Not all gyms are as open-minded. Some have a strict dress code that forbids jeans because “prominent grommets may damage equipment”. Photo: stocksnap.io
As political plotlines go, this one is more sweaty than salacious.
This month, gymgoers at a New York City location of the posh gym chain Equinox were aghast to see Robert F Kennedy Jr working out in “tight jeans and hiking boots”.
It may have bothered a few purists, but Kennedy does not appear to have broken any of Equinox’s house rules which require “appropriate foot coverings and attire”, but do not specifically ban jeans.
And Kennedy, who is president-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the US department of health and human services, has never been shy about his atypical gym clothes.
On Instagram, the politician posts shirtless clips in which he bangs out push-ups or pull-up variations in straight-cut jeans. In a video this month, Kennedy added hiking sneakers to his gym rotation.
It’s another example of Kennedy’s public display of unconventionality in all matters of exercise and public health – a stance that takes on a more serious tone when he disputes the use of fluoride in drinking water – a practice that groups like the US CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the American Dental Association say has been extraordinarily beneficial – and spreads debunked theories linking vaccines to various medical issues.
“What you’re really seeing is a political decision,” said Joe Holder, a health and wellness consultant in New York.
In his view, Kennedy is playing up a “brawny man” image. On Kennedy’s Instagram, every exercise session is also a branding exercise for his "Make America Healthy Again", or #MAHA, agenda.
“He’s doing it to bring attention,” Holder said.
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Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment made to his representatives.
Kennedy is certainly tapping into an archetype: the out-of-time gymgoer, bench-pressing double his body weight in a cutoff “Ratt” T-shirt and unlaced work boots, a two-gallon jug of water at his side.
Visit a Crunch, or more likely a concrete-box powerlifting gym, and you’ll find that some people really do prefer to exercise in jeans and boots.
And the trend of avoiding typical workout gear among celebrities and public figures goes far beyond Kennedy.
Lenny Kravitz, for instance, has been seen working out in skintight leather pants and black boots, and actor Scott Eastwood has been photographed ripping pullups in jeans and a honking silvery belt buckle.
Kennedy has allies in the non-celebrity world as well.
“I’m channeling a different energy than what I see in a guy who’s wearing all Alo or Nike,” said Austin Smith, 37, who works for a development company and has for years worked out exclusively in 6-inch Timberland boots and cotton sweatpants.
“When I lace up my Timbs, I like my chances,” said Smith, who swept away the theory that you lift better when your feet are flatter to the ground. He’s squatted in Timbs; he’s done box jumps in them.
He could wear neoteric five-fingered New Balances, but why should he?
Exercise zealots like Smith say that working out in street clothes is really about eliminating excuses for missing a chance to lift.
“Whatever you need to not let that barrier get in your way,” said Brian Alsruhe, an author, gym owner and YouTuber in Westminster, Maryland.
“If somebody gets in the gym wearing a dress and high heels, I’m happy they’re in the gym.”
Not all gyms are as open-minded though. On its website, the chain Planet Fitness has a dress code that forbids jeans because “prominent grommets may damage equipment”.
Alsruhe said he works out “constantly” in jeans. As he sees it, there’s no point switching from the sweaty jeans he does chores in to “fancy gym clothes” just to sweat in those too.
“I was like, I’ll just cut that 20 minutes of changing on both ends,” he said.
If there’s been an increase in people deadlifting in denim, it coincides with the popularity of stretch fabric jeans that share DNA with yoga pants. Alsruhe said he had witnessed many non-stretch Levi’s falter from one too many squats.
He is now sponsored by athletic-wear brand Barbell Apparel and wears its stretch-fabric jeans.
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As it is, performance jeans aren’t a new concept. In the 1980s, action star Chuck Norris advertised Action Jeans, which featured a “unique hidden gusset which allows greater movement without binding or ripping” – a precursor to the pliable jeans that fill retail stores today.
Ryan Hurst, a head coach at GMB Fitness, an online fitness programme, adheres to the adage: “If you can’t do it in jeans, can you really do it?”
Clips on the company’s social media pages frequently show Hurst performing mobility exercises and handstands in dark bluejeans.
“I can do full splits in jeans,” he said.
Stretch-fabric jeans, of course. And yes, he does sweat in them, though not enough to irk him (again, this is about him lifting and doing some yoga in jeans, not running).
“Why would you not just want to be able to move whenever you could, instead of thinking that it has to be done in a certain time, in a certain location and wearing a particular outfit,” Hurst said.
Is there anything Hurst wouldn’t work out in?
“A G-string,” he said. “That’s not comfortable for me.” – ©2024 The New York Times Company
