Shirtlessness at running camps

I've come across some sites that advertise or document activities at 'running camps'. I've not personally attended one, having never taken the sport up that seriously, but on the 'Photos' sections I've noted something very telling:

These folks, when they go for their training runs, fall heavily into the 'who needs a shirt?' category.

Among males, a good 80 per cent overall are shirtless as they pad along. Among females, over 50 per cent are in their jogbras, which as you may recall qualifies as 'honorary shirtlessness' in my book. Numerous large groups of males are to be found running along with not even one member clad in a constrictive upper-body garment. Mostly, none of them is even carrying a shirt in his hand or tucked into his shorts, so it is clear everyone had started off confidently bare-chested.

The first thing one might conclude is that, when there is 'safety in shirtless numbers', the natural upshot amongst runners is to shed shirt and run free. For those of us, then, it may often be the inhibiting effect of running alone or with someone who doesn't make the first move to strip to the waist that keeps us all 'topped-up'. Ironically, of course, it would seem then if we take the initiative to take off our shirts, it is at least possible that our running partners, or others in the vicinity, might feel more comfortable following suit.

The difference shirtlessness can confer

What follows isn't strictly about running (shirtless or otherwise), but the moral I would draw therefrom is what justifies its inclusion here.

I was on my way to lunch the other day, the sun burning high in the sky, when I passed three or four boys - they couldn't have been more than fourth-graders - just concluding a game of basketball. They had all stripped to the waist and seemed in the highest of spirits as they ceded the court to a female foursome.

Perhaps 30 minutes later, I was retracing my steps after my meal when I saw that three different boys were now playing. Their shirts were still on, but plastered with perspiration - and the expressions were grim as the ball was passed and shot. In sum, the trio seemed less to be enjoying some healthful exercise as trying to complete an onerous assignment from school.

Now, it may seem like a stretch for me to say this, but I'd go as far as to say that had the troika eased up a bit and peeled off their upper-body attire, they would have enjoyed their workout a lot more. The sun would have warmed them less aggressively and perhaps that indefinable camaraderie that animates shared shirtlessness would have taken hold, making for a spring in step and lightness in heart. And this thought, at least, is easily transposed to running or jogging: Many a time, I've seen a plodder soldiering along bathed in sweat, his shirt literally a-swimming - and pitied him for his refusal to embrace shirtless freedom (I'll admit that, as a man, such sentiments pretty much never strike me when passing a similarly-suffering woman - though intellectually, I hold jogbra-ness to be equally liberating).

The vignette is not quite exhausted. The happier boys I had earlier encountered, as it happened, had still been in evidence as I strolled by after lunch. They were still shirtless and now lounging about in a nearby hut, chatting up a storm with the girls who had taken their place after their game. Now, one can sometimes read screeds online by women who insist that shirtlessness is rude, inconsiderate and lower than robbing the blind. But these schoolgirls must have missed that lecture. The interaction of these youngsters seemed completely natural; the girls themselves were in shorts and T-shirts, but the boys' bare-chestedness was not being held against them. And it leads me to suspect that the great mass of people are similarly free of such prejudices - and so understand that someone shirtless in the name of exercise (whether that be running or some other form) is likely as decent and approachable as the next person.

From the Internet: 'The shirtless coalition'

(This article by NITMOS first appeared in the blog Feet Meet Street in June 2009. It then appeared in The Runner's Lounge).

I’m going to use this format as my way of coming out of the closet. The clothes closet, that is. Or, in this case, the no clothes closet. I’m not talking about streaking. I’m talking about the distinctly male issue of whether or not it’s okay to go shirtless on a summer day’s run.

I’ve seen a recent up tick of blog posts about this topic and the general theme is, no, a man shouldn’t run sans top. It’s considered bad form. It’s cocky. It’s frowned upon. Well, I’m announcing that, on warm summer days, I run without my shirt.

I’m here. I’m shirt-free. Deal with it.

The shirtless male runner is one of the few prejudiced-against groups remaining in the United States these days. Nobody - and I mean nobody - has it worse than us. And we’re tired of it. Though we wear no shirt, we have every right to the road edges and sidewalks. Though you can see the glistening pools of sweat on our chests and treasure trails, we are entitled to a friendly passing runner greeting. If we stumble and fall over a popped-up slice of concrete, do we not bleed?

Do the folks who condemn the shirtless male runner also condemn a shirtless female runner? I think not. No, they encourage it. Double standards!

I know, I know, you are probably thinking, ‘Nitmos, of course you are allowed to run shirtless. My God, those granite chiseled pecs!’ And I get that. When you hear “Beefcake!” shouted at you several times over the course of a leisurely, topless June run, you start to think you are immune to the scorn of the Anti-Shirt Choice establishment.

But I have to support my less well developed (or overly developed) bare-chested brethren (or sistern – really, we ALL encourage that.) We are HERE. We are SHIRT-FREE. DEAL WITH IT!

Have you ever felt the warm summer air pass over the dimpled convex bumps of your exposed areola?

Have you ever let the flood of chest sweat run unimpeded down to your gray running shorts, dampening them in a triangular pattern that makes it appear as if you’ve wet yourself?

Before you head out for a run, have you ever had to inspect your torso and shoulders for flaming, ripe whiteheads to explode (these reflect in the sun and blind passing drivers)?

If you answered No to any of these questions, quite simply, you haven’t lived.

Vote now to show your support for the shirtless runner. We are HERE. We are SHIRT-FREE. Deal with it.

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.

Being shirtless in public an interest to many

I've been checking to see how many of the readers of this blog (which have been far more than I'd ever anticipated) get to this site through a search engine. And it has surprised me how many of them arrive here by way of Google, having keyed in search terms that show a general interest in going shirtless, or running shirtless.

A mere sample of these search terms, from just the last 10 days:

'Shirtless in public'

'Shirtless runner blog'

'running shirtless'

'shirtless jogging'

'women running shirtless' (Note: going jogbraed is honorary shirtlessness in my book)

'dare shirtless jogging' (Note: Go on, try it!)

'gym class bare-chested'

'shirtless running shorts' (Note: Any sort of attire would do!)

'shirtless in public'

'gym class shirtless'

'strip shirtless' (Note: It's a lot more comfortable once the perspiration starts to flow)

'shirtless running forum'

'should I go bare-chested in gym' (Note: If the gym management/school doesn't mind, do!)

'running shirtless in Spain'

'running bare-chested'

These queries came in from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Malaysia, Spain and Zimbabwe.

It just shows many folks are either ready to, or have already joined, our band of happy shirtless brothers and sisters. You won't regret it once you get past any initial jitters. So write in with your experiences, or qualms, or advice.

Criticism from the Net: Shirtlessness is wickedness

There is no doubt that there are many who, for reasons perhaps linked to image insecurity, childhood trauma or misplaced adherence to modesty, are bitterly opposed to shirtless running. Here's an excerpt from an article (this is the link to the original, but it has since been removed) viciously attacking those of us who dare to bare:

As students leave their last classes of the day, something inside them changes — they slip off their veils of poise, and they become entirely different people from the dedicated and caring students they were only moments before...

These students do not intimidate prostitutes and murder pedestrians... Rather, they commit a far more egregious act against the humanity on UT’s campus. I am, of course, referring to the practice of shirtless jogging.

If you are eating at this time and are prone to nausea, I advise you put away this article for continuation after full digestion. With this precursor, I will now attempt to describe, to the best of my ability, the horror and torment of male shirtless jogging: Glistening ape hair, plastered by sweat to the flab that undulates precariously up and down, then up and down again. The arms flail wildly to the side, sending spurts of sweat pelleting passers-by in their faces with a resounding “smack!” And should you happen to be downwind from the olfactory producer’s galumphing, you would choke on the stench and collapse to your knees, hands grasping your throat in desperate attempt to survive without severe brain damage. But, of course, I understate.

- from 'Objective Observations with Benjamin Miller' (updated Nov 4 2008) as published in the The Daily Texan Online


It's an amusing read, don't you think?

When too long shirted...

It's been a month now since I've hit my route in just shorts and shoes: I've just been too busy. As a result, I've noticed a peculiar mental phenomenon.

When I consider the prospect of heading out again, shirtless, there is an increasing sense of apprehension. From this, I have to conclude that those of us who want to go barechested need to keep up the practice, in order to keep away the cobwebs of 'shyness' or embarrassment. Some of it has a certain basis in logic: If we cease to exercise for too long, our bodies become flabbier. But this is multiplied in the mind, until we become paralysed with uncertainty.

I'll be squeezing out time for a shirtless run by next week, before I'm unable even to strip to the waist without being overwhelmed by doubts.