Here’s a great question from a reader who asked how Spanx for Men compared to Equmen in the core and back support areas:
Hey Tug,
I recently read about your blog in men’s health and have been checking it out since. I purchased an Equmen shirt for going to the gym to help keep my form in core and back. I really noticed how it forced me to stand tall with my shoulders back, it was truly great support. My question is, how does the Spanx for Men perform in this area? I read your review, but was wondering if it compared at all for the lower price?
Thanks, J
My response:
hey j,
thanks for stopping by the site and sending in your question!
the equmen’s back criss-cross design does do a decent job in pulling the shoulders back and it’s a characteristic I really like. I wear my equmen’s to the gym regularly as well and really feel they help intensify my workout by supporting mid mid-section and pulling back shoulders. in my opinion, spanx 4 men really isn’t a performance undershirt like equmen. the fabric make-up is largely cotton and they are a little more dense than performance/work-out shirts, so they’ll likely soak up more sweat and be a bit heavier than a moisture wicking undershirt like equmen would be. as for pulling back the shoulders, s4m doesn’t have that feature/characteristic.
when i spoke with sara blakely a couple weeks ago [back in early February], she did mention that she’s interested in coming out with other men’s products as well and said that a performance version of s4m might be something they’d offer, so that in itself tells me that the current cotton compression spanx for men product is designed as casual wear, not performance wear.
in looking at the list of men’s shapewear/slimming undershirts listed on my site, there really aren’t any other undershirts there that pull the shoulders back like equmen, however, I was at the gym last night and saw a guy wearing a black compression top that had a similar criss-cross on the back and I’m pretty sure it was the adidas techfit shirt (or http://www.adidas.com/techfit). if you’re looking for an alternative performance/workout undershirt that pulls your shoulders back, you might want to check those out considering the short sleeve Techfit PowerWEB tees retail for about $70 which is around $30-$40 less expensive than the equmen
hope the above information helps out! let me know if you have any other questions. oh, and if you decide to try out the techfit tee, email me back and tell me what you think of it.
best,
tug
Since I had this email exchange with the reader (mid February), there is another slimming/compression undershirt that may offer similar core support and pull back the shoulders like Equmen does – it’s the new Bodymax+ from Marks & Spencer. I’ll know more in the coming weeks and will report back here.
