Okay, woah. As of last month when I tried this incredibly cool gear + app combo I feel like I’ve been let in on a little secret about the next evolution in athletic performance… annnddd I’m not just saying that.
To be honest, when I showed up to try Athos athletic gear I wasn’t entirely sure what I was walking into. “Is this a workout?” “Is this a clothing fitting?” “Is this a meeting?” “Maybe I should have read the email more carefully before showing up…”
Upon asking my first couple of questions about it (post- getting very lost in the parking garage on the way in) I quickly realized I was in for a serious workout with celeb trainer Grant Roberts at his Granite Gym in Beverly Hills – and not just that, I was going to be wearing workout gear that used sensors touching my skin on the inside of the pants to determine my muscle activity, heart rate, breathing, reps, balance, form and more.
Hello, I am the balanced blonde, right?! I thought I had that whole understanding balance thing down. But not quite.
We started with some simple squats, jumps and walking up and down the stairs to calibrate the system. There is a little Bluetooth chip that clips into the Capris connecting to an app that functions as the “brain” of the operation. The chip then reports back to the mobile phone app, showing you how hard your muscles are working by lighting up different colors in the areas where you are working the hardest.
Right when we started doing some legwork they pointed out to me that my right leg was working harder than my left, so the trainer told me to concentrate on evening them out. It took intense concentration and physical work, but my next few reps showed that I was balancing because I was focusing on making it happen.
Then, funny enough, in another type of leg exercise my left leg was doing more work than my right! But this time it was my quad and glute working instead of my thigh, meaning that I have probably been overcompensating with certain muscles as opposed to others for a long time.
…What?! News to me! I swear doing yoga nearly every day for 10 years would have proven otherwise, but that just goes to show that we all have a lot to learn about our bodies.
What I loved the absolute most about Athos was that it helped me get further in tune with my body while I was working out. Every new exercise showed me a new area I could improve upon, and I also couldn’t help but think that if I had had this gear during my half marathon training and the race itself, I could have avoided some ankle wear and tear because I could have concentrated on where I was overcompensating and where I needed to let up.
Posing with Jake from Athos + Grant from Granite Gym post-workout!
The other thing I really liked about it was that although the workout was relatively short and we only focused on legs, I was so sore for literally DAYS ON END and I also felt like I had made the most of that short period of time because I was really, really working my muscles. How many times have we all gone to the gym or into a yoga class and just gone through the motions?
Too many times! I know I have, at least.
Also how many times have we tried a specific workout and stuck with it even though we hated it and didn’t feel any positive changes in our body just because we knew / heard it worked for someone else? “Jennifer Aniston does yoga all the time and has a killer body, therefore I will do yoga all the time and look just like her.”
Unfortunately my lovers that’s not the way it works! She knows what works for her body (clearly!!!) and in the same vein we all need to learn what works for our bodies. I am a huge proponent of anything that helps us get to know ourselves better so that we can feel our best and be as confident as we can in our own skin. And of course we want to be as healthy and active as we can in the safest and most enjoyable way.
One of Athos’ main principals is: “If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” – Lord Kelvin. I love that quote and it goes directly back to my philosophy that knowledge is power… especially when it comes to our own bodies! Being in the dark about what makes us feel good versus what doesn’t make us feel good is the main reason so many people have a hard time finding what works best for them.
Hello, booty! Here’s the Athos app in action!
Athos has created a new way of delivering sports performance technology to the masses that has previously been reserved for only elite athletes – and let me tell you, we all need/deserve it! It will fit into your existing routine because all you have to do is A) wear their pants and B) have your smart phone with you, which we all know you would do anyway while working out!
If you want to learn more about Athos, head over to their website and check them out! I promise I am truly a huge proponent and would only lead you there if I truly believed in their mission, which I do. AND they are a Bay Area company… What uppp!!
Who’s into the idea of trying this?! Please say yes! I want you all to have the tools to know your body as well as you can and feel amazing in your own skin. Let’s do this!