Soon, clothes that burn calories, tone muscles

A new kind of exercise clothing can help you burn calories during everyday activities, such as walking or climbing stairs.
The clothing, called Skinesiology, works by resisting muscles, and is designed to burn calories during everyday activities.
Researchers at the New York University School of Medicine came up with the concept of workout clothes that make muscles work harder by resisting their motion and, as a result, burn extra calories.
The team entered an entrepreneurship competition at New York University's Stern School of Business and won USD 75,000 to develop a prototype of the clothing.
"We're not creating [the clothing] as a replacement for exercise," said Franklin Yao, a first-year medical student at NYU School of Medicine, who is leading the startup project.

"Rather, it's a way to supplement exercise," Yao told 'Live Science'.

The team built a prototype pair of pants that restricts hip movement. They tested it by having someone walk on a treadmill, and then measured the walker's heart rate to calculate how many calories were burned.
In preliminary tests, people burned 20 per cent more calories when wearing the pants than when doing the same amount of exercise when wearing normal clothing.
The fitness apparel contains resistive bands that produce a feeling similar to walking through water, the team said.
The product will initially be targeted at women, and the team is working with fashion designers to optimise the look of the apparel.

The team also envisions the clothing being used by elderly people or diabetics, who may have trouble doing traditional exercise.
The researchers have filed a provisional patent for their Skinesiology clothing, and plan to have a market-ready prototype completed by the end of the summer.