From the Internet: 'No shirt, no multi-shade skin'

(This piece by MELVIN appeared in RunnersDrinkBeer.com)

How many people out there – guys and girls – run shirtless? And for what reason?
Me? In the summer I often times run shirtless. Why? It’s cooler and prevents the farmer tan. Wearing a dry-fit shirt, sleeveless or not, my skin turns 3 different shades:

Shade 1 – the not covered portion of your skin. IE, the part of your arms not covered by your shirt and your watch, and your calves/legs not covered by shorts/shoes. Darkest shade. (And before you ask, I use sunscreen w/ UVA/UVB protection)
Shade 2 – the the covered portion of my skin with my shirt. Dry-fit is meant to be airy and breathable but unfortunately doesn’t block 100% of rays. There are new dry-fit shirts with UVA/UVB protection that are designed to be 'virtual sunblock'. Otherwise, shirts don’t block 100% of sun that comes in.
Shade 3 – the covered portion of my arm from my iPod band and shorts. Simply put, no sun, so those portions are always pale.

It’s bad enough having a farmer's tan, but 3 shades is ridiculous. There’s the argument of “are you really staying cooler?” There are different arguments and theories to this. One the one hand, if you’re not having clothing covering you up, wind helps dry the sweat out and you get a nice even tan. It’s the simple logic of “the less clothes you’re wearing, the cooler your body will be”. But there’s the other argument that wearing dry-fit clothing helps wick moisture away from your body and keeps you cooler, instead of having a heavy cotton shirt weighing you down.

But, given that last argument, what weighs more – a dry fit shirt with minimal sweat or no shirt? Point made.

There’s some people that do it solely for vanity purposes. IE, impress the ladies. And based on other bloggers? Guess it works. In an old issue of Mens Health, it asked what were the top 10-20 things a guy could do that turns a woman on. What was at the top of the list? Running shirtless. So if you need a reason to get into shape, running shirtless to turn ladies on is it. I can’t say that hearing a honk or a “woohoo yea baby” being yelled out the window is such a bad thing every now and then.

And if you’re a lady – the equivalent would be running in a sports bra. Regardless, that takes a lot of guts… it's not like you’re sitting around at the pool or beach. You’re running and things are bouncing…um, yea. You get my drift.

I’ve now switched to running shirtless 100% of the time, except for in the gym.