoulders, neck, back, and chest. In cold weather, you may cool too fast if your head is bare.

Take time to pick a good walking hat and follow sun safety practice. Sunglasses for outdoor walking prevent UV exposure for your eyes.

Shirts

Choose: Short or long sleeves, sweat-wicking materials

Avoid: Skin-baring tops and cotton tops

For your shoulders, even if you wear a good sunscreen, wearing a skin-baring tank top increases your sun exposure, which could age your skin and raise your risk of skin cancer. It's best to wear short sleeves as a sun safety measure.

You should invest in CoolMax or polypropylene shirts to wick sweat away from the body to keep you cooler when it's hot out. In colder weather, these fabrics will keep you dry so you stay warmer. Cotton tops hold onto sweat so you're more likely to chafe when it's hot and get chilled when it's cold out.

Layers

Choose: A simple layering system

Avoid: Too much clothing

Depending on your climate, you can dress in layers. Remove a layer as you warm up while walking and put it back on if you feel cool. If you are warm when you start walking, you will soon be too hot. Start off feeling slightly cool.

If you do not plan to walk up a sweat, a system can be as simple as a technical fabric t-shirt, light sweater (wool, down, or fleece), and windproof jacket which may also be waterproof. As the temperature drops, choose slightly heavier layers and add a hat and gloves.

Colors

Choose: Colors and reflective stripes

Avoid: All black, especially after dark, and camouflage

Dressing like a ninja and walking after dark is an unsafe choice. Cars and bikes aren't expecting you to be crossing streets and can't see you if you're wearing dark colors. Even in daytime, if you are walking alongside a road, you need to be highly visible to approaching cars. Wearing drab colors or even camouflage (unless you are in a military unit) is dangerous.

Choose your walking outfit to include at least one item in a bright color that can be seen from front and back. Or at least wear a reflective safety vest or night visibility gear.

Weights

Choose: Speed and distance over weight

Avoid: Heavy shoes, ankle or hand weight

Most experts advise against wearing heavy shoes, ankle weights, hand weights, or a weighted vest while fitness walking, as they increase the risk for injury.

Weights on your hands or feet are unnatural and are likely to cause strain. Extra weight on your torso probably won't hurt, but it's better to go faster or farther to burn more calories.

Save the weights to do a simple strength workout for a few minutes before or after the walk, when you can do it with proper posture and form.

Carrying Cases

Choose: Hip pack and pockets

Avoid: Heavy backpacks

Do you really need to pack along a week's water, food, and clothing for an hour-long fitness walk? You just need a few essentials.

Try to carry keys and other articles in pockets, a hip pack, or well-designed small backpack. Carry water if you plan to be walking for a half hour or more with no water on your route.

A small hydration pack with built-in water bottle holder is also convenient. Whatever you wear, make sure to wear it right to avoid pain.

Shoes

Choose: Well-designed fitness shoes

Avoid: Heavy boots and flip-flops

Heavy boots may last through forced marches, but they weren't meant for fitness walking. Save the heavy hiking boots for the situation they were designed for—to support a hiker with a heavy backpack on rough trails.

Fitness walkers need flexible soles to move with their feet as they roll through a step. Backpacking boots have heavy, inflexible soles, which can set you up for muscle strain.

And flip-flops weren't made for fitness walking. They provide no support, and they don't allow you to push off with each step. In effect, you are shuffling rather than walking. Save them for summer fun that doesn't involve walking any distance. If you love the feel of air on your toes, invest in a pair of well-designed hiking sandals instead.

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