Workout clothes and athleisure fashion has become a multi-billion Naira industry on its own but did you know, if instructions had been followed in history, they wouldn’t exist at all. Because when gyms started in Ancient Greek civilisation, visitors were required not to put on clothes.
In fact, this is where our word “gymnasium” comes from; gymnos means naked in Ancient and Modern Greek. The exact reasoning behind this is unclear. Maybe they thought it will make after-gym shower time shorter if you didn’t have to bother with removing those tight spandex. Maybe gym owners were tired of patrons complaining of distracting bulges and curves from other gym users. Whatever the reason, this fad persisted for a while before common sense prevailed. Although, there are still no rules against showing up in a public gym naked. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bold sign outside a gymnasium prohibiting it. I’m just saying.
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