Champion C9 Compression Shirt Review

A few weeks ago, we published a review of the Champion C9 Running Short, sold exclusively at Target stores.  Today, we’re going to discuss the Champion C9 Compression Shirt.  Compression shirts, or base layers, are essential to many triathletes and runners.  A layer of technical fabric makes almost any shirt comfortable for the run.  When active, your muscles benefit from compression to help reduce fatigue and decrease recovery time.  In cool weather adding a base layer allows you to avoid overheating by removing other layers.  Finally, and not least importantly, compression shirts make you look a bit more muscular.  Hey, I know it’s vain, but it’s true.

This review is a look at the Champion C9 Compression Shirt line in general.  In other words, we’ve tested short sleeve versions, long sleeve versions, and sleeveless versions.  We’ve used these shirts in warm and cold weather and one was even used in the pool during a sprint triathlon.  Not recommended.  You can easily pick these shirts up at your local Target for $20.  They regularly go on sale for $12-$15.

Appearance:

As I mentioned in the previous review on the Champion C9 Running Shorts, this line is made for Target stores and Target values style.  With the exception of one white shirt, all the C9 Compression Shirts were bold colors.  Out of the 6 shirts we’ve tested, one had a bit of frayed stitching around the waist.  Target replaced this shirt without issue.  Other than this fraying, we have not experienced any issues with the quality of the shirts.  The short sleeve version has shorter sleeves than we expected, while the long sleeve version provides ample arm length to cover you during colder months.

Comfort and Fit:

These shirts are truly a compression shirt.  We have tried them in different sizes and in men’s and women’s versions.  In all cases, they provide a snug and compressing fit, as advertised.  We have purchased other ‘compression’ shirts that were simply tight, not particularly helpful for the muscles or comfort.  The shirts have standard exposed seams on the interior, but none of our testers noticed this as a problem.  The material in these shirts is smooth, comfortable and breaths well.  When worn as a base layer, this shirt will do a lot to keep you dry.  When worn along, you might be surprised at how effectively it wicks sweat and does serious cooling.  The shirt wicks so well that we continue to wear these shirts as a base layer well into the hottest months of summer.  Only in July and August do we ditch the outer layer and wear only the compression shirt.

Overall:

At the end of the day, we recommend these shirts.  They’re an excellent value; inexpensive enough for beginners, but well made enough for experienced athletes.  We have noticed a drawback or two to this shirt specifically and the C9 line in general.  First, these shirts, especially in lighter colors, show sweat and oil buildup.  The collar and arm holes on our sleeveless white compression shirt have turned brown.  We wash our shirts after every workout, so we’ve done all we can to prevent this.  That said, we haven’t experienced this with the darker color shirts.  Second, and this is a more general about the C9 line, is the residual smell.  We mentioned this in the C9 Short Review.  The Champion C9 gear does, eventually, build up a smell.  It’s generally not horrible, but it’s certainly noticeable.  We didn’t notice the smell for the first 6-9 months of use, but after more than 9 months, the smell started appearing.  Priced at less than $20, these shirts are inexpensive enough to replace once a year if they start to hold odor.