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The technology seems pretty cool, but for Hedokko to be truly successful, it can't make users feel like wired-up lab rats when they go to the gym.
The technology seems pretty cool, but for Hedokko to be truly successful, it can't make users feel like wired-up lab rats when they go to the gym. (Photo: Heddoko)

The First Smart Fitness Apparel We鈥檙e Actually Excited to Own

Heddoko claims it can prevent injuries and improve strength training by giving wearers live feedback on their form. The tech's still in beta, but we're impressed by the prototype. CrossFitters, take note.

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The technology seems pretty cool, but for Hodokko to be truly successful, it can't make users feel like wired-up lab rats when they go to the gym.
(Photo: Heddoko)

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Most feedback athletes receive on their weight-lifting听form is subjective. They rely on a coach or a mirror鈥攁nd even the best coach in the world has trouble telling precisely what鈥檚 going on with every rep.

Mazen Elbawab, CEO of , a combination app and biometric clothing system that debuts later this summer, wants to change that. He founded his听company to create an empirical tracker of听form during gym workouts.听

(Heddoko)

鈥淲hen I do a squat, the angles of my knees, the separation of my legs, my balance between my legs, these are objective evaluations. But if a coach is looking at my form, it鈥檚 subjective, it鈥檚 what she can see, and I鈥檓 relying on the attention of the coach, too,鈥 he says. Heddoko, he promises, won鈥檛 be subjective. It will measure exactly what your personal form is like (live!),听during听each exercise.

Most smart (and we use the term loosely) fitness apparel today tries to track heart rate or muscle output. To capture those metrics, it needs to be skin-tight, which in our testing experience has led to uncomfortable, ugly clothes.听 听

Heddoko is different. Its baggy tops and bottoms (which will launch听in both a men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 version), are designed to track a body鈥檚 position via multiple sensor pods at the arms and legs, so it doesn鈥檛 need to be constrictively form fitting.听

Read:听it won鈥檛 make you look like a freak.听

鈥淭he aesthetics are really important,鈥 says Elbawab. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 hire an engineer to put a suit together then hire a fashion designer to make it pretty.鈥

(Heddoko)

Here鈥檚 how it works. A user manually inputs her exercises on a companion app, which then displays a live, animated version of her working out. The app eventually compiles a database of example animations, allowing users to track progress and compare form against themselves, not 鈥渟ome gold-standard elite athlete who can do the very best squat in the world,鈥 says Elbawab. The database will critique form to prevent injury, but it won鈥檛 dock you points if you can鈥檛 pull your elbows beyond 50 degrees for a row. 听

Think of it as a mirror designed to track minute imbalances and imperfections. Elbawab鈥檚 goal is to give wearers 鈥渁ctionable data they can use to get better at their gym workout.鈥

The tech might be especially beneficial for athletes in rehab who are working to regain full range of motion, says Elbawab. The database will have tracked a user鈥檚 pre-injury range of motion, giving her a target to strive toward. 听

Batteries and sensors are Heddoko鈥檚 main limitations right now. The apparel will launch with a battery about the size of a stack of business cards, and the sensors on the limbs will be visible (although at about the siz of a Gu shot, they鈥檙e smaller than what鈥檚 shown in Heddoko鈥檚 debut imagery). 听

But those batteries and sensors will shrink, Elbawab predicts. And when they do, personal trainers better watch out.听

Lead Photo: Heddoko

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