What iPod-wearing runner hasn’t gotten a little overmotivated by “Eye of the Tiger,” or the power song of her choice, and accidentally snared her hands in the cords, ripping the earbuds from her bobbing noggin?
Those folks–and we’re not saying we’re among them–are going to have to find another excuse for tripping on the treadmill.
More companies are integrating snug pockets and cord-catching loops for MP3 players into their athletic wear, to spare the devices from flailing limbs and fumbled barbells.
Danielle Crawford, Pro Shop buyer for the East Bank Club, estimates that half of the club membership brings an MP3 player to the gym.
“Now [hands-free iPod storage] has just hit its stride to be a common feature in clothing,” Crawford says.
Most of the pockets accommodate smaller MP3 players such as the iPod Nano. Few are large enough for full-size iPods or the new iPhones. Nor would that be practical in many cases. As the size and weight increase, so does the impact on your body–not exactly a motivating force for a runner’s fastest mile ever.
For men, however, Scottevest, a pioneer in tech-enabled clothing, has just launched its Performance T-shirts with ergonomic chest and hip pockets designed to withstand the weight of a regular iPod.
“We engineered a suspension system so it doesn’t pull against the collar,” says Scott Jordan, who launched Scottevest from Chicago before moving to Sun Valley, Idaho.
His shirts’ ultra-thin QuickDry 3M fabric offers another utility bonus. “What makes it so cool is you can control your iPod from the exterior of the fabric, so you don’t have to keep reaching in and changing it,” Jordan says.
For safety, many discourage exercising outdoors with an iPod. Even so, Nike has introduced its Performance Therma-fit Hat Phone ($60), a skullcap with high-quality speakers sewn in–no earbuds necessary–along with a pocket for an iPod Nano. The cap also can be used with a full-size iPod, via an included cord, if you stow the iPod elsewhere on your person.
Expect more convergence between athletic wear and electronics.
“We’re a very technology-driven society,” says Mike May of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. “If we have this conversation a year from now, we’ll be a lot farther along.”
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An all-in-1 workout shirt for guys
The product: Scottevest’s new SeV Performance T-Shirt for men seems to have it all–three hidden pockets, big enough for a full-size iPod, a cell phone and keys. A patented wire control system with a hidden loop manages your iPod wires. The ultra-thin QuickDry 3M fabric also lets you control your iPod without pulling it from its pockets. All for a reasonable price. We took it for a test workout with a full-size iPod to see.
Running: Minimal iPod bobbing during a short warm-up run.
Weights: Moving the iPod to the hip pocket keeps it out of the way during chest and shoulder presses.
Bottom line: This shirt won high marks for versatility. Our tester also loved that his chest hairs didn’t poke through the ultra-thin fabric the way they do with similar shirts. The short-sleeve shirt is $34.99 and the long-sleeve shirt is $39.99 at scottevest.com. Now, how about making a form-fitting one for women?
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wdonahue@tribune.com
