Can your garments help supplement your daily work-out? Reebok came out with an answer last month by launching the EasyTone range of garments in India.
The global fitness major has come up with an innovative line of clothing, which is based on resistance band technology. So if you enjoy working out with the resistance band at your gym or home, you can now use the same technique to tone your back and gluteus muscles by wearing these garments. No matter what you are doing, the garment will make those tardy butt muscles work hard.
The company has crafted these garments with built-in ResisTone bands to help create resistance with every movement. These garments work on muscles like cable machines by maintaining constant tension on select muscles.
Reebok is currently the only player with product offerings in this category. It is also the first brand to use proprietary ResisTone™ bands in Easytone apparel.
The toning category is currently the fastest growing athletic footwear category, claims Reebok. Though it’s new in India, analysts estimate the toning industry in the US to be over $1 billion in 2010.
Sajid Shamin, brand director of Reebok India, says the whole idea behind Easytone apparel is that it encourages better posture and toning on key muscles.
They of course don’t come cheap and can set you back by Rs 2,599 at the very least, depending on the kind of garment you buy. The Easytone sandals are available for Rs 3999 and shoes Rs 5999 onwards.
The ad campaign is currently on air and in print. The ads do not feature any celebrities but seven real women from around the world – a fashion designer, a photographer, a television producer, a journalist, an entrepreneur and a choreographer, who despite their busy schedules, keep in shape using Reetone.
So how does it work? The ResisTone bands are placed in different parts of the garments in such a way that it increases muscle activation. In the tops, the ResisTone bands are bonded onto compression fabric around the shoulder blades to help promote greater postural alignment.
The pants have a knit jacquard basket weave pattern with dual ResisTone bands in a criss-cross pattern around the hamstrings. The placement and the tightness of the ResisTone bands help tone key leg and butt muscles with every step, the company claims. Essentially, these garments create further tension in the muscles while carrying out the same activity.
The idea to use resistance bands in garments is actually an extension of the technology that the company used for a line of shoes some years ago. Reebok says that the category, which was introduced about a year back, is not niche and has globally exploded since its launch.
The company uses proprietary technology in both the footwear and the apparel. The Moving Air technology, which is used in shoes, uses balance ball-inspired pods in the sole of the shoes to create instability. Yes, there is a thing called instability training, wherein techniques of micro-instability are deployed to help activate key leg muscles with every step you take.
These shoes have two pods of moving air in the sole. The pods contain air, which moves from the pod in the heel of the foot to the pod in the forefoot as your heel hits the ground, in concert with your stride. As you step forward and roll through your forefoot, the air is forced back to your heel. The air moving back and forth makes the shoe inefficient, thereby making people work harder with every step. The garments have been inspired by the same philosophy, claims Shamin.
