Under Armour Base Layer REVIEW: Is Compression Gear Worth It?

This is the first non-basketball shoe review on my site, so I aimed for something that people are actually debating about. Many of you probably wonder, “do I need compression gear?” “Is it a gimmick and a waste of time?” “Or is it actually beneficial and useful for some?”. Well, in this Under Armour base layer review, I’ll be answering those questions for you.

What I’ve had for about half a year is the Under Armour HeatGear Compression. I have both a long sleeve top and full leggings. I do two things in them: I work out and I play ball. So, let’s get started with the Under Armour base layer review talking about both aspects.

QUICK SPECS


 

TYPE: COMPRESSION APPAREL
MATERIALS: POLYESTER | ELASTANE
RETAIL PRICE: $35 TOP | $35 BOTTOM
FIT: TRUE TO SIZE
COLORS: 18+
MY RATING: 8/10

 

 


A STURDY SECOND SKIN

So both pieces of the compression fit completely true to size (I went with an M) and pretty much fit like second skin. It’s a bit difficult to explain but it’s kinda like a very tight and rugged, yet extremely comfortable, thin, and soft to the skin type of fit. For people who never experienced wearing compression, this won’t feel familiar. But it’s pretty damn cool and just makes everything feel a tad bit… Well, different.

I’d say this particular outfit feels a tiny bit tighter and just a bit thicker than your extremely popular Nike Pro compression. If you’re aiming for a completely seamless fit, something that you completely forget that you even have on, I think Nikey’s stuff is catered more towards that.

This is a little bit more present on your skin but that’s definitely not a bad thing. It actually has benefits that we will discuss in the upcoming section.

 

PERFORMANCE

 

DOES WHAT IT PROMISES

So compression gear’s main purpose is to keep you cool (or warm, depends on the type) and dry, wicking away sweat that your skin builds up while exercising. It’s also designed to keep your muscles warm during rest periods for as long as possible. That way you reduce the chance of injuries because of cold muscles getting sprained or even torn.

And this UA HeatGear outfit does all those things as good as it can get. You obviously won’t feel anything super dramatic in terms of performance but it’s not meant to be that way. During my basketball games or body workouts in the gym or park, I was literally not sweating in the areas the compression is worn.

Usually, after a workout, I was coming back home, taking my shirt and shorts off and I’m standing there DRENCHED in sweat. With the HeatGear magic on, I now come back home, take everything off and I’m completely dry. That’s pretty cool to me and takes away the annoying presence of sweat.

Or so did I feel since the sweat doesn’t go anywhere but it does leave your skin. I was also feeling properly cooled when doing really intensive stuff. It’s not a dramatic effect but believe it or not, you can actually feel the difference with the outfit on and off. I was literally feeling a bit more refreshed while wearing it. And that’s a nice bonus.

And lastly, a nice bonus if wearing tights is excellent containment down there. Nobody wants their balls bouncing around playing ball and the tights took care of that nicely.

 

HEATGEAR VS. COLDGEAR


 

STAY COOL VS. STAY WARM – PARTLY TRUE

I want you to know that there are two main branches of technology Under Armour offers in their compression apparel.

There’s HeatGear (which I have) which is designed to keep you cool during summer or spring seasons, or when you’re just in a hot environment. ColdGear is the opposite – it’s made to keep you warm while training in cold environments. If you train at winter or you’re always at the park, even when it’s very chilly or raining, ColdGear is the better option for you.

HOWEVER, this is a bit of a marketing trick. There are slight tech and material differences between the two but I was actually working out a lot during last winter in the HeatGear outfit. That’s actually why I bought it in the first place.

Both types of apparel do what it’s supposed to – wick away sweat and keep you dry. That’s beneficial at summer AND it’s essential at winter in order to keep your body temperature high enough (cold sweat is really not good while training). I was feeling fine with the HeatGear stuff on and do see a reason to buy ColdGear, honestly. So make sure you do research like this before you run off buying things with flashy, techy descriptions.

 

WORTH THE PRICE?


A PREMIUM PRICE FOR A PREMIUM PRODUCT

A PREMIUM PRICE FOR A PREMIUM PRODUCT

Under Armour is the founder of compression apparel and it no doubt offers the most premium, high-quality compression you can get. With that, comes a slightly higher price than Nikey’s or adidas’s stuff.

Is it worth the extra pay? Yeah, ’cause the price difference isn’t that large. The top base layer is $14 more than the Nike Pro long sleeve and it’s only five bucks more than adidas’s Techfit long sleeve.

It comes down to personal preference but if you want the best quality, durability, and performance, you can’t go wrong with UA.

 

OVERALL


YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

It’s what you’d expect from Under Armour. A quality product that does what it says. That comes at a price but it’s not that big anyway. The UA HeatGear compression provides a comfortable fit, cools you down and keeps you dry. And keeps your balls in place. That’s equally important.

 

+ A COMFORTABLE SECOND-SKIN FIT
+ KEEPS YOU FULLY DRY NO MATTER THE TRAINING
+ ONE OF THE MORE DURABLE COMPRESSION OUTFITS
SLIGHTLY PRICIER THAN ITS COMPETITORS


 

Alright, that’s it for the Under Armour base layer review! I hope you found it helpful!

Speaking of Under Armour, they’ve also been doing well in the basketball shoe world, so check out their best releases so far!