When working out, tracking your exercise numbers can get overwhelming, especially for those who are new to it. But gym-goers could be soon using the color of their shirt to track how well their workout is going. As reported by Popular Science, the “muscle shirt” was invented by German designer Simone Schramm and displays a second colored under-layer that responds to the wearer’s workout.
It is one’s heart rate that causes the fabric to start tightening itself to reveal its second layer. When it becomes taut, it is meant to assist with the individual’s posture and form while showing that their workout is going well. During the construction phase of the shirt, it was connected to a stepper motor where digital signals where transferred to mechanical movements. The motor would then speed up and slow down to test the fabric’s response.
One of the biggest reason’s Schramm wanted to create this shirt was to ease the pressure that gym-goers have in showing off their numbers that added up during their trip to the gym. With the colors, it becomes pretty straightforward to show how well a workout is going without the need to compare numbers.
“Through research, I’ve found that those who exercise really want to show their level of physical performance in pubic, so I decided to create this shirt as a way to communicate their activity visually, but without having to share their data in a public setting. If I were to make an app for the data collected by the shirt, I’d still want the user interface to be a color animation that corresponds to the body, and make it an intuitive experience,” said Schramm.
Get The Latest Sports Tech News In Your Inbox!
It’s definitely something that could help people become more confident during their workouts. The gym is a place people go to physically (and possibly mentally) better themselves. Whether you’re on a treadmill or lifting free weights, sometimes it’s hard not to glance over and see what the person next to you is doing and not get a little competitive. This shirt could help you focus on what it is you need to do that will help you without hurting you.
For now, the shirt is in its prototype phase while they try to find ways to make the garment waterproof. During this process, Schramm is hoping to figure out more ways to make this shirt even more useful during workouts.