Although I’ve already provided my initial thoughts of the new Spanx for Men Zoned Performance Undershirt in the comments section of the post where I announced the launch of the new undershirt line, I thought I’d pull those thoughts into an official review article.
Zoned Performance Undershirt: Fit and Measurements
Here’s the initial feedback I provided about the new Zoned Performance Undershirts from Spanx:
The new Zoned performance undershirt line from Spanx are nothing like their brother line (the Spanx for men cotton compression undershirts).
These are made with performance/wicking fabric (nylon & spandex) and they have a much smaller, more athletic cut/design.
These puppies are quite a bit more difficult to put on than the cotton compression line. However, they are extremely comfortable after you get them on.
Chest flattening is really good, quite a bit better than the s4m cotton compression line, but very similar to other synthetic blend athletic compression undershirts like Equmen.
ADVERTISEMENT It might flatten the hair a bit better though.
Posture Support
Well, my shoulders seem to sit back slightly when I have my arms in the resting position down next to my sides.
Therefore, I’d say the Zoned performance undershirt line does noticeably pull my shoulders back.
Additionally, it helps me sit and stand a bit more upright.
I would compare them favorably to how Equmen pulls the shoulders back.
In contrast, I wouldn’t say it offers more lumbar support than any other compression undershirt.
If you really want lower back support, you should look for other products that focus their support in that area.
I’ll provide more feedback in my upcoming review.
Nonetheless, overall, the new line of Zoned performance undershirt from Spanx for men doesn’t disappoint.
Price
Also, since this product is a whopping $20 less than the Equmen line, I have a feeling that the Spanx for men zoned performance line will likely start to chip away at Equmen’s market share.
Side-bySide: Spanx for Men vs Equmen
Equmen on left. Spanx for Men Zoned Performance Undershirt on right.
Unfortunately, I have not yet had the chance to wear any new Zoned Performance undershirt to the gym. Likewise, I haven’t worn them as my slimming base layer when going out.
However, as soon as I do, I’ll update this review with more information.
Probably the only thing I failed to point out in my original comments above is that the crew neck and v-neck zoned performance undershirts have ventilated areas.
They are stitched directly into the underarm area and the back (upper and lower back) as illustrated here in the photos below:
Assumably these ventilation zones will first help the undershirt breathe better in those areas. Second, they’ll help the wearer feel cooler under more extreme conditions.
Next time I get to the gym, I’ll be sure to wear one of these and see how it performs.
Update on the Spanx Undershirts
So I wore the Spanx for Men Zoned Performance undershirt all day yesterday.
It really did its job really well, namely – holding in my gut and love handles, along with good chest flattening. Additionally, it was very comfortable.
The Good:
I never had the urge to take it off.
It did take a bit of persuasion to get on, though. In fact, I decided it was best if I stepped into the tank and pull it up.
I have to say, that feels very “chick-ish”. Specifically – stepping into a tank and pulling it up. Nevertheless, in the spirit of getting you guys some feedback on these shirts, I’m willing to do whatever is necessary.
I was a little worried that I’d get the dreaded bottom “roll-up” effect that you get on many of the compression undershirts. The shirt bottom did roll-up a bit. Namely, it doesn’t have as much length like some others.
However, when it did roll-up a bit, there wasn’t much fabric gathering so it didn’t bother me.
Also, I didn’t feel compelled to pull the tank top down during the day.
I pretty much stayed cool and comfortable all day.
The Not So Good:
If there were anything that I could point out that might be perceived as something negative it would be the damp feeling.
Occasionally, throughout the day I felt, for lack of a better term, a bit “clammy”.
Case in point, the coolness of the Zoned Performance undershirt combined with the synthetic fabric had me feeling that way from time to time during the day.
I’ve noticed this same feeling on several other slimming and fitted undershirts that have a large amount of polyester or nylon.
I guess I’m just used to it, therefore I don’t mention it very often.
It’s very similar to the feeling when you’re wearing an undershirt that has 5% – 10% lycra in it and you sweat a bit. You feel the shirt cling to you a bit.
Next, it feels that the hair is a bit “clammy”. I still want to wear this guy to the gym to see how it performs.
Regardless, I thought I’d share the above information while it was fresh in my mind.
Spanx Cotton Comfort Underwear Line
Oh, and by the way, if you didn’t already hear the news, Spanx also officially launched their Cotton Comfort Underwear line earlier last week.
Briefs retail for $38 and Boxer Briefs retail for $48. They offer them in white and black.
I’m pretty sure they’re sending me a couple of samples of these too.
Once I get the chance to try them out, I’ll post some feedback here on the site!
Here’s a bunch of pictures of the new Zoned Performance Undershirt models in order to see them more up close and personal.
Hey Tug,
Please can you help me decide between two products i.e. Spanx for Men Zoned Performance and Equmen Core Precision Undershirt. I am looking for the most slimming effect around the Chest and Torso area (Waist Line). Which would you recommend.
Thank you,
Chohan Tabish
I am also interested in knowing which is the better of the two before spending my money
hey rich. out of the two, i’d say that the equmen ($99 – $109) seems to offer more compression than spanx for men zoned compression ($78), but not a significant amount more.
you for sure won’t be disappointed with either purchase.
hi, do you see any differences between the v/crew-neck and tank models of this undershirt?
i own the cotton v-neck based on a review off your site and am very pleased with it.
this new “zoned performance” model sounds interesting but am concerned about the use of nylon fabric. aside from comfort issues, is there any special care required? (what does the care label say)
hey kev! let me check my inventory and get back to you. i think the crew and tank are the same, except for the collar style. these are very much different than the cotton compression line though.
i’ll be back to you soon.
Hello TUG
First and foremost, this is a truly amazing website with great product reviews! I am a very built young man in college who works out a lot, according to fitness evaluations I am actually in the category of elite athlete. I want to try one of these Spanx4Men undershirts to workout with at the gym, but I’m not quite sure which one would be the best for that. I only want to buy one at the moment so I can get a feel for the product so I’m trying to decide which one to get (crewneck, vneck, tank). At the moment, I do not plan to actually wear these as undershirts because I don’t like to wear undershirts when I’m actually dressed up (dress shirts, cardigans, tee shirts, etc) – so I guess it’s safe to say that I want to try this out as training gear for the gym (I’m hoping that it’s better than Underarmour). By the way, I think I’m leaning more towards either the vneck or the tank, just because I think vnecks look a ton better than crewnecks haha! Please help give me your opinion, thanks!
Best Regards
On second thought, I may sometimes wear it under a full-zip hoody with the zipper 1/3 ~ 3/4 zipped, as I do with normal wife-beaters/tanks/tees, but that is the only time I would ever show/layer this item I believe. I think white would match better with colored hoodies, what do you think?
On a “third” thought, after having read many articles on this website, I think that the vneck undershirt is more appropriate as to my a-shirt undershirts, so I think I just answered my own question! Now to choose between black or white..I’ll probably end up getting both, but I need to decide on one for now!
Hey TUG, hope you’re great,
I’m reading your reviews and all of them a are really useful, they are helping me to take a decision, I’m about to decide and buy a Zoned performance T-shirt, but before do that I wouldho like to tell you my specific questions, so hopefully you can help me.
1.- according what I have read, I understand that the zoned performance t-shirt is better than the cotton one, right ?
2.- you said that is little bit more difficuult to put on the zoned… instead the cotton, right ?
3.- how can I be sure to choose the right size, yesterday I tried the cotton one (Medium) and it was little bit hard to get it in.
Shoould I consider the LARGE size for the zoned… ?
4.- I’m pretty interested in compress the chest and abs areas.
Thanks so much for your help and comments !!
Regards !
hey molina, thanks for stopping by and posting your questions. my answers below.
1. s4m zoned performance “better” than cotton? it’s not really better, it’s different. you will get more compression in chest and a bit more in abs, but the trade-off is that s4m cotton looks more like a standard undershirt, and zone performance looks more like an athletic top.
2. more difficult to put on zoned performance. yes, a little more difficult to put on, but after you start wearing these slimming undershirts, you forget how difficult they are to put on/take off and focus more on the effects after you have them on.
3. sizing question. for the most part, i recommend buying the same sized slimming undershirt as you purchase regular undershirts. if you wear medium, i’d recommend buying size medium zoned performance, even if you found the medium s4m cotton undershirt a little tough to get on. if it wasn’t tough to get on, it wouldn’t offer a whole lot of slimming/compression.
4. chest/abs compression. the zoned performance provides a decent amount of chest and ab compression, so you should be happy with it.
good luck!
Great !
Thanks so much TUG for answering too fast, even in Labor Day…haha
For sure, I’ll be ordering my zoned performance t-shirt today.
Thanks, take care !
Could you explain the term “chest flattening?”
hey casey – sure, i’d be happy to explain. some men have gynecomastia (man boobs, larger breasts), puffy nipples, or some have lost a good amount of weight which leaves their chest skin slightly sagging.
“chest flattening” is simply used to describe an undershirt that will help mask the effects of the above items by way of the shirt having a good amount of stretch in the chest area (but one that stays tight) and essentially flattens the area.
if an undershirt is loose, it will not normally mask the first two items. hopefully that helps!
Thanks. I couldn’t understand why any guy would want to flatten his chest–I get it.
Yup, I’ve lost 70lbs and am pretty built now, with 225lb bench press, huge legs(muscle), and around 16-17 inch arms give or take. But I still have love handles and a gut that I’m trying to lose still at 235 lbs. Also have a big chest(muscles) but a little saggy because of the weight loss. Still dieting and working out to get to my goal of 220-215, but shirts like these help me look better in Medium sized shirts because any size bigger will make me look bigger than I actually am lol. Its just a temporary fix while people work on the problem for the long term. Hopefully people don’t make these their long term solutions though
hey sahjy, congrats on the weight loss man. that’s awesome. keep it up buddy!
i’m still working on the love handle thing too. doing a test for a while without wearing these compression/slimming undershirts to the gym too. we’ll see what happens.
i do agree with you though – ideally, these shapers should only be worn temporarily. these should not be worn in place of eating healthy and exercising regularly. but sometimes nature doesn’t always cooperate with us, so if wearing them helps us either boost our confidence or helps us hold things while we work it off, i’m all for it.
also trying out the slim-away belt so i can do a review on it. i made some educated assumptions about it in that article that people were giving me a hard time about, so when i saw it hanging by the register at bed, bath, and beyond recently, i knew i had to pick one up and try it for myself.
i’ll be posting my thought about that product in an article very soon.
Yea just ordered mines off Zappos today, first time waring one of these though I do wear an Under Armour hear and there
cool! keep me posted on what you think of them. i always love to hear people’s perspective wearing these products.
so you know, there’s a big difference between ua’s light compression-wear gear and these slimming/shaping undershirts.
if you have any high-compression shirts from ua, then there will be some similarities, but overall, you should feel everything being sucked in more with a product like this s4m zoned performance.
now…i’m about to jump into my slim-away belt and gym clothes and head to 24 hour fitness with mrs. tug!
hey waseem,
thanks for your feedback! i guess every person’s experience is going to be a little different based on their particular body/physique. if you’ve got a little extra around the mid-section, i could see where the tight compression around that area could manifest itself as extra support compared to regular undershirts. i guess i’m so used to slimming undershirts now, it’s a bit harder for me to identify certain characteristics like that. or, since i don’t have too much of a spare tire, maybe i don’t notice it as much.
to your questions:
1. i’d say the zoned performance undershirts do compress the chest and waist more and offer a bit more core support than their brother line, the spanx for men cotton compression undershirts.
2. the zoned performance tops do have a tapered design engineered into them and i suppose that helps with the compression/flattening, but it’s pretty hard to tell. for certain the zoned performance compress the chest better than the cotton compression and i’d also say they offer more compression all the way around.
3. no, the ventilated areas do not seem weaker to me, but i suppose since that area is thinner it could tear more quickly after long-term use. i’m still amazed at how these companies can engineer these designs and vents directly into a seamless garment. at some point i’d love to visit a factory where undershirts like these are made and take pictures of the knitting process.
after you get a chance to try out both products, be sure to come back here and let me (and the rest of the readers) know what you think about both compression undershirts!
thanks again for your questions!
Great job TUG,
Awesome review as usual on the compression tops. I dont quite agree with you on the back support claim though. I got a Spanx for men compression top and my lower back feels a whole lot more stable when I’m wearing it. I just had a couple of questions.
Do the Spanx Zoned Performance shirts offer more core support and compression around the stomach than the Spanx cotton compressions? They look like they have some sort of engineered taping in them but I was wondering if they actually did suck in more than the cotton top.
Also do the ventilated areas seem weaker or feel like they would tear?
I read your comparison to Equmen. I plan on picking up an Equmen for myself and one of these as well.
Thanks for the news and updates. They’ve been really helpful.