Over the past several months, I’ve had the opportunity to test out the new UA RUSH™ line of performance apparel by Under Armour in my workouts (both indoor on the treadmill and outdoor on my longer runs). The brand describes RUSH™ as the “fabric version of infrared sauna”. That is, the fabric recycles the body’s energy then emits it back into the body for more energy during performance training. The line officially launched globally on April 11, 2019.
Under Armour partnered with Celliant, a leader in responsive textiles and infrared technology. The fabric incorporates minerals that absorbs energy then reflects that energy back into the tissues and muscle to improve strength and endurance.
Spoiler alert: I’m a big fan of this apparel line and it’s now been my go-to workout apparel for my everyday workouts and official races. As I’ve mentioned many times, I’m a very sweaty gal so any materials that can help wick sweat off my body specifically during indoor workouts (when I look like I just got out of a swimming pool), are a huge plus for me.
I would be remiss without mentioning the most important factors I consider when shopping for apparel. These include:
- Feel – the fabric needs to be comfortable on my body and against my skin. My personal preference is looser fitting shirts and tight spandex pants or shorts.
- Look – the apparel needs to compliment my figure. I have a short torso, longer legs, and a big chest, making it a bit difficult to find apparel to fit my body type.
- Functionality – My preference is higher waisted tights (that sit at or around my belly button), I need pockets for my phone and keys on the side, a durable crotch (all my tights seem to form holes here VERY quickly), and need apparel that wicks sweat very well.
- Price – I’m not someone who will spend +$150 on a pair of leggings. I will graciously accept a gift (usually from my mom on Christmas lol), but won’t go out of my way to purchase leggings at that price point. The most I’ll spend is ~$120 or so on a solid pair.
The UA RUSH™ line hits the mark on most of these, but I also think there’s also room for improvement for future products. In this post, I’ll discuss my experience during wear trials indoor on the treadmill and strength training, and on outdoor runs. Under Armour recently released their UA RUSH™ ColdGear line that evidently combines both their UA RUSH™ and ColdGear technology for fall and winter running; I’ve had the opportunity to test both and will discuss in this post.
UA RUSH™ WEAR TRIALS
INDOOR TRIAL #1
The first wear trial was an indoor training session and included an upper body strength training workout then finished with my regular 5-miles/8 kilometres on the treadmill. For this trial, I was sporting the UA RUSH™ – Women’s Short Sleeve Shirt (black) and 
UA RUSH™ – Leggings (purple). My first impression was a good one; I LOVED the feel of the tights and top against my skin. It was soft, not itchy at all and complemented my figure. I started with the purple tights and decided to test the black ones on my next run. Perhaps it was the placebo effect, but my legs felt a slight cool tingly feeling while running, but not so much with the top. I ran my 5 miles/ 8 kilometres in 34:14 with a pace of 4’17. Both pieces of apparel did a great job in regulating my temperatures, the only downside I saw with the purple tights were the sweat stains that formed around my butt and crotch (note that I am sweatier than most).
INDOOR TRIAL #2
The second indoor trial, I swapped the purple tights for the black and this workout was focused on core and a bit of lower body and of course my daily 5-miler on the treadmill. I finished off the workout with a 30-minute cool down on the bike. I typically wear very loose fitting tops when I do core, because I hate seeing all my rolls fold over when I’m doing any sort of core exercises (LOL). For this trial, I paid particular attention to my body temperature. When doing the strength-training component, I found the apparel moved easily with my body; I didn’t need to adjust it or move it back into place (which I need to do with some of my other apparel). It stayed snug and secure on my body; didn’t lift up, tights didn’t fall down, etc.. When I moved over to the treadmill, I noticed a pretty significant difference. I usually break a sweat after the 5-minute mark, but on this trial, I didn’t start sweating profusely until around 25-mintues. This is a HUGE difference for me – both the tights and top helped regulate my body temperatures and kept me cooler on my run.
OUTDOOR TRIAL #1
I have the propensity to avoid going outdoors in the winter at all costs and last winter, I made the horrible mistake of running on the treadmill for 5 consecutive months then slowly emerged out of hibernation and began running 5+ miles outdoors immediately when the temperatures warmed up. My first wear trial was on a 10-kilometre run in early April. I wore the same product line-up as the indoor trail and also my UA running zip-up (not part of the RUSH line). Once again, I felt like my body temperatures were regulated; I wasn’t too hot nor too cold.
OUTDOOR TRIAL #2 – TORONTO MARATHON
I decided to sport the UA RUSH™ t-shirt for the Toronto Marathon; my first official race of 2019. The Toronto Marathon is in May and temperatures were a bit cooler, so I made the executive decision not to wear any KT tape (to help prevent chafe). Shockingly, I didn’t have any chafe marks anywhere on chest; the top kept me cool and I ended with a PB of 3:09 / 4’30 /km pace.
UA RUSH COLDGEAR WEAR TRIALS OUTDOOR TRIAL #1 & 2
I’m not going to go into too much detail on both trials as I noticed the same details about the ColdGear apparel on both my runs. First off, I noticed a big difference in the material. It felt a bit stiffer and more durable than the regular line. The first trial I ran in -5 and wore a light jacket over top and the second trial I just wore the UA RUSH™ ColdGear® Run ½ Zip in 0. The UA RUSH™ ColdGear® Leggings were comfortable and stayed secure to my body and the top didn’t shift around. In both temperatures, I was kept warm enough to be comfortable, but didn’t overheat. Both of these items are now in my weekly rotation of outdoor running gear.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
I’m very particular with my apparel – I had some tactile sensitivities when growing up and still do to this day. The biggest benefits of the UA RUSH™ line included comfort, mobility, strong durability (I still have 0 holes in any of the apparel), great temperature control, and has a sleek/suave look making it very pleasing aesthetically. That being said, I do think there’s some room for improvement. The biggest piece of feedback I had was the lack of pockets in the gear to carry my phone and keys. This wasn’t the biggest deal on my indoor training runs, but on my outdoor runs, in higher temperatures, I prefer to carry my phone in my pocket especially during races. The second piece of feedback would be sweat visibility; I only noticed this with the purple tights where I had some pretty hefty sweat stains. If you’re a sweater like me, I’d recommend going with the black colour. Overall, I love both lines of products and would highly recommend them to any level of runner.
WHERE TO BUY:
If you’re interested in picking up some of their latest RUSH performance apparel, check out the links below:
Canada: Shop Under Armour RUSH CAD