What to wear to stay cool this summer

THE conundrum of what to wear when you exercise in summer is a tricky one. Sure cotton is great, but regular cotton t-shirts are thick, and that makes a big difference in 40-degree heat. Here’s what to do.

Best exercise clothes for summer revealed

THE conundrum of what to wear in summer is a tricky one. Sure, natural fibres like cotton are great, but regular cotton t-shirts are pretty thick, and that makes a big difference in 40-degree weather.

The trend lately has been towards wearing more sports performance clothing as everyday wear to survive the summer heat, but also keeping the easy-to-pack sports jackets in case you live in Melbourne, where it’s 39 degrees one minute, hailing the next. Of course, the other bonus to having a reasonable wardrobe of good quality sports performance clothing is that you’re better equipped to be able to keep working out all summer long, being comfortably equipped to go for a run, or run some errands.

Sports performance fabrics like LJEXCEL, Supernova, and Climacool claim to have magical sweat wicking powers, and extra cooling capabilities, but very few people know how they actually work. The exact science behind the fabric is a little vague, mostly due to the companies not wanting to give away the secrets behind their trademarked intellectual property. The basic idea, though is that the shirts and shorts are made out of fabric that is woven to be particularly breathable, some with extra venting on the spots that get warmest for men, with different ones for the women. The extra breathability helps the sweat on your skin to evaporate (which is how you cool down naturally), while encouraging the extra moisture away from your skin, if you’re one of the people that gets particularly swamp-like when working out.

The other big feature of the tech fabrics is how well they move: unless you have a blend of something through your straight up cotton t-shirt, it’s not really going to stretch much. Tech clothes are designed to stretch in all directions so as to not restrict your movement. Basically, the clothes are designed to stop elite athletes from overheating while they do impressive feats of strength: They should help you not melt when you go to the supermarket.

To find out a bit more about how the tech fabrics work, and to see how effective they are, I took four outfits through their paces. I tested them in conditions ranging from the 15km City2Sea fun run in the rain, all the through to the most hardcore of all heat survival tests: a car that was parked outside on a 40 degree day without airconditioning. As outfits, they’re great for summer workouts, but you can switch them up and wear them as everyday clothes as well. Here’s what I found out:

OUTFIT 1

This is the outfit I wore for the City2Sea run, and it was very impressive. The new Climachill tech fabric is specially designed to allow air circulation even more than Supernova fabric, one of Adidas’ recent innovations, and it features little aluminium bobbles on the inside in the zones that Adidas think women sweat the most in. On this top, women seem to sweat the most near the top of the racer back and nowhere else.

During the 15km run, I found that the Climachill fabric, while certainly lighter than the Climacool and Climalite fabrics, wasn’t quite as cooling as the Supernova shirts, due to this singlet lacking the mesh panels that the Supernova shirts had. The difference in durability, however, more than made up for the very slight difference in cooling — with the mesh panels of Supernova not surviving a backpack particularly well, while the Climachill fabric didn’t suffer at all from the rubbing of my CamelBak water backpack during the race.

When tested without the CamelBak, the ‘aluminium cooling discs’ worked really well. The aim of the discs is to act like a cooling towel on the places where you need it most. When they’re bouncing against your skin as you run, they can be extremely refreshing and effective.

The moisture wicking powers of the whole outfit were quite impressive. It was raining on and off for the race, but not once did I feel like I was running while wearing a swamp.

The tights were extremely comfortable and supportive, acting like the thigh-bra so many of us feel we need.

But the real star of the show were the shorts. Although these are designed more as training shorts, and they perform best in the gym, they did a great job in the race. They are also really well suited to being worn around town, thanks to their length. They hit that Goldilocks zone of not too long, not too short, while being soft and comfortable enough to wear all day. The Ultimate Shorts live up to their name, and are one of the best pairs of exercise shorts I’ve ever worn.

Adidas Studio Power Laces Tights (Climalite) - $70
Adidas Climachill tank top (Climachill) - $50
Adidas Ultimate shorts — $45
More: www.adidas.com.au

OUTFIT 2

This outfit got tested in a very hot car without air conditioning, on a long run through a forest on a ridiculously hot day, and in a kitchen on a 35 degree day when someone foolishly decided to roast something. Actually, elements of this whole outfit has been worn pretty much constantly as it contained a lot of the most comfortable and effective stuff tested.

To begin with the negatives, the fitted design of the Climachill t-shirt works against the concept of the cooling discs on the back. Here, they’re forced against you the whole time, and they just stay warm rather than using their metal to cool you. This might be why Adidas now have a whole range of loose-fitting Climachill t-shirts taking centre stage.

The Compression socks didn’t compress much. They were OK for a run, but they don’t hold a candle to the compressing powers of 2XU socks, or compression tights.

What did impress me, however, was the racer bra. It might not support the big boobed among us for high impact exercise, but it is extremely comfortable for someone with DDs to do gym work and everyday stuff in. The fabric is gloriously breathable, and, if you have the confidence, it can act quite nicely as a crop top for exercising when it’s just too darn hot for extraneous fabric.

The Adizero Jacket is basically amazing. It’s very lightweight, it can be folded to be smaller than a fist, and yet it protects from rain, wind and cold extremely well. It’s a feeling not too dissimilar to wearing comfortable, non-clingy plastic wrap — but in the best way. It’s designed for running in the rain, but I carry it in my bag for “sunny with a chance of Melbourne” days.

My favourite thing, though, once again, were the shorts. The built-in briefs stop them from riding up and keep them at the perfect length — and all entirely wedgie free.

Adidas Response 6-Inch Shorts — $45
Adidas Climachill Short Sleeve Tee — $55
Adidas Adizero Climaproof Jacket — $120
Adidas Compression Socks — $30
Adidas Supaova Racer Bra — $50
More: www.adidas.com.au

OUTFIT 3

This outfit was tested in an un-air-conditioned gym in what was effectively a shipping container.

While they were extremely light and comfortable, I felt that these shorts were just a bit too short to be worn without the tights. Without the tights they rode up while running, and ended up looking like ill-fitting underwear. With the tights, however, they effectively stopped the world from viewing the camel-toe that all tights automatically give women, so they did exactly what I needed them to.

The core-strengthening qualities of the tights unfortunately didn’t work for me. In a medium, the core-strengthening was great, but it didn’t fit my thighs, and in the large I wasn’t cutting off circulation to my knees, but the tummy was too loose. Not all sizes can fit all people, and after talking to someone who was the shape these were designed for, I can say that they work, but they just don’t work for everyone.

The top, however, is my absolute favourite exercise singlet of all time. The rubbery pattern on it looks as though it would overheat, but it’s actually surprisingly cooling, and helps to strengthen the shirt. The LJEXCEL fabric really comes into its element here, wicking away moisture and allowing even the most subtle breeze to get through. And, best of all, unlike a lot of other racer back singlets, this one is just the right width to not interfere with shoulder blade movement.

Lorna Jane Concentric Excel Tank — $65.99
Lorna Jane Fuse Run Shorts — $62.99
Lorna Jane Kia 7/8 Core Stability Tights — $92.99
More:www.lornajane.com.au

OUTFIT 4

Outfit 4 was put to work in a hot kitchen on Christmas Day, and during a frenzied last minute Christmas Eve supermarket shop, when the temperature was high and the panic sweat epic.

In this situation, the great bonus of the jacket was that it was warm, but not too warm, and protected me from both light rain and the spitting oil from the frying pan. It also looked great, even though it slightly reminds me of the wetsuits from the second Hunger Games movie.

This singlet top was lighter than the Concentric Excel Tank, though wasn’t quite as breathable in some places, but that was made up for by the strategic-yet-attractive mesh on the cleavage, armpits and back.

My favourite part of this outfit, though, was the Skinny Flashdance pants. They’re very light, while also comfortable and soft. Plus they manage to pull off the balancing act between being low enough to not overheat your stomach, while high enough to not give you plumber’s crack. During summer, you’re not going to want to wear shorts every single day, and on that day, the these are the answer.

Lorna Jane Skinny Flashdance Pants — $75.99
Lorna Jane Indiana Excel Tank — $62.99
Lorna Jane Spot Me Excel Zip Through — $139.99
More: www.lornajane.com.au

ESSENTIALS

Of course, summer clothing isn’t just about the things you can see, you also have to take your socks and jocks into account.

Thorlo socks are basically the best socks available. They might be quite expensive (around $30 a pair), but they’ll last you for 10 or more years and they’ll look after your feet, no matter what shoes you’re putting them in. The high quality, specially woven cotton padding will absorb all your gross foot sweat, while reducing pain and minimising any damage the activities you’re doing to your feet might cause.

The other thing you need to take into account is that summer means wearing more tight clothing, and you probably don’t feel like wearing your sexy underwear everyday. Tom-Boi is a new Melbourne brand that brings some of the elements of men’s underwear to women’s undies. While traditional women’s undies are designed to accentuate the buttocks when you’re not wearing pants, when you are wearing pants, they just show a visible panty line, or worse — give you a wedgie for the world to see. Tom-Boi undies, particularly the Boi-Legs actually cover your whole bum — leaving you VPL free and comfy. They also have good airflow, however the leg holes can be a little on the small side, so keep that in mind when ordering.

Thorlo socks are available from Rebel Sport and Athlete’s Foot.
Tom-Boi undies available from www.tom-boi.com/shop/