Keeping fit and fashionable
Phil Milbank from John Henry Sports with some tennis kit.
IF festive excesses have left you finding your jeans are a bit on the tight side, you may be considering taking up a new sport in the coming months.
But where as a decade ago a pair of leggings, or old jogging bottoms, may have been the first you pulled on, with major advances in the science behind sports clothing, what you wear to exercise can not only affect how you look, but how you perform.
We visited John Henry Sports at 207 Wellingborough Road, where store director Phil Milbank, guided us through some of the latest clothing available for some popular sports.
Running
ONE of the cheapest sports around, you don’t need to join a gym to run and its a quick way to get fit.
“Since the credit crunch running has become really big, as people have thought about whether or not they can afford to go to the gym,” said Phil.
“The most popular running shoe is Asics.
“There are two main styles, a neutral shoe that allows you to run normally and a cushion shoe with a high bridge.
“When people are buying running shoes, we do look at the ir gait and we also have a board to see the size of the arch they need, we find 90 per cent of people need some structure.
“Getting the right shoe is about function not fashion, you need to get a shoe that is comfortable and is right for your running style.
“In clothing we sell the very bright high visible tops and accessories.
“A lot of people are running around their villages in the evening and realise the importance of being seen.
“We sell a lot of base layer clothing in leggings and tops.
“They keep you warm and keep the sweat away from your body. You wear them tight, as it compresses your muscles and means the lactic acid doesn’t build up, so you can run for longer, some of the pros even sleep in them because it helps them to recover quicker.”
Swimming
SQUEEZING yourself into a swimsuit after a break from exercise is always daunting, but the health benefits can be huge.
“There are a lot of different styles in the swim suits: crossed back, high back, medium leg, low leg,” says Phil.
“What you are really paying for is the longevity of the suit and how long it will endure swimming in all the chemicals you find in pools.
“For men you either have the trunk or the Aqua short, which is a longer version of the tight trunks.
“We don’t stock budgie smugglers, but we do still get some people asking for them.
“For the more serious swimmer, the tighter trunk is better and more streamlined. The shorts style tends to be more for pool side pursuits like going to the steam room or in the gym.”
Tennis
IT may not be quite warm enough to think about tennis but when the weather picks up one of the biggest trends for male players is the colour orange.
“We have the new shirt that Andy Murray will be wearing in the Australian Open by Adidas, which has made the colour very on trend,” said Phil.
“The shirt is designed to be comfortable when you are playing; it has a vent in the back and is cut thinking about the stretches involved in the sport.
“The orange trend isn’t in the ladies stuff as much. There are so many different styles and colours, but classic white is still the biggest seller.
“Women now wear skorts, which is across between a skirt and shorts. It looks like a skirt but has the security of shorts and has somewhere to keep your ball.
“You can also get skorts for hockey but they have a slightly different cut.”
General sports clothes
“IN sports clothes it is function over fashion, how it feels should be a lot more important than how it looks,” said Phil.
“All of the brands now make T-shirts in fabrics which keep you dry, for instance Adidas call it Climalite, but they will all do the job.
“For women we always recommend getting a good sports bra.
“They say sports participation drops alarmingly from about age 24 in women. Running without a sports bra can not only cause a lot of damage but it can put young women off sport because it hurts.
“We do basic t-shirts and tracksuit bottoms for warm-ups or in the gym. Tracksuit bottoms that have a 3/4 length zip can be useful.
“You will find with the different sports clothing, the clothes are sewn in a different way to take into account the specific sports.”
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