Gym, Tan, Laundry, Socks: Bombas

This post is sponsored by Bombas, making our workouts look good and bringing socks  to those that need it.

I did something pretty big last week–not big because it’s a big deal, but big because I’ve been telling myself I’m going to do it for a long time. I joined a gym. Now, even if I never actually work out there, I can at least drop “my gym” in conversations.

There was a period in my life where I spent a lot of time at the gym, and all I have to show for it are some wedding photos of people that look nothing like us now. I’m not going to lie–we didn’t go to the gym to “be healthier”; we wanted to look buff and tan for our wedding. The gym took care of the buff; the spray tan that bled bronzy stuff all over my wedding dress took care of the tan.

Nineish years later, I joined a gym for the right reasons–childcare and an hour watching HGTV uninterrupted. There’s an elliptical machine and some weights in there somewhere too, I guess, but they’re not important.

Where were we?
Gyms stress me out. Back in my homeschool days, my mom used to take us to the gym at University of Michigan’s Flint campus. There were a lot of young people there. Cool, good-looking young people, and I spent the entire gym hour stressing about who was looking at us because it only takes one time of your  mom sitting on the Nautilus equipment backwards, making her body go all cock-eyed to pull the weights down and a hot guy walking up to tell her she’s using it wrong to scar you for life.

Thankfully, Heidi joined the gym with me this year, so if we’re using the equipment wrong, there’s two going down in the ship.

Here’s my overcompensation tip for my returning-to-the-gym fear: look cute. This isn’t exactly the soundest advice, but it works for me. If I’m going to straddle what I thought was a leg bench only to be told it’s where your head goes, pray tell I’m doing it in some cute little workout outfit.

“Let’s get new workout clothes to help us get excited,” Heidi suggested.

Yes. Let’s do that.

So we owned the gym last week. Walked in that place in head-to-toe perfect workout clothes which, sure, says GYM TOURIST, but at least we showed up. And we worked out. And we’re going to do it again. And we’re going to drop OUR GYM in lots of conversations. Gym, tan and laundry, baby. Scratch that, I’ll never conquer laundry.

Here’s what I promise: no “Hey look, I’m working out” selfies. Okay, that’s a lie. I’m totally posting a gym selfie because if it didn’t happen on Instagram, it didn’t happen. I kid, I kid.

Now let’s move on to the Gym Socks. I gotcha covered here, and you’re going to like it. There are so many great companies giving us opportunities to use our purchasing power to help others—the socks didn’t want to be left out of the game. In fact, socks are the number one clothing request at homeless shelters.

Enter Bombas (as seen on Shark Tank!). Bombas are athletic-leisure socks, re-engineered to look better, feel better and perform better, with a mission to help those in need. For every sock purchased, Bombas donates a pair to someone in need (like Toms or Warby Parker for socks!). Bombas has donated over 300,000 socks to those in need since launching in Oct 2013.

Bombas spent two years researching and developing their socks—bet you never knew how much goes into a comfortable sock, eh? These socks are like Willy Wonka’s secret Gobstopper recipe for comfort. They stay up, don’t slip, are the perfect balance of snug and thickness, have a back tab to prevent blisters (ankle socks), are made of Long Staple Pima Cotton, cool in the summer, warm in the winter—basically so comfy, Bombas has a 100% happiness guarantee. If you don’t think they’re the most comfortable socks you’ve ever worn, they’ll refund your entire purchase. Really.

Order Bombas and get 20% off your entire order of any size with the code KELLEHAMPTON20.

I’m going to ace this new workout thing because: sock game.

Thank you Bombas for sponsoring this post, and thank you readers for checking out the sponsors that help make keeping up this blog a little easier.