Activewear That Does More Than Just Look Cute
You know that I am an activewear girl all the way. Give me a great pair of leggings that I can live in, and I don’t need much more in life! But when activewear has a purpose beyond just looking cute and being comfortable, it almost seems too good to be true. So is it?
I tested out a few of these pieces with a purpose to give you the scoop and tell you whether it’s worth the investment or the space in your closet. So here are my thoughts on the pants that give you a detox, the sports bra that pushes your shoulders back, and the leggings that add to your workout.
Elastique Athletics L’Original Legging.
The first piece I tried was the L’Original Legging from Elastique Athletics. These are true compression leggings with little massaging beads on the inside of the pant. These leggings claim to give you all the benefits of a lymphatic drainage massage while you are wearing them. Last spring, I visited a few local spots for this specialized massage that offers all sorts of healing benefits. And of course, I wrote about it and shared my experience. Lymphatic drainage is a way to “clean” your body from toxins that ultimately gives you more energy, boosts your immune system, brightens your skin and clears your mind. To get the lymph system to flow properly and produce these benefits, the lymph nodes must be manually stimulated, which is where the massage comes into play. This self care service costs money and takes time so if there is a legging that can give me the same benefits, I’m all for it (and I’ll even pay for shipping)!
The Elastique Athletics L’Original Legging has two unique features which result in its healing benefits. First, these leggings have true gradient compression, which means they are tighter around the ankles and loosen up the leg to encourage blood flow up to the heart. Second, these leggings have little MicroPerle beads that sit inside the pants on the fronts and backs of the thighs and on the booty. As you wear the leggings, each bead applies pressure. Pressure that massages the lymph system and gets the lymph fluid moving. Ah ha!
Because the lymph system sits right below the skin, the massage beads inside the leggings massage the lymph nodes by opening them up. Once they are open, blood can flow and not sit stagnant which is what happens when the lymph nodes are clogged. These beads are strategically placed inside the leggings where cellulite tends to form on the legs, so one of the main purposes of these pants is to prevent or reduce cellulite. Oh, do tell me more… Elastique Athletic’s scientists had a group of women wear these leggings for 3 days a week (during their 45 minute workouts) for 8 weeks and they all reported an improvement in skin appearance, including a visible reduction in cellulite.
These leggings come with a hefty price tag. They sell for almost $200! But a lymphatic drainage massage will cost you close to that for one treatment. And with the leggings, you can wear them over and over again and reap the benefits. Right now, Elastique Athletics is running an early Black Friday sale and you can try a pair in a few select colors for half the price.
I bought the black color in the longest length (they come in 3 pant lengths, a short and a skort) and wear them as an every day legging. I have not worked out in these leggings, although in the test study I mentioned above, the participants wore them only to workout. I just don’t see them holding up for the kind of exercising that I do. Plus, I am not sure I wouldn’t be so annoyed and uncomfortable by the beads during a workout. The massaging beads are slightly visible from the outside of the legging but nothing that someone would notice at a glance. Be aware that when you wear these leggings, you will get little marks on your thighs from the massaging beads. The appearance of them is alarming at first but they go away within minutes.
So are they worth it? The jury is still out on these. I would want to wear them more often and more regularly (not just one time a week) to see if they are really improving my skin and overall health. I wore them immediately following the 26.2 miles I ran in October, and I can tell you that in that instance, they were a dream! They felt so good on my sore and tired legs. The hugging compression and massaging beads helped speed my recovery while I went about my day. I absolutely love the efficiency of it! I also wore these leggings on the airplane on the way home from the Chicago Marathon because true compression socks or pants are a great in-flight companion. For these two purposes, the L’Original Legging is great. But if you don’t fly or run a marathon regularly, are they worth the cost? I’m not entirely sure yet. I do love the idea of these leggings and will continue to wear them for extended periods of time to see if they are “working”.
Forme Science makes clothes with a big claim. The Forme Science clothes are said to improve your posture and fix spine and musculoskeletal disorders all while relieving back pain. A tee shirt can do this? So can a bra? I was pretty skeptical about this one. I sucked it up and paid the $168 for a posture fixing sports bra to give it a try. Full disclosure, I had planned to wear the bra for a few days and return it. For one, I thought it would be very uncomfortable. If a bra is going to push my shoulders back to improve my alignment, I figured it would be so uncomfortable that I would not want any part of it. I mean, I struggle to get regular sports bras on. However, as soon as I put on the Power Bra, I was intrigued.
Not only was the bra super comfortable, but I felt the effects right away! And that’s the thing with the Forme Science garments: they immediately put your body in better alignment offering long lasting posture improvement and pain relief over time. The bra somehow pushed my shoulders back and my upper back straight without being rigid or uncomfortable. In fact, the opposite happened. I immediately felt more comfortable wearing this bra. When you sit up straight and your body is properly aligned, your lungs can move air better, your digestive system can do its job, and the tension you hold in your upper back and shoulders immediately dissipates. Like holy shit!
The sports bra and women’s shirt each cost $168 (the men’s golf shirt costs even more). I know. It is an investment for sure! But I am going to say that this bra is worth it. Don’t we all need to improve our posture? Maybe not the ballerinas in the audience. But I know that when I am stressed, I tense up in my neck, shoulders and upper back. And as I go about my day and get more and more stressed from the kids and their lack of listening, I start to lose all that good posture that my mother tried to instill in me. So that is why this bra may just be the most perfect solution for me— a busy mom who does not have time to think about sitting up straight herself, as she tells everyone else around her to!
For the guys, Forme Science has tee shirts that also claim to be posture correcting. I really wanted to get one of these for my husband because he could use it, but I was not about to spend close to $400 on one sports bra and one tee shirt in one sitting. Forme also makes a golf shirt that is said to improve the wearer’s game and recovery after play. Now that is something my husband would approve coughing up the big bucks for!
For the ladies, there are two bra styles and a few shirt options. There is also a legging that improves posture and claims to reduce lower back pain through core work. For my Forme Science purchase, I got the basic Power Bra, which I found to be an attractive and practical style. Plus, it’s supportive for all cup sizes. The back is mesh. Mesh with a purpose and not just as a sexy design detail that I usually look for when buying activewear. There are a bunch of color options, too. I went with my true to size medium in the Power Bra and picked a pretty neutral blush color because I figured it would work under both light and dark shirts. And I have been trying to wear this sports bra as often as I can. I’m of the belief that improvement comes with work and time, but this bra goes against that and gives me better posture right away!
I am all for the things that make life easier but not for a shortcut to something that clearly requires time and work. So let’s be honest, wearing leggings with resistance bands built in them (and that invite you to “wear your gym”) is not going to build muscle strength if you cut out the gym. Sure, the SweetFlexx leggings could help you build more leg strength while you work out by adding resistance. But do you need to wear your resistance bands?
SweetFlexx did their research and ran some tests with good results. These tests showed an overall increase in the number of calories burned when wearing the leggings during a workout. I equate these leggings to the wearable weights that I use and love. I’ll add the weights to my wrists during a workout to make the exercises more effective and increase my calorie burn. So essentially, these pants do the same thing. But just like I don’t wear the weights when I am not exercising, I don’t plan to make these SweetFlexx leggings my everyday pant. The idea of getting the benefits of a workout while running errands or cooking dinner just seems silly to me.
These leggings are made with a thick fabric and don’t offer the 4-way stretch or moisture wicking properties that I expect from my athlesiure. The leggings are tight, not super high waisted and not easy to move in. I’m a mom with a three year old who still asks me to carry him up and down the stairs and in and out of the car, so these pants just seem like more of a burden than a benefit for my life.
I like the ability to remove the resistance band after the burn so for me, I don’t see the appeal to these leggings. Especially because they are so uncomfortable and not that cute… the two reasons that I wear my leggings. The good news is that they cost under $100 so it’s not such a huge investment if they seem like something you’d like to try for yourself. SweetFlexx is currently running a longer study to look at the long term effects of wearing their leggings. I would definitely be curious to hear the results, but I won’t be wearing these in the meantime.
If you are curious to give some of these pieces a try, blog subscribers, stay tuned for some discount codes coming your way! And if you aren’t subscribed here yet, what the heck are you waiting for? Go to the home page and get your name on the list for exclusive deals each month.