Polypropylene Fabric Softener

Specialized clothes can help your workout

Until recently, my favorite workout wear consisted of a ratty U.S. Open T-shirt from 1993 (the year I graduated from high school) and a pair of worn, cut-off cotton bicycle shorts from roughly the same era. I am flinching just describing this ensemble in type, but it never really bothered me before: I mean, who cares what you look like when you're sweating it out at the gym, right?

Well, I just started running again for the first time in a while and, after noticing all of the fitted, fashionable get-ups blowing by me, I decided to visit one of those bastions of sleek, stylish and costly athletic apparel that have inspired cultlike devotion, to try some of their gear. And I must say that I totally get the hype now. For one thing, I look about five pounds thinner and more in shape in my shiny new black running tights, which seems worth the price of admission alone.

But does this new and improved exercise attire — with such thoughtful little details as chafe-resistant flat seams, body-mapped perforation for airflow, built-in reflective designs, anti-stink fabric and a nifty little pocket for my iPod, credit card and keys — actually help performance?

"There's no doubt that better-quality, more comfortable athletic clothing can have benefits, from both a physical and psychological standpoint," says exercise physiologist Thomas Altena of Missouri State University. "It's like cars: Until you get into the high-tech gear, you don't really know what you're missing."

To start, the right material will help regulate your body temperature. This can affect heart function, which in turn influences how difficult you perceive an activity to be, says exercise physiologist Delia Roberts, a fellow with the American College of Sports Medicine.

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