[Guest post] A new shirtless brother

(Andy wrote in with his recent 'conversion'... He dispensed with the safety top in double quick time too. Welcome him, brothers and sisters 🤗. Like he says, it's about enjoying your running.)

Growing up as a chubby kid, being shirtless was one of the last things I'd ever do in public. Even at home, I never showed my bare chest to any of my family members. For pool parties, tubing events, or beach parties, I always had my shirts on. In my youth, as soon as I formed my identity and started thinking (~5 years old), I never took off my shirts in public.

Then when I was 16~17 years old, I lost lots of weight. My adolescent hormones definitely helped, but I also wanted to be in decent shape for the first time of my life. So I ran a lot, every day, around the neighborhood and school. I finally got a teenager runner's body. However, although I gained enough confidence to at least show a bare chest when changing to PE clothes in the locker room, I'd never take my shirts off in public.

Fast-forwarding my story, now I'm 37 years old. Over 20 years from high school, I've gained lots of weight and lost all that for like 3 times. Every cycle, I learned that I had to work out a lot harder as I got older, and by the 3rd time I lost weight, which was in 2019, I decided to break this cycle. So far, for two years, I've been maintaining well and losing more fat while gaining muscle through weight workouts. But I still wouldn't take my shirts off in public.

I hadn't been consistent with running. Since 2019, after my 3rd cycle of gaining and losing weight, I was able to maintain my weight without running. But I could not forget the runner's high, the breeze over my face, and just the good refreshing feeling after you complete the loop. Plus, I got more ambitious now with my body shape that I really wanted to get rid of those couple inches of persistent love handles. I knew running is the key, so I started running again last week. All those good memories of running immediately returned and I enjoyed every minute of it. But I realized that somehow the weather felt a lot hotter than before.

Maybe global warming, or just me. But taking political subjects out of the context, I couldn't explain why, but I just felt like it was just too hot to run. I've run in August plenty of times in my life, and yes, every time it was sizzling hot. But somehow something was different this time. I ran for 3 days with shirts, and I couldn't enjoy running anymore. So on the 4th day, after passing a half point of the loop, I took my shirts off. That's when I suddenly got a boost of refreshing energy, as well as a bit of embarrassment, and started running again to the completion without stopping. It felt great, but I was also super conscious of other people's glimpse of me, that I just wanted to finish running. But in the end, inside my car, I was so proud of myself and decided to try the next day.

And the next day, I got out of my car, leaving my shirts inside the car. I put my music on and started running. At first, I was so embarrassed, so I skipped all my warming-up routine and just started running. After running for a mile or so, I've realized two things - 1. No one really cared about my body, and 2. I stopped caring about what others think of my body. I was drenching and breathing hard that I was just too busy focusing on myself to finish the loop. As the runner's high started kicking in and feeling the nice breeze all over my body, I told myself I'm never going back to running with shirts (unless the weather will freeze me to death).

So it's been about 5 days, and I'm proudly running with no shirts. I've passed a couple of acquaintances, and although at first I was a bit embarrassed, I convinced myself to think like I'm at a public swimming pool or so. And I'm using this as my motivation to work out harder to stay in shape. I'm not trying to say that people with bad body shape shouldn't run shirtless. It's just that everyone has a different comfort level to get shirtless, and for me, I like my current shape to get myself shirtless. When I look at other runners, whether shirtless or not, it's not their body shape I care, but more about how fast they are or how good runners they are.

How I got hooked on running shirtless (guest post)

By Jon Adams

On a steamy June morning, I put on a pair of running shorts, shoes, and my fitness tracker watch, locked the door, and left my apartment for my morning run. You might have noticed I didn’t include “shirt” on that list — a nerve-wracking decision. Even though I wasn’t new to shirtless running, it was my first time doing it in this new neighborhood. I felt myself gravitating back towards my door as the elevator opened up to take me to the lobby. But I took a few deep breaths, saw nobody was coming (still skittish about my neighbors), and went down the elevator and to the park.

I had a great run. It was a lot better than my run the day before, where I wore a “moisture-wicking” singlet that was stiflingly hot and uncomfortable. But stripped to the waist, my run wasn’t just tolerable—it was fun and exciting. And go figure, as I rounded the corner, I saw another runner who had taken off his shirt in an effort to combat the humidity. Solidarity!

It took me a while to get here. Growing up, I was reluctant to take off my shirt. I didn’t like my family seeing me shirtless, and I surely didn’t want anyone else to either. I know a lot of women are jealous of men’s ability to be completely bare to the waist, but when I was a kid, I was actually jealous of women for not having to bare so much skin at the pool. So if you had told me at age 11 that one day I’d willingly run shirtless, I think I would have freaked out. 

Seven years later, I attended a university that was right across the street from one of my city’s most popular running trails. Like I said, my city is hot and humid, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary to see guys running without shirts. While it looked cool—both in the sense that these guys looked comfortable against the beaming sun and in the sense that these guys emanated confidence and a devil-may-care attitude— I wasn’t going to do it. I didn’t have six-pack abs or a chiseled body. I wasn’t even a good runner. But man, those guys were inspiring. 

Recently, a series of life events led me to start taking my health and fitness much more seriously. Though diet and exercise, I lost 30 pounds last year. Six-pack abs? Not quite, but I decided it was time. I’d drive back to that trail and run without a shirt. 

Of course, you can guess exactly what happened: I got out of my car, freaked out, and keep my shirt on. Three times. But the fourth time, something changed: I passed a guy running shirtless. I saw that as a divine sign of permission, took a deep breath, and peeled my t-shirt off. I ran a grand total of 900 feet. (I remember exactly because I have a fitness tracker.) I put my shirt back on, but I had the sense of accomplishment because, at least temporarily, I was a shirtless runner. 

Then one day, as I arrived at the track, I noticed three guys running together, all shirtless. No safety shirts. Full converts. I knew the time had come for me to do the same. So I took my shirt off, left it in the car, and took off running. That morning, I ran twice as far and had twice the fun. I was hooked. 

I’ve had quite a few stories since fully converting to shirtless running. I’ll share my favorites. One was when I arrived at the trail and saw a shirtless runner in the distance waiting for his friend. Once his friend arrived and stepped out of the car, he nodded his head and took off his shirt too. Another happened when I was walking back to my car after I’d finished a run. As I rounded the corner to the parking lot, I made eye contact with a guy wearing a t-shirt from his local running club, getting ready to start his jog. I was toweling, and not paying much attention until when I saw him again thirty seconds later. His shirt was gone. I can’t help but wonder if I was the reason he decided to go shirtless. 

But my favorite has to be when I met another shirtless runner. Around the 1.5-mile mark of my local running trail, there’s a bridge that serves as a rest stop for runners to take a breather. And there was this runner, who, like me, had decided to bare his chest on his evening run. 

“How you doing?” he asked me between breaths.

“I’m good,” I said. “Catching my breath, like you are.”

“Nice shirt,” he grinned.

“All the cool kids are doing it,” I quipped back. 

In closing, I hope you know this blog does more than inspire people to run shirtless—it inspires people, period. Running shirtless teaches you that you can make a difference, When that fellow runner I mentioned above took his shirt off after seeing me, it was probably because of my decision to run shirtless. My actions impacted others and made a difference. 

I know you advertise the three C’s for shirtless running as comfort, camaraderie, and convenience, but I’d like to propose a fourth: confidence. Consistently running shirtless reassures you that those fears of everyone judging you are unfounded. In contrast to my anxieties, nobody has ever given me flack for running shirtless. In fact, by this point, if someone ever did, I’d probably just ignore them because I like doing it. And doing what you want regardless of what others might think—now that’s confidence.

Anyhow, it’s getting late. I’m getting up at 5:30 a.m. to go running tomorrow. Shirtless, of course.

Happy trails!

Beating the "blanket of humidity" (guest post)

Chris from Alabama, new to running sans shirt, tells his tale.

I grew up in south Alabama where the summer heat and humidity are extreme. It always seemed like shirts were optional for any kind of outdoor activity for my friends, but I never felt comfortable doing that. I’d ditch my shirt to go swimming, but that was about it. Looking back, I think it was because I wasn’t involved in team sports and didn't consider myself athletic.

As an adult, I got a lot more into exercise and fitness and have always been pretty fit. Even with all of my lifting, running, biking, etc., I've never felt comfortable going shirtless. I'll admit that always wanted to feel more comfortable doing so, because it looked like a lot more fun. Mostly, I wanted that confidence that seemed to go with the ability to peel off your shirt before, during, or after a run. I never equated it with exhibition as much as being confident and fit.

I’ve always set and motivated myself to achieve short-term goals. After recently discovering and identifying with @barethomas' blog, I decided that one of my fitness goals in May would be to strip off my shirt during a regular morning run. (A perfect time since that's usually when the blanket of humidity that covers us May - September, moves in) The posts and stories included in the blog helped encourage me to stick to my goals and served as a reminder that there are always people around that understand how you feel.

On one of my morning runs late in May, the summer heat and humidity had kicked in and I knew it was time. I told my neighbor/running-buddy it was time for “power-mode,” and peeled off my shirt to finish the run. I definitely felt more comfortable without the soggy shirt, but it was the surge in confidence and energy that made me finish strong that morning. (I do usually run with my neighbor.  He’s taken his shirt off during a couple of extremely hot mornings, so I never thought that it would he would think twice about it.) After that day, I pulled off my shirt during a run or cool-down a few more times, but as other posts in the blog have mentioned, I knew that my shirt was still there for safety.

In June, I challenged myself to act like a shirtless-convert and leave my house for a run without a shirt. Last week I completed that goal! It felt fantastic, but my running-buddy was on vacation and I knew that made it a little (okay, a LOT) easier. Because of that, I feel like I'm not quite done. It wasn't a normal run.

I’ve continued to leave my house shirtless for more than a week now, but the hurdle of showing up in shorts to meet my running-bud for a typical run is still there. I'll be closer to calling myself a convert then.

'We shirtless guys and girls in jogbras' (Guest post)

Phil from Rhode Island describes his "feeling of elation" at sustaining his conversion to shirtless running.

 

I wanted to share my story about embracing shirtless running.

Ever since I got married, I have been trying to be more active, for the sake of my wife and my future kids. One way I've been accomplishing that goal is through running. I've always enjoyed running and until recently have only done so fully clothed. But recently I decided to change all that.

I've been on shirtless runs before. Many years ago I used to run with a friend who was a track runner. One hot day on the trail he pulled ahead of me and in one swift motion pulled his shirt over his head and continued on. By the time I caught up the sweat was pouring down his chest. He looked over to me and suggested I did the same, telling me that I would be more comfortable. Without a second thought I did the same. The feeling was liberating; the cool breeze against my bare chest, the warmth of the shaded sun. Not to mention the charge of two shirtless guys on the trail encountering several girls in tank tops and jog bras.

Fast forward to now. With the long New England winter finally behind us I had been itching to get out and enjoy the weather. My first few morning runs this year have been chilly, still cool enough for a t-shirt. Now that the summer has arrived though, I've been out shirtless as much as possible. And I still get the same feeling of elation as I did back then. Seeing my fellow fitness buffs out on the road or along the beach helps to push me along. It has even inspired me to complete my first 5K since high school.

Now if only I could find a gym around here that would allow guys to lift shirtless. 

'One of the completely converted': First day sans safety shirt [guest post]

John D has just undergone that rite dubbed "full conversion" - heading out for a run barechested (or in sportsbra), without a safety shirt. This is his lively account, originally an email.

I've come a pretty long way from when I was a kid and had a very strange aversion to being shirtless around anyone, anywhere. Even when my fifth grade class went to the Y for a week of swimming, I insisted I keep my T-shirt on (this was completely my idea, by the way. I was a stubborn kid).  But over the years, I've gotten used to the freedom of being shirtless in various appropriate contexts, whether it is ninety minutes of hot yoga, hanging out at a gay pride festival or playing a shirts and skins pickup soccer game.

But actually jogging shirtless for some strange reason has always made me a bit nervous.  Like you [referring to the owner of this blog], I was once one of those guys that thought the men running around without shirts were - gasp! - exhibitionists, and I H*A*T*E drawing attention to myself!  But the first time I actually got the nerve to go running shirtless was last year, when I whipped my top off as I was jogging past Johns Hopkins University (lovely campus).  Despite the worries about my not terribly buffed upper body (I've lost a bit of weight but still have a pound or two that likes to show itself), my chest hair (there's more than a bit) or people maybe yelling "PUT YOUR SHIRT ON!" (no one has ever done that), I got more comfortable with taking my shirt off when it was overly hot.

But today, I became one of the completely converted. For the first time ever, I made myself take my shirt off in my apartment, leave it on the bed, and head outside completely bare chested.  My apartment is next to a small garage where some tenants have cars, so sneaking out the back was easy enough. But at least twice from the alley to the street, I told myself "Oh damn, I can't do this!" Still, as I got to the street, I just decided to forget about the others around me.  I now live closer to downtown Baltimore, but it's still easy enough to find not-so-well-traveled side streets that I can jog without too many people seeing me - that does make it easier. But I jogged for the better part of an hour in the warm sun, completely stripped to the waist.  

And I gotta say, man, it felt so much more natural, comfortable, freeing and even a bit empowering not having a shirt in hand.  To top it off, not a single person seemed to care, or if they did they didn't say anything.  On the downside, I forgot to bring water with me, so that made me miserable, but apart from that it just felt awesome.  Sir, you have indeed converted me to the brotherhood / sisterhood of jogging shirtless / sportsbra'd, without a shirt in hand as a crutch, and I am looking forward to doing it again the next time I go jogging.

And yes, I guess the next step is working up my nerve to go running in a more populated area than I did, but baby steps here, and no harm if I stick to the less travelled roads ;)

[Guest post] Running shirtless - 'the common sense thing to do'

How one man became 'completely comfortable in his own skin'

by Henry

I grew up in high school not the most athletic person and therefore was very, very insecure with going around shirtless.......even at the pool I would wear a shirt.  I had pale skin, skinny arms and legs, and a gut.  When I did go running it was always with a shirt and I remember the shirt sticking to my skin and a gross feeling when I was done.  Indiana summers can be very unpleasant in terms of heat and humidity.  When I was in college I made a choice to better myself in mind and body.  I remember going to the gym at 6am in the cold Indiana autumn mornings and frigid Indiana winters with no one to spot me or work out with, but I had a goal, and that was to build my self-esteem by building my body.  It took a lot of self-motivation, but being on science scholarship meant I had to maintain all As in science and math, and to have good grades I needed a good regimented program.  By going to the gym I was getting into a healthy routine.  As spring came I noticed that I had a little more definition to my arms and upper body.  In the wintertime I did cardio strictly by swimming, but now it was spring and I wanted to get fresh air.

There was no transition into running shirtless.  I just realized that my physique looked passable enough to run with no shirt on.  I simply drove to the track, stripped my shirt off, applied suntan lotion, and I was off.  After only a few days I had a very healthy tan and felt completely comfortable in my own skin.  Whenever I saw another shirtless runner in better shape than me, it only solidified my motivation to get to the shape he was in.  Now I feel a sense of pride whenever I see a guy, start off running with a shirt on in 90 degree muggy heat until he sees me with no shirt on, eventually stripping his own off.  It's sort of a brief bond that develops between too complete strangers.  Even when I run 5ks I will start with a shirt on with the bib number applied to my shorts knowing at the end I'll be bare chested.  In the summertime I don't strip off in 5ks because I am trying to show off, but it just becomes the common sense thing to do when I can feel the heat and sweat radiating in between my skin and the cloth.  And chafed skin from wearing a shirt is in no way fun.  This upcoming summer I am hoping to run my first 10k, and I'll for sure be shirtless by the end of it.  I love going around outside shirtless and getting a sweet sun tan.  Now I will even do yard work and house painting minus the shirt......it's the natural thing to do. 

Also, I sleep shirtless too now.  Again, I'm more comfortable in my own skin now and the shirt I've found is very uncomfortable to wear in a bed, even in the wintertime.

10 steps to becoming a shirtless runner

I am a shirtless runner. But I wasn't always one. Once upon a time, I sneered at the barechested and the jog-braed, and even after I started feeling a tug towards shedding excessive exercise attire, I was long held back by inhibition, shyness and emotional inertia.

Perhaps you do not think that you could be converted as I was (even if you would like to be)?

Well, drawing on my own experience and that of many others, here are 10 steps. Many of them appear elsewhere in these posts, but I gather them here, and add a new element or two. If you follow them, I suspect your exercise top could end up getting less use, even if you now consider the possibility remote. And it doesn't matter if the weather has turned cold -- some of the first steps can be taken now, and you can build on them so that you may head out shirtless when the temperature is benign once more.

Step 1
See that it's common

 The next time you are in a park, notice just how many of the ordinary folks out keeping fit don't bother with shirts. Runners or joggers. Frisbee or soccer players. Especially when away from the crowds, many people strip down for comfort. These will be folks of widely differing body shapes, ages and levels of fitness, but they have found independently that a shirt is more hindrance than help.Whatever you may have been taught or told, there is no great taboo that needs breaking.


Step 2
Strip off at home

Within the privacy of your own home, take off your shirt. Cast it aside. Then do whatever it is that you would normally do. After a while, you will notice that nothing dreadful happens because you have stripped to your waist. Instead, you may be pleasurably surprised by a feeling of greater freedom of movement. When time comes to resume your shirted existence, your upper garment will have remained as fresh as though just fished from your wardrobe -- your introduction to one of the great benefits of shirtless running: Cutting down on extraneous laundry. Do this a few times, possibly when alone if you are concerned about negative comments.



Step 3

Use the Internet

Google and search at your own pace. You might, admittedly, find screeds by folks who will cite any number of reasons, many allegedly grounded in 'decency', why you should never remove one's top. But you will find much testimony too, to how much is gained by daring to go bare. There are many, many images of folks stripping down and not looking in the least idiotic or obscene. Their stories will be grounded in confidence and body-acceptance rather than narcissism. Whole categories of sportsmen adopt shirtlessness almost as a uniform, certainly when training - gymnasts, wrestlers, cross-country runners and of course swimmers. Look at the photo galleries at many sports camps: Nobody seems to be policing for upper-body coverage.

 Do all this to break down any hidden barriers in your mind. Shirtlessness is immensely normal! This  was an important stage in my own conversion - and the barriers in my mind were high and resolute enough.


Step 4
Get warm on  a run

By now, the notion of trying out a shirtless run should have become less foreign lunacy than interesting notion. When you feel ready, start one of your exercise sessions fully clothed. If anything, overdress. After a little while, the perspiration will be bunching up your shirt material and the discomfort level will build. There is a logic to this torture. The urgency of the need to cast off unnecessary layers will keep at bay any psychic resistance.


Step 5

Don't think, just strip

This next stop is critical. There must be no overthinking; the time for mulling and introspection is past. In one fluid motion, cast off your upper-body attire. You should now be barechested or sports-bra clad. You will feel a marvellous shock as heat dissipates and perspiration on bare skin can play its natural cooling role. Allow yourself to luxuriate in this. You should not cease the sporting activity you were engaged in. It is important that you continue, partly because you want to keep hesitation from crowding in, and partly so your mind can take its first favourable imprint.


Step 6
Acknowledge your sisters and brothers

Now that you have taken a truly major step, begin to see yourself as part of the community of shirtless sportsfolk. Have a friendly smile and a hello for the other shirtless runner you pass going the other way; don't spin your eyes away when a jogbraed woman hoves to. This is not about being intrusive; it is about acknowledging the bond that you share as exercisers who have shed the inessential, who do not need the encumbrances of fancy fabrics or nice-cut tops to gild your exertions. By going shirtless, you have joined a movement, and you have earned your solidarity with the others who have dared to go bare. And you should have plenty of friendliness left over for every other fellow human being too!


Step 7
Feel that sensuous buzz

Having endured a few shirtless sessions, many of us describe a 'sexy charge' as we soldier along stripped and sure. There is no need to deny it and you should rather enjoy it; for me, it is one of the little perks of having converted. By exposing our bodies, after all, we are likely holding ourselves up to a higher standard; we will feel a greater need to ensure that our body-temples are maintained with care, since many is the person who will steal a glimpse, if only fleetingly. There is no issue, then, if a natural frisson of sensuousness occasionally accompanies our assertion of shirtlessness. I have elsewhere called this a domesticated strain of exhibitionism; but then remember that we are exhibitionists when we play a musical instrument, speak in public and do anything that might draw someone's attention. 



Step 8
Confess

During your first shirtless exercise sessions, there will definitely be attacks of nervousness and doubt. These are dealt with in some of the posts on this blog. There is an identity war going on: A part of you wants to reformat your identity to encompass your becoming a shirtless runner. A 'conservative faction' will resist, and throw up any opposition it can. One way to stiffen your still-partial conversion is to 'confess' ('it is good for the soul', after all). I see it online often, when people Tweet to their friends, "Went for shirtless run". By forcing yourself to reveal to someone else that you are at least more open to the shirtless pursuasion, there is a solidification in your own psyche. It will lead in time to greater confidence, and it does not matter if the people you make your revelation to fail to express support. It is more important that you have made that confession. Of course, you need not be theatrical about it; just slip it in naturally, perhaps in a conversation about comfort in exercise, or in a self-deprecating manner


Step 9
Converting fully

A a true shirtless runner does not start out shirted. Why, after all - if we now accept that going bare is natural, healthful and to be encouraged - should we still hide behind an initial vest? When you are ready, therefore, the step that really cements a conversion is to remove one's shirt, lay it aside and then head out - stripped to the waist, with no 'safety shirt' to resort to. If a neighbour, friend or colleague meets you, you must mutely declare your devotion to the shirtless cause. The first time you embrace this full conversion, it can be nerve-racking - but as you thereby prove to yourself that you are simply exercising comfortably and confidently, a new level of liberation and exhilaration will be attained. I still remember the day I first did this, and feeling the honesty of removing the last crutch.


Step 10
Convert others

It may take your months or years to travel the road I have outlined. You may turn aside, in which you are still due credit for having explored rather than simply sneered. But if you stay the course, you may in the fulness of time join those of us who have converted so joyfully, we now want to spread the word.

Online, there are many opportunities for converts to testify to how they have 'gone shirtless'; many have done so, and so added their testimony to the evidence that, as Step 3 above, helped precipitate the conversion process in the first place. I always feel a great sense of satisfaction when I read about how, for instance, a brother convinced a running partner to strip down, or how a sister encouraged her spouse to lose the shirt.

If you believe this blog has helped you, I urge you to write me (barethomas@gmail.com)with your story, so I can share it with others still starting out. The Comment sections are also left unblocked so that anyone may join the discussion.