Functional fabrics go a long way for an athlete toward adding performance to a garment. There’s breathable fabric that wicks moisture and heat away from the skin. There’s compression fabric that stays tight around targeted areas to tone or heel particular muscles. And now there’s fabric that uses Far Infrared Rays to reflect energy back to the body.
A company called Schoeller Textiles AG is producing clothing made from a titanium and mineral matrix to produce a Far Infrared effect on its clothing, called energear. Far Infrared Rays are a component of infrared rays. The sun, certain stones and metals, and the human body radiate this form of infrared. In this case titanium and minerals are used to reflect energy back into the body of the wearer. The fabric remains breathable even with the Far Infrared coating.Testing from Schoeller Textiles on the fabric finds several attributes.
• Performance enhancement and prevention of premature fatigue
• Improved regeneration
• Shorter warm-up phase
• Increase of concentration and overall wellbeing
Far Infrared technology is nothing new. Schoeller says the therapeutic properties have been recognized by Asian medicine for a long time. It’s the concept that heats saunas and is often associated with heat. The company hasn’t provided details on whether the fabric holds in heat for cold weather activities, or sends heat out while it sends energy back toward the wearer for warmer weather workouts.
Tests on lactic acid and hear rate have returned favorable results. When testing lactic acid levels in athletes, levels of lactic acid in test subjects with an energear outfit were lower than those of test subjects with comparable clothing. Heart rate observation showed that with physical activity, the heart rate in test subjects with an energear outfit can by reduced by up to 20 beats per minute.
Energear clothing is still in development. The company is targeting sports, summer and winter mountain activities, trekking, work wear and military wear as well as urban wear as its target markets. “When physical performance and stamina are called for, energear makes good sense,” the site says.
Official Schoeller Textiles AG web site.