anti-stink-gym-gear.jpgGetty Images

Photo: Getty Images

Let’s talk about your gym clothes for a minute. More specifically, let’s talk about how they smell. They probably smell like butt. They probably smell like worse butt if you happen to ercise in your favorite old T-shirts. We don’t blame you for reaching for a shirt from your glory days, but it’s probably made of cotton. And over time, no matter how diligent you are with washing, the odor produced from working out (a bi-product of bacteria and sweat intermingling) will settle in permanently. And just like that, you’ve lost a good T-Shirt and driven your lifting buddies away with your stench.

But technology can save us! In the past few months there’s been a proliferation of "anti-odor" gym gear with the promise that the garments will hold up against your own personal brand of stank. What kinds of sorcery have these scientist/designers employed? We took matters into our own hands to find out. Three shirts that promised a stink-free existence were put through a treadmill test of three miles at six miles per hour. Afterward, we hung around in them for a half hour just to make sure everything got all gross and marinated. Sniff tests were administered immediately after, then again following morning, and then3 after washing. Just to be clear here guys, none of these companies promised the garments wouldn’t stink immediately after working out (that would be straight up black magic). Here’s how everything shook out, with a few style notes (because this is GQ).

The Rhone Sentry: Rhone’s technology is all about silver (yes, like the metal), which according to their website has long been used for its anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties. You may have seen garments treated or coated with silver around, but Rhone’s advantage is that it’s is actually woven into the threads. That means it can’t be washed out. As they put it, their clothes last "the equivalent time span of an empire or two." CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

How it Hangs: The sentry is a V-neck, but it’s high enough that it’s almost a crew (still gives you that comfy room allowance). We were fairly relieved at that, as we are allergic to a deep vee. As far as workout shirts go, it’s pretty inconspicuous—no crazy graphics or colors, just what you need. That’s good.

The Stench Test: Of all the shirts we sampled, this one smelled the most pleasant immediately after ercise. Don’t get us wrong, we wouldn’t say it was a bed of roses, but on the spectrum of offensive to putrid, it was on the offensive side. After one wash, there were no traces of odor. If smelling fresh is Rhone, we don’t wanna be right.

The Lululemon Protean: First things first, do not shake your head and do that "Lululemon is for women" thing (it’s tired). The protean shirt comes with the same promise as the Rhone sentry. Using silver technology to combat the growth of bacteria, it’ll minimize odor and keep it that way. Like Rhone, it’s also all woven in, so no worries on it washing out over time. Silver vs. silver!

How it Hangs: What we liked here was that this shirt didn’t feel like a workout shirt. It felt like the T-shirts you once loved, just mutated with silver DNA to avoid odor. It’s the X-Men of T-shirts. Length-wise, it fit like your regular T-shirt and came down below the waist (they’ll hem if you request, though). When we put this one through the test, it was noticeably hot, more-so than the others. We’re going to chalk that up to the material, which while softer, maybe didn’t breathe as much as others.

The Stench Test: Well, this thing stunk like a beast after the three mile run, and following marination process. One wash in, it’s poppin’ fresh, but that’s not exactly a surprise to anybody. With the silver woven all up in there, that freshness is promised to last, just like Rhone.

The Strongbody VanCity: File this under things you never expected to wear to the gym: shellfish. Yeah, shellfish. Unlike Rhone and Lululemon, Strongbody doesn’t rely on the miracle bacteria fighting power of silver, but on a substance called Chitosante. It’s made from the shells of crabs and shrimp, and according to their website will keep you safe of odors. It’s not woven into the garments (they’re treated with it), though their CEO tells Bloomberg that she’s still wearing a two year old stench-free sample.

How it Hangs: These run a little snug. If you’re in that small to medium range, go with the medium (unless you want to put your not-quite-beach-body on display). The only thing that turned us off here was the depth of the V-neck, we were approaching nipple-level territory. But, happily, they make a crewneck option. Otherwise, we were cool, dry, and felt kind of rad knowing we were covered in fish skeletons (though these look totally normal to outsiders).

The Stench Test: Because of the way the sleeves are cut on this particular shirt, it had a little more contact with the armpit region, where sweat and bacteria love to get it on in an odor-producing lovefest. It stank. It stank real bad. Predictably, though, it was good as new after one wash.

The Finish Line: Alright, so all of these smelled after a run (shocking) and were back to normal after a wash (equally shocking). So what’s the move? Well, that depends on you. For the guy who wants a high-performance true-to-form athletic shirt, we say Rhone. If you’re looking for something that’s a T-Shirt hybrid, then get thee to a Lululemon (calm down, they have men’s stores now). If you want something with a little bit of design (like a vent that goes down the back, or shellfish parts) then hit up Strongbody. Or, if you’d prefer to just work out in stinky-ass clothes, just leave a treadmill between you and us.

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