Clothes make the man - Mark Twain
Society and technology may have changed since Mark Twain’s day, but the only thing that’s changed as far as people are concerned, are the numbers that record dates.
We are, as species, a fiercely competitive and driven animal that continually strives for perfection and we are willing to drive ourselves to extremes in a never-ending quest to better ourselves.
Twain said that clothes make man as a way to point out that our exteriors reflect the way that we feel about ourselves on the inside. They capture the essence of who we think we are and present an image of how we want the world to see us.
But what if they could do more than that? What if your clothes could, quite literally, help to make you the person that you always wanted to be and could transform, and help to shape your life?
Athlete’s place a lot of stock in the clothes they wear. They need to be comfortable, they need to be durable and their clothes need to fit in with the demands of their hectic training schedules.
No athlete ever wants to settle for second place, we all want to be the very best at what we do and to compete at the highest level possible.
We train hard, we work hard and we expect the gear that we compete in to keep up with us, day and day out. Failure isn’t an option, for us or the clothing we train in.
That’s why we, in our eternal search to find the very best clothing that’s been designed to help us reach our physical peak, decided it was time to put some of Venum’s best selling rash guards to the test and push them to their limits to find out if they lived up to their fearsome reputation.
And what we discovered when we did, surprised us…
PRODUCT REVIEW
Some shirts feel like they were made just to fit you, and that was exactly how the Nogi felt when we put it in.
It’s a pull over shirt that’s been designed to be worn like a tee-shirt and the fit is almost the same.
A couple of the fighters that we train with recommended Venum rash guards to us, as we were looking for a shirt to practice in that would give us a full range of movement but wouldn’t give the guys we were sparring with an unfair advantage or something to grip on to when we locked up.
The Nogi was the first shirt out of the batch that we tried, and it’s polyester and elastane mix made it comfortable and gave it enough stretch when we needed to move, even though it’s a tight fit.
If we’re honest, it felt a little restrictive at first and took us a while to get used to, but when we did, it felt like a second skin.
But the biggest advantage that we felt while wearing the Nogi, was that it didn’t chafe or rub.
Whether that’s due to the way it’s been fashioned or the material it uses, we’re not sure, but we fully expected a shirt this comfortable and close-fitting, to start chafing in the middle of a workout.
That combined with the fact that it made us feel like a million dollars while we were wearing it, sealed the deal, and made sure that it found a permanent place in our gym bag.
PRODUCT REVIEW
One of the guys that we used to train with used to love telling the people that he’d just dismantled on the mat to “go big or go home” as he walked away from them, and, thanks to Venum, we think we finally understand what he meant when he said it.
This is their signature rash guard, their brand ambassador and we’re glad that when we chose it, we followed Venum’s advice and went a size bigger than we usually wear.
They, that is Venum, suggest that anyone who isn’t used to wearing a rash guard chooses a size bigger than they actually need the first couple of times that they wear one in order to negate, and avoid the possibility of running straight into, and suffering from ‘Hyper-Compression’ syndrome.
We didn’t know what it was either, so we looked it up. You should look it up too. It isn’t pretty and it’s the reason that we listened to Venum and went a size larger.
The shirt though is something else. Yes, it’s close-fitting, and by close we mean really close, but that’s by design as uses Venum’s patented compression technology that was created to increase blood flow to the muscles that need it the most (the ones that you’re pushing hardest), which in turn is supposed to speed up recovery time and aid injuries.
Whether or not it does that, we couldn’t say as we’re not, for once dogged by injury at the moment, but it felt good, didn’t hamper our mobility at all, and was almost too comfortable.
We can’t understand how a shirt this light, that feels this good and almost as though it has been purposely designed to feel like it was tailor-made to fit you, isn't one of the latest must-have fashion accessories.
PRODUCT REVIEW
The Gladiator is the rash guard that Venum made to honor the legacy of the Roman fighters who paved the way for the modern warrior, and while we’re still on the first part of our combat journey, we’re almost certainly going to wear this shirt for the rest of it.
Like every other Venum rash guard, it’s close-fitting and designed to increase blood flow and aid circulation when you’re working hard and features the same elasticated waistband that means it’s not going anywhere unless you want it to.
But unlike other Venum rash guards, the Gladiator also has reinforced seams, so it holds up well in even the toughest of situations, which while we were wearing it, our trainer was putting us through.
One of the things that we discovered early on while wearing Venum’s rash guards, is that it’s also like being fitted in a sealed system, and if you have a tendency to perspire like we do, under normal circumstances, that would be a problem.
But Venum doesn’t make clothing for normal people (let’s face it, anyone who steps on to the mat with the sole intention of physically subjugating another human being isn’t what polite society would refer to as normal, ergo none of us are normal), and the dry-tech technology that they weave into these shirts is nothing short of miraculous.
We could have, and did, happily trained in this shirt all day. And we’ll probably do the same tomorrow providing that it’s come through the laundry okay.
PRODUCT REVIEW
Okay, yes it does seem a little bit like we’re returning to familiar territory by trying out another of Venum’s Nogi rash guards, but as we’re trying to find our way in the BJJ (Brasilian Ju-Jitsu) scene, we thought it was best to try a shirt that was made for our chosen sport.
As comfortable as it’s short-sleeved cousin, this long sleeve variation is imbued with the same silicon waistband, that curiously comfortable compression fit and reinforced seams that won’t (hopefully) tear when you’re being taken down, and if you’re anything like us, being forced to submit by your coach.
It’s a practical, durable long-sleeved shirt that we’d wear everywhere if we thought we could get away with it without being called a ‘hipster poseur’ by coffee snobs.
In fact, the only issue that we encountered with any of Venum’s rash guards was the sizing, a factor that only reared its ugly head when we were talking to some of the other people in our class about them, who thought they were too small and hadn’t followed Venum’s advice when ordering their rash guards.
We did listen, and that’s why we went a size (and in the case of the Nogi Long Sleeve two sizes) bigger than we normally would.
Do as we did, listen to Venum and the sizing issue will never be a problem that you’ll have to encounter, or deal with.
Training the Rash Guard and Venum Way
If we hadn’t spent so much time in class, we’d never have even thought about wearing a rash guard to train in.
After all, they were invented so that surfers who preferred to ride big waves in warmer climates could follow their hearts and surf the swells without having to risk overheating in a wetsuit.
But the durability, practicality, and lightweight design of the rash guard makes them perfect to train in, as they reduce the chances of developing sweat, and other related, rashes to almost zero.
Then Venum came along and made rash guards even better (at least we assume they did, as we have next to no experience with rash guards prior to trying out these Venum guards), by adding their compression and dry-tec technologies to the rash guards they made and turning them into a fighter’s training best friend.
Okay so maybe they’re not a fighter’s absolute, and definitive best friend, but they’re definitely part of the inner circle at the very least.
So would we wear them again? Of course, we would, and we absolutely will. Each and every single of Venum’s rash guards that we wore has become a staple part of our training wardrobe and is there so that we’ve got a shirt that we can rely on when we don’t need to wear a gi.
And, if you’re serious about training, we’d suggest that you do the same. But when you do, listen to Venum’s advice and the wise words of our old gym buddy. Go a couple of sizes larger and “go big or go home”.
