What type of activewear fabric is the best choice for you?

by Tuhura Athletics

Wearing clothes that perform as great as they look can be the difference between an average workout and an awesome one! A pair of leggings can feel great when you try it on, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it will actually perform well when you’re sweating buckets or maintain its shape after multiple hot water washes! To make it easier to pick out what will work best for you, we narrowed down the pros and cons of popular active wear fabrics used in our clothing below:

Natural fibers (Cotton): 

We all know and love cotton because it feels great against our skin, which is why it’s such a common fabric for loungewear and lifestyle apparel products, but unless it’s blended with other more technical fabrics it doesn’t tend to make for great gym wear fabric, especially in the scorching Pakistan summers. 

Pros:

  • Comfortable, soft, and breathable
  • Antimicrobial so don’t get stinky
  • Good for sensitive skin as it does not breed bacteria
  • Great for t-shirts during low-medium intensity workouts

Cons:

  • Cotton does not repeal moisture (i.e. sweat)
  • 100% cotton fabric gets wet and heavy and takes a longer time to dry
  • 100% cotton can lead to chafing in hot weather
  • 100% cotton causes piling of fabric after multiple washes

Synthetic Fibers(Polyester, Nylon, Spandex):

The 1970s cast a long shadow over the world of synthetic fibers — memories of clingy, sweaty polyester shirts certainly die hard! But synthetic fabrics have come a long way since then and not all man-made fabrics are created equal. Here are a list of pros and cons for synthetic fabrics:

Pros

  • Have moisture wicking properties hence keep the body dry at all times
  • Long lasting, durable, no piling and recover to shape well
  • No chafing even after long workouts since the seams don’t get wet
  • Stretches a lot, so it almost always hugs the body well

Cons

  • They tend to breed bacteria and get stinky after multiple workouts (unless they have an anti-microbial finish)
  • Not environmentally friendly to produce or discard. 

The Bottom Line: Go for blended fabric

In order to get the benefits of both natural and synthetic fabrics, it is ideal to go for blended fabrics. Most of Tuhura gym wear is made with blended fabric to reap the benefits of both cotton and synthetics. For our shirts we use higher cotton blended fabric so the garment remains cool to the skin. For leggings and sports bras we use a higher synthetic blend to hold the body together better and to prevent chafing.

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