Author: James Hall
Date: 08.08.2025
A Bit About Me
I’m James, co-founder of Satus, Olympic gymnast, and someone who’s spent the last 20 years living in sports wear. I’ve been to 5 European Championships, 5 World Championships, 2 Commonwealth Games, and an Olympic Games, and through all of them I've been fortunate to bring home 10 major medals individually and with a cherished team. I thought I'd make this blog to give you a bit of an insight into my career, the challenges I faced and why that guided the design of our new Perforated Tee and how I genuinely think it’d be useful to you.
High level - High Stress
Most of my life has been spent in the pursuit of my best, physically and mentally. As a high-level sportsman, high-stress situations come with that and if you want to get far, whether it's in sport or not, dealing with those in an efficient and pragmatic way is essential to your development and survival in your field. I’ve always found it somewhat paradoxical and, to be honest, laughable that these high-stress situations like competitions don't tend to last long and are probably even less than 1% of your career and when you're in them you think, “yep i’m not doing that again.” but you spend the other 99% of your time training and strategising to get yourself back into those situations! I have to add in there though that when you’re down there with your team, winning or losing, that connection you have and that closeness is impossible to describe and a feeling I'd fight for forever. But that’s it, isn’t it, the nature of the beast is that there’ll be plenty of winning and plenty of losing, which as a young sportsman is something I quickly learned to take in my stride, and something I've always tried to get across to anyone that might ask, whether it’s youngsters that I coach/mentor or anyone that takes the time to ask.
Escaping Those High-Stress Periods
Of course, being an elite athlete is a great deal about health and wellbeing, and while all of that is important, it’s not all about lifting weights and nutrition. Comfort has always been a big thing for me, whether it’s in the gym or in my down time, I want to be as relaxed as possible. I spend a lot of my life living out of a suitcase, jumping on long-haul flights, or going straight from training to meetings or recovery, so actually having a few go-to items of clothing matters more than most people realise.
When I’ve Needed Comfort Most
Like I mentioned before, competitions are the most stressful time for an athlete. They bring with them an enormous amount of expectation from yourself and from others but I have always found that it comes from a good place. Friends and family want you to go and smash it, and I always want to compete at my best, not for me but for my team because they deserve the best version of myself and actually, so do I. Of course, mistakes happen and you can’t always control that but learning when I could calm myself down and optimise my recovery was a step towards my best. A lot of that time is in the hotel room where I create an environment that’s as comfortable as can be. I take my xbox, a few books, and probably most importantly, clothes i know are going to make me feel good comfort-wise but it's always nice when someone goes “that’s a sick Tee where’d you get that from?”
The weights gym takes up a lot of my time. Preparing and repairing my body is key to longevity in gymnastics but I need to feel good when I do it. I’m a bit of a sweater in the gym and tight clothes don’t do it for me, I need something lightweight that allows air to circulate and dry me out between sets. In particular, a Tee that doesn’t show my back sweat or let me get soaked by it is ideal so sweat-wicking and a clever design is a must. Even when I finish training, having a comfortable Tee that I can hop into is the next best thing to having an immediate shower.
Another one is flights and is maybe one that gets forgotten about a bit. I’ve had competitions in Australia and that means over 20 hours of flight time and a whole load of sitting around in airports. Usually when we travel for competitions, it's in sponsored kit which I've always been grateful for, but it's missing that feeling that it was made for me. It’s usually that shiny polyester as well that tends to make me feel humid more than anything. The way I'd describe it is that annoying situation when you’re in the car and the windows start steaming up but putting the a/c on either makes it too hot or too cold and it's never perfect. It got me thinking about creating a Tee that is optimal, as in it's got everything - light and airy for your body to breathe so you don't end up feeling like you're in the amazon rainforest, super soft, and the perfect amount of stretch so you're not constricted.
Our New Perforated Tee
For me, creating something that was well-rounded was essential. There were certain aspects that needed to be present in this Tee so we took a few rounds of sampling, months of testing in all sorts of environments and these are the qualities you can expect:
Sweat Wicking:
Well hold on, what does sweat wicking actually mean?
There are plenty of fabrics out there but only some offer sweat wicking properties, and polyester, one of the fabrics in our Tee, is one of them. It pulls moisture (sweat) away from your body and into the fibres of the garment and for polyester, which dries quickly, that means you end up with a more consistent body temperature and in turn, a drier and more effective workout. Fabrics like cotton absorb moisture into the fibres but dry extremely slowly, so are no good for a workout as they leave you soaked, and if you’re in a gym with aircon, you’ll start to get cold which is not optimum (more on the science behind that below).
And what if my sweat can't escape?
When our core temperature rises, our body does all it can to protect the nervous system, and one of the first measures is sweating. It doesn’t know you’re working it so after it tries sweating it thinks “ok, this guy must be fighting for his life… lets do something about it!”, and in doing so, proceeds to divert energy away from your muscles and to your nervous system instead. So, having the correct gear is essential to getting a good workout in, that’s why we made the Tee… with holes in the back!
Perforations and Air Flow:
But I thought it was sweat that cooled you down?
Well, it does! But it wasn’t until we started the brand and carried out months of research on fabrics that we started to understand a little bit about what sweat needs to be effective. When you exercise, your body’s core temperature rises by as much as 1-2°, depending on how strenuous your workout is. This of course leads to sweating - a natural reaction by your body in an attempt to bring your core temperature back down to its normal levels (between 36-37°). Sweat is only effective if it can leave your body though, that's why we’ve added perforations to our sweat-wicking polyester fabric to create the ideal combination for temperature regulation.
Surely it's not so bad if I do my exercise outside?
It’s probably more important that you have the right gear when exercising outdoors. We can’t control the weather outside which can be tricky for a runner, but even more tricky if you decide that you like your exercise to include hiking or mountaineering. Hypothermia can be a genuine danger if you don’t layer adequately because if sweat remains on your body from exercise, it can keep cooling you long after you’ve stopped, which means a continued decline in body temperature below the normal levels. Hypothermia usually occurs when the body temperature drops below 35°, just 1-2° below normal levels. It’s a common misconception that you have to be caught in heavy rain, freezing temperatures, or have to fall into water to get hypothermia when in fact, it might be the sweat that gets you, so investing in the right gear is crucial.
Fabric Composition:
We’ve talked a lot about polyester, it's time we said a bit about the Elastane. We’ve gone for an 85% polyester/15% Elastane mix which means the Elastane is subtle, but it’s all about the small gains, right? Feeling constricted is never a good thing, by adding a little bit of stretch in there, you’ve probably got another 5% range of movement which isn't exactly small! It means a bit more room for rotation, a little more for bending, and more for whatever position you decide to put your body in… we’re not here to judge!
Detailing:
We enjoy subtlety in our designs, we think it embodies our values of working hard in the shadows, doing the work that few others do, and leaving no stone unturned. We’ve left it as a subtle reflective satus icon, centre chest on the front, our brand name “SATUS” embedded into the perforations on the back, and a reflective strip on the back of each sleeve, should you choose to tackle your workouts at night or in low-light conditions.
How To Care For Your Gear
Our Perforated Tees are easy to clean - they don't require any special care and they dry fast. Always read the care label, that way you’ll get the most out of your garment for as long as possible and less waste means a healthier planet, let’s all do our bit!
Our recommendations:
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Machine wash at 30° or hand wash.
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Wash with similar colours.
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Do not bleach
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Hang dry - Don’t tumble dry
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Do not dry clean
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Don’t iron design/print
A Final Word From James
Whatever it is you’re pursuing, you’ve got this. Your belief will carry you as far as you let it, so be kind to yourself, don’t shy away from hard work, and stay disciplined. I was never the most talented, but I had heart and a tenacity matched by few others which got me to where I am, so if I can do it, you can too.
