8,105
edits
Changes
From Fellrnr.com, Running tips
no edit summary
* The main downside I've found to HeatGear is that there is no odor resistance. This isn't too much of a problem while training at home or racing, but I found it a major pain if I'm traveling and can't wash my running gear regularly. I love merino wool, which has good natural odor resistance, but it's expensive, fragile, and I've yet to find a compression top made of merino wool. For travel, the best option I've found so far for odor resistance is [[XOSKIN]].
* When it's hot and humid enough that you are dripping with sweat and soaking through all clothing, it doesn't matter so much that the thin material spreads out the sweat. HeatGear is still better than any other clothing I found because its thinness offers less insulation than you'd get with something thicker. However, if you're out of the sun and sweating profusely, you may be better off with bare skin. This is not a huge difference, but running at night in intense heat and humidity, I sometimes prefer bare skin to HeatGear.
* If you're running in extreme heat, and very low humidity, then HeatGear works very well for protecting you from the sun and spreading out your sweat. In those situations, most runners tend to keep their clothing soaked by spraying themselves with water. If you can do this reasonably regularly, and then I think HeatGear works well, but other runners have had success with much thicker material that will hold more water, and therefore require less frequent dowsing.
* A thin white top that's wet does tend to be quite revealing, so this may be a factor.
=Black and White =
File:UA HR BW (4).jpg| Where the white top is wet, the temperature is 72f/22c
</gallery>
=Under Armour Iso-Chill=
Under Amour have a variation of HeatGear called "Iso-Chill." UA claim that Iso-Chill feels cooler to the touch and it will "''pull heat away from the skin, physically making you cooler''." I assume they mean the fabric will transmit heat more easily, but details are lacking. UA also claims Iso-Chill will increase the time taken to reach [[VO2max|V̇O^=2^ max]], but they give nothing to back up this claim. The only detail they do mention is treating the fibers with titanium dioxide, which is how I found Iso-Chill. There is research showing that titanium dioxide fabrics will reflect far infrared (heat) and improve infrared emissions. The idea is that you could have a fabric that's dark but reflects heat like a white fabric. I decided to try some Iso-Chill fabrics and compare them with regular HeatGear. I already have a white long-sleeved top, and I ordered a white Iso-Chill top, along with camouflage-black Iso-Chill leggings and mostly white regular HeatGear leggings. I used some regular black 2XU leggings for a worst-case scenario.
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File: UA IsoChill 1.jpg| The Iso-Chill setup. Left to right, Iso-Chill white top, normal HeatGear white top, mottled HeatGear leggings, Iso-Chill black camo leggings, black 2XU leggings.
File: UA IsoChill 2.jpg| The infrared view shows the garments are cooler on the left, rising as you go right.
</gallery>
A simple evaluation is to lay out each item of clothing in full sun and see how hot the get. This is a bit artificial as clothing is normally in contact with a body, but it gives an idea of the heat absorption. The white Iso-Chill top was coolest, at only 25c, with the white HeatGear top are warmer at 29c, a surprising difference. The mottled leggings are 33c, which shows how much the small amount of black mottling changes the temperature. The camo black Iso-Chill leggings are a toast 47c, and the 2XU are up to 52c. So, the color is still the dominating force in the temperature, but the Iso-Chill helps. I've run in all these items quite a bit, and my real-world findings match the thermal images quite well. The Iso-Chill top is a bit cooler than the normal white top, but it's not a big difference. The black camo Iso-Chill leggings make a noticeable and worthwhile difference to the perceived temperature in full sun, and I'd always wear them over regular leggings if I was trying to stay cool rather than trying to stay warm. The mottled white leggings win out for hot sunning conditions if you don't mind the look. Generally, I've had a mixture of complements and odd looks with the mottled white leggings, so it will depend on your aesthetic tolerance which you chose.
