Walking Gear and Clothing How to Walk for Weight Loss Guide How to Walk for Weight Loss Guide Prepare to Walk What to Wear Find the Right Shoes Determine Your Walking Speed How Long to Walk Make a Schedule Perfect Your Technique Eat Well Consider Intervals Avoid Common Mistakes Work Through Plateaus Track Your Walks Stay Motivated Choosing the Best Clothes and Gear for Walking By Wendy Bumgardner facebook twitter Wendy Bumgardner is a freelance writer covering walking and other health and fitness topics and has competed in more than 1,000 walking events. Learn about our editorial process Wendy Bumgardner Reviewed by Reviewed by Michele Stanten on November 28, 2020 Michele Stanten is a walking coach, certified group fitness instructor, and running coach. She is the author of Walk Off Weight and The Walking Solution. Learn about our Review Board Michele Stanten Updated on December 01, 2020 Print 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 Image Source / Getty Images 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 do your research! Walking Pants Choose: Sweat-wicking fabric Avoid: Denim Denim is a bad 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 soon be chafed on your thighs and crotch. Instead, choose walking pants made from a sweat-wicking fabric. Hats, Sunglasses, and Sunscreen Choose: Moisture-wicking hat, sunglasses, sunscreen Avoid: Cotton hats Both men and women, cover your head and shoulders! A walk of an hour or more will give you lots of sun exposure on your head, shoulders, neck, back, and cleavage. 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 provides too much sun exposure. It all adds up over the years to 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, dress in layers so you may 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 fashion choice. Cars and bikes aren't expecting you to be crossing streets. Give them at least a chance of seeing you. 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 Just keep on walking past any infomercial telling you that heavy shoes, ankle weights, hand weights, or a weighted vest is just what you need to pump up your walking. Every medical expert I've consulted in 12 years has said to avoid these during 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 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. Top Picks for Walking Shoes and Reviews by Type Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Looking to start walking off the weight? Our free guide offers tips, workouts, and a printable schedule to help you get on the right track. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. From blistered to blissful. American Podiatric Medical Association. Karthik T, Murugan R. Carbon footprint in denim manufacturing in Muthu SS (editor). Sustainability in Denim. Woodhead Publishing. 2017;125-129. doi:10.1016/B978-0-08-102043-2.00006-X Cold out? Why you need to wear a hat. Harvard Health Publishing. Harvard Medical School. 2012. Health effects of UV radiation. Environmental Protection Agency. Ho CP, Fan J, et al. Improving thermal comfort in apparel in Song G (editor). Improving Comfort in Clothing. Woodhead Publishing. 2011. doi:10.1533/9780857090645.2.165 How the body regulates heat. Rush University Medical Center. Tips for bicyclists and pedestrians. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. US Department of Transportation. 2019. Wearable weights: how they can help or hurt. Harvard Health Publishing. Harvard Medical School. 2018. Stone J. How to calculate how much water you should drink. University of Missouri System. 2018. Long A. Are you wearing the right shoes for your workout? American Council on Exercise. 2015. Avoid a flip-flop fiasco. American Podiatric Medical Association.