Category: Apparel

Did the Adidas FORMOTION Jersey Deliver in the World Cup?

Before the World Cup the LA Galaxy tested the space age uniforms

Introduced last March for the 2010 Major League Soccer season, the Adidas TECHFIT uniforms have been seen in the FIFA World Cup. The question going around the Web is whether the results were more psychological than physical? The other technology advance seen in the uniforms for the World Cup is in how the technology has made the leap from typical under garments to be the material in the actual uniforms. This is notable with the FORMOTION uniforms, which is an alternative, which also offers moisture-wicking fabrics and mesh construction to help provide ventilation and keep the athletes cool.

So is this a lot of hype? There is no doubt that clothing not only makes the man, or makes the woman, but as we’ve seen improvements in garments can help reduce drag, keep an athlete cooler and improve performance. The question now is did the TECHFIT and FORMOTION uniforms do as much physically as it did mentally?

The TECHFIT uniforms consisted of compression fabrics and strategically placed TPU (Thermoplastic Urethane) bands that were located in key areas. This was cited as being able to enhance muscle power, and according to news reports TECHFIT was “proven” to increase a player’s power by 5.3 percent, vertical leap by 4 percent and sprint speed by 1.1 percent, as well as to enhance endurance by 0.8 percent. This sounds like the suit from Greatest American Hero to us! But at $150 a pop it is probably almost as expensive.

What was also worth noting is that several teams including South Africa, Argentina, Mexico, Japan, Spain, Germany and France have worn both TECHFIT and FORMOTION uniforms, while other nations such as Greece, Denmark, Slovakia, Paraguay and Nigeria were outfitted with FORMOTION uniforms and a TECHFIT base layer. Sounds good right? Well, consider this… the team from the Netherlands was reported fitted with Nike made uniforms!

So we’re not one to question the psychological effects either. If you look good and feel good by looking good, you’ll probably play better too.

Adidas World Cup Site

Nike World Cup Site

[Via FoxNews.com: High Tech Soccer Jersey Effects More Psychological than Physical World Cup players more likely to get confidence boost from new uniform kit ]

Does Wearing a Cycling Helmet Really Help?

Today putting on a cycling helmet is something most serious riders do whether going for a long training ride, or just when they’re taking the bike out for a short spin. But Harvey Echin of The Vancouver Sun brings up an interesting question, and that is whether wearing a bike helmet actually makes you any safer? One point that is brought up by Colin Clarke, a mechanical engineer is that helmets can actually be subjected to more impacts than a non-helmeted helmet – in part because the helmet is larger and thus an otherwise near miss becomes a hit.

The other point that Echin notes is that some sources have noted an increase in cyclist accidents as more riders wore helmets. The argument here could be made that riders have a greater sense of security and thus take greater risks. In this case, we can kind of agree. In those times when we’ve rented bikes – such as biking in Paris or Rome (where helmets were not available) – we were trying to be a little more careful, in part because we weren’t familiar with the bikes, but also because we didn’t have a helmet.

Finally, there is the debate about freedoms and whether laws should be passed that make it mandatory to wear a helmet – as is the case in Canada. To weigh in on the issue, we’ll only say that we suggest everyone wear a helmet but to generally try and ride as safely as possible.

Wearing a bike helmet might not make you any safer [Via The Vancouver Sun]

Tour de France: Oakley on the Eyes

All eyes are on Oakley, or is that Oakley is on the eyes at this month’s Tour de France? The performance eyewear maker has announced updates to the glasses that will be worn by the competitors, and which will now be available to fans as well.

Lance Armstrong sporting a pair of Oakley Radar glass

Among the racers wearing the new Oakley glasses will be Lance Armstong, and he’ll be sporting LIVESTRONG versions of the Oakley Radar and Jawbone models. Each is available with quick change-out lenses, including the G30 lens that is being used by Armstrong. There will also be new Clear-Black Iridium Photochromic lenses with new technology that automatically adjusts to changing conditions – like those in parts of France where it can go from rain to sunny skies.

Fabian Cancellara will also  be riding in the Tour with Oakleys and while his chances to get back the Yellow jersey maybe off the radar, it will be the Oakley Radar glasses that will let him see the saw. He won’t be alone, as Carlos Sastre will also have his Radar on. Finally, look for Mark Cavendish to sprint to the finish with a pair of BMX Chrome Jawbone. Let’s just see if he actually can earn the green ones!

Oakley Official Site

BehindTheTour.com to check for information on Oakley riders and daily updates on the race.

Insect Spotted, Shields Up

Have you ever seen those Orkin bug commercials where the human size (or larger) insect comes to the door – or in one case to the hot tub? That is probably an all too familiar feeling that many people get around insects. Obviously bug spray and a professional exterminator is great for the home, but what do you do when you venture to the territory of the bugs?

Shield Repellent Apparel

One solution is to dress up, as in wear appropriate attire that will protect you from insects. Insect Shield’s line of clothing and gear repels a variety of insects including mosquitoes and ticks, and best of all this specially treated clothing has protection that is invisible, orderless and long lasting. So you can still wash the gear after trekking through the woods. The company offers a range of products for outdoor adventure, as well as simple hats and scarves for gardening. There are even products designed for kids and infants too, so you can take the young ones with you on the next hike.

For more extreme journeys there is gear for hunting, complete with camouflage patterns, as well as insect shield bug suits, head nets and bug socks. While not exactly the most stylish gear its better than scratching bug bites afterward.

Insect Shield Official Site

Cycle to Foot, Keen Pedal Footwear Goes Extra Mile

Biking to work or cycling into town to meet a friend for lunch or run a few errands means compromise. You have to bring an extra pair of shoes or walk around in your cycling shoes and worry about your cleats getting scuffed and scuffing a few floors. KEEN now offers its popular Presidio women’s shoe (Austin in men’s) in its Pedal line. The lace-up passes for a casual office setting or even a light hike.

The SPD-compatible shoe has tread that extends further than the cleat. Therefore when walking you don’t need to worry about the metal scratching wood floors or getting ground up by the pavement. Even for more serious rides, it’s nice to step off the bike and be able to walk normally.

KEEN Women’s Presidio Pedal ($120)

KEEN Men’s Austin Pedal ($120)

Feminine Sprint

Moving Comfort Sprint Skort

It’s hard to find shorts for running that don’t look boyish, or just have a feminine and complimentary shape. Skorts, a combination short and skirt, are becoming more popular and give you that flattering shape while not compromising on performance. Moving Comfort’s Sprint Skort ($44.00) is made from aeorosilver, a material that increases performance and endurance by moving sweat away from the body to the outer layer of the fabric. The silver used in the fabric eliminates harmful and odor-causing germs.

The skort has a compression boy short liner under the a-line skirt that has a double layer crotch gusset. It has mesh side panels with pockets to keep you cool and stow ID and keys.

Aerosilver has a number of beneficial properties. It’s clover-like cross section absorbs and evaporates body sweat rapidly. An antimicrobial quality eliminates germs and blocks the spread of any that try to latch on to your skin. Quick absorbtion and quick drying action helps the fabric dry fast and maintains a cool body temperature by wicking and evaporating moisture. A deodorization effect keeps the skort fresh and eliminates odor. The aerosilver also intercepts ultraviolet rays to protect you from the sun.

A flattering fit with a revolutionary material. The Sprint Skort is great for race day or training.

Moving Comfort Sprint Skort

Aerosilver

Break the Ice on Wool

Icebreaker Amazon Scoop T

Wool is probably the last material you expect to wear while running or doing other exercise. All the new technical fibers, many made from old soda bottles, are known to wick sweat and keep you warm or cool, depending on their purpose. Many of those fibers mimic natural fibers such as wool. Now a company called Icebreaker features wool from New Zealand with just enough of the manmade stuff (lycra) to give you a snug fit and hold shape.

Icebreaker began as a base layer company, making thermal underwear and snug tops for layering made of wool. It’s still a strong part of the company’s business, but some of the new designs can take you from the office to the trail with style. The Amazon Scoop ($64.99), a women’s top that can easily be worn on the street, keep you warm on the plane, or wick sweat as you take your bike for a spin. Icebreaker outfits you from head to toe with foot specific wool socks for different sports.

If you’re curious about how your wool became an Amazon Scoop or other style, each garment comes with its own Baacode, which tracks back to the farm, or station, where it was raised. It doesn’t track to the specific sheep, but you get the flavor of the countryside.

One for the Road

When I go for a bike ride, I typically take my driver’s license. When I run, I don’t often take as much. It’s not fun to think about the possibility of getting hurt, but if I do, an emergency crew won’t know who I am. That’s where Road ID comes in. It’s the basic information for quick reference. There are two wrist strap models, the Wrist ID Sport and Wrist ID Elite. The Sport ID allows seven lines of text, etched into a metal plate and threaded on a nylon wrist strap. This can include your name and address, emergency contact numbers, and other pertinent information. Wrist ID Elite has a rubberized band, but carries the same vitals.

Road ID Interactive is the next level up, and gives you two lines of text on the front of the plate, and a serial and PIN number on the back that can provide even more information. With an online profile, you can update your address, emergency contact numbers, insurance information, and other details in your Emergency Response Profile. The ERP can be accessed over the phone or online.

This is an effective way to provide information if you’re not able to do that yourself. Emergency crews are used to medical jewelry such as a bracelet or necklace that alerts of health issues. This is another identifier for you. It lightens your load so you don’t have to take a driver’s license or other ID when you go, or supplements that with information more useful in an emergency situation.

Padding the March Madness Players

NBA player Tim Duncan wearing adidas TechFit gear.

Basketball is not the sport you associate with padding. Those flimsy polyester shorts and tops don’t provide much in the way of armor. Many players are starting to add a layer of compression or padding under their uniforms to get an edge over the competition. Adidas TechFit line has both compression and padding options. While NBA players are adopting the gear into their game, NCAA members competing in March Madness finals are also said to be wearing the new garments.

The PowerWeb line combines compression fabrics and a Web of strategically placed Thermoplastic Polyurethane bands to boost power to key muscle groups. Compression gives power to musicle groups for more efficient movement, increasing acceleration; improving endurance; and reducing fatigue.

TechFit Padded uses closed cell foam padding to protect athletes and provide maximum flexibility. High-impact resistance helps players avoid injuries when they come into contact with other players or the hard wood surface of the court. A CNN article details some of the practical uses and injuries that were lessened by the extra layer of protection.

Players can choose padding, compression, or a combination of the two in shorts, tops, knee and elbow garments based on the position they play and their individual needs.

Adidas TechFit

Primal Wear Clothing For Rockers and Geeks

When you think of cycling attire, you probably think of team jerseys, cycling sponsors and equipment makers. This is all great if you like the team-look, but what if you want to break from the crowd and do the distance not looking like a pro-wannabe?

Over the years there have been plenty of eclectic fashion statements, but the attire from Primal Wear Clothing truly offers something different! The company offers a line of heavy metal and hard rock jerseys that would at first glance seem more attuned to a bunch of burnouts in a van at a concert, than on the mountain bike trail or on the long road ride. But on a closer look these offer riders to strut their stuff and prove their more than pedal gear heads. Inspiring the look of vintage concert shirts, you can get on your head banging with Metallica, feel the long and winding trip with some Pink Floyd, or always good for the long climb the Led Zepplin Stairway Bicycle Jersey.

And if hard rocking isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other options including those for the armed services that will show that you support our troops and more. Primal Wear even has a line of Star Wars themed jerseys instead, and these feature the original movie posters of the first trilogy of films. Let’s just hope they make those in Jabba the Hutt size for the hardcore fans.

Rudy Project Supports Olympic Medalists

Rudy Project was the eyewear of choice of Olympic athlete Anastazia Kuzmina of Slovakia who won gold in the women's biathlon.

As the Olympics close, the Rudy Project reports it had a hand in 18 medals, internationally. Before the torch was lit, Rudy Project said it would supply eyewear to a number of Olympic athletes. The round-up of athletes that placed on the podium included gold for women’s biathlon competitor Anastazia Kuzmina from Slovakia, who also won a silver medal. German cross country skier Claudia Nystad won gold in the team sprint. Johan Olsson from Sweden took gold in the cross country 4 x 10 relay.

Kinetic Shift congratulates all the athletes who competed in the Olympics. And kudos to Rudy Project for supporting so many winning athletes.

Rudy Project eyewear

Nike Makes Bottles a Boon for South African Football Teams

Nike makes team uniforms from recycled plastic bottles.

The recent trend in sports and fitness clothing is green, sustainability. Nike is part of this trend and especially when it comes to football (that’s soccer to many of you), and the upcoming 2010 World Cup in South Africa. This year Nike is outfitting the Brazil team with home and away kits, plus eight away kits for other Nike-sponsored federations appearing in the games. What’s so sustainable about these kits or outfits you ask? Nike’s fabric suppliers sourced plastic bottles from landfill sites in Japan and Taiwan to produce the jerseys and shorts.

Eight plastic bottles produce one jersey. To turn bottle into soft, breathable fabric bottles the manufacturer melts the plastics down to produce new yarn and then convert that yarn into fabric to construct jerseys. Just because the jerseys are made from plastic doesn’t mean players will drown in their own sweat. Designed to keep players drier, cooler, and more comfortable, the outfit has a handful of features. The Dri-Fit fabric is 15 percent lighter than previous Nike kit fabrications, which also benefits players’ ability to do their stuff out on the field. The coordinating shorts have additional ventilation zones below the waistband and near the base of the spine to keep the outfit breathable.

The outfits have some protection built in as well. Nike Pro Combat, adds protection against light impact and abrasion in the Slider and Impact shorts. The Pro Combat also features a therma Mock that protects a player’s neck against harsh conditions such as sun.

The process saves raw materials and reduces energy consumption by up to 30 percent compared to the manufacture of virgin polyester. For the upcoming season and competition, Nike salvaged roughly 13 million plastic bottles, totaling around 254,000 kg of polyester waste from landfill sites. That’s enough to stretch a distance of 3,000 kilometers if the bottles are laid out end-to-end.

The games take place in South Africa with teams from Brazil, The Netherlands, Portugal, U.S.A., South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Serbia, and Slovenia. Get your own team kits at nike.com and nikefootball.com.

Check out Nike’s video: Nike Introduces 2010 National Team Kits Designed for Increased Performance with Lower Environmental Impact

Lucy Shapes Up Women’s Workouts

Four-way stretch gives you freedom in a workout while providing shape.

It helps to look good, even while you sweat. Lucy Activewear offers a line of clothing with performance built in. The lucy Power Pant II provides shaping and is constructed from materials that are odor-inhibiting, moisture wicking, offer core compression, and 4-way stretch. The Power Pant II gives you a

yoga pant-style that skims the body including the hip and thigh area where we could all use a little slimming help. The garment’s Powermax material is a machine washable Supplex lycra fabric.

Another feature of the lucy line is that the company doesn’t believe in the one-size-fits-all approach, at least when it comes to height. Pants are available in short, regular, and tall. It’s too often overlooked, and the wrong length can lead to awkward workouts and injuries if the pant leg gets underfoot.

Lucy activewear Lucy Power Pant II