Social Workout

So Wrong Thong

The Bike Seat With Built-In Underwear

Right after you finish running your commando half-marathon, hop on this bike... Introducing, the thong bike seat. Just in case you think we're seriously recommending undie-free biking, let me take this moment to remind you of the wonders of workout underpants. (via Jezebel)

Workout Gear

Tough Morning Bike Commute? Get the BOND Bike

Cars and truck cutting it a little too close? Cue the handlebar flame thrower. Crazy pot holes to maneuver? Cue the caterpillar track wheel. Bike thieves? Employ the ejector seat! Britain's Environmental Transportation Association (which sells bike insurance) conducted a survey of riders' concerns, and then they built a bike to address them. You can't actually purchase the bike...yet. But you can take a look in person at the Cycle Show in London next week. Meanwhile, check out the BOND Bike video after the jump (via Outside)

Workout Gear

Hope For the Future: A Better Earbud

Forgetting your iPod is pretty much the worst, but a close second is when you've been at the gym a mere ten minutes or so, and already your earbuds are hurting your ears. Apparently, they're all designed for robots with perfectly smooth plastic aural orifices. Over on the blog mizzFIT, however, mizzFIT herself has found the solution: Yurbuds. Unfortunately, the name sounds to me like a euphemism for yak turd, but no! They're actually silicone earbud covers. They come in a range of sizes and funky colors. They're $20 - $50, depending on the style, and mizzFIT says they've fully won her over — they're comfy and they stay put no matter how much you jump around and head bang. Just a friendly FYI for earbud-pain-sufferers everywhere. 

Workout Wear

It's Seasonal Gear Shift Time

Happy first day of Fall. Now that summer is over and done with it's time to go shopping. Well, for me to go shopping. Truth be told up until recently all of my exercise happened within the confines of the gym. I like it there, everything is organized and climate controlled...and I can wear the same black yoga capris and t-shirts to workout all year round. I've never had to amp up my fitness wardrobe for a change in climate before. But thanks to a newfound love of the outdoors I'm left with a dilemma...what the f@#k do I wear now? Lucky for me, and you, I did some research.

Other Places

Foot Finery

The World's Most Expensive Running Shoes

They're not jewel encrusted like these blingy sports bras. They're not padded with goose livers like these crazy French shoes. So what makes the BIOM A shoes from ECCO ring up at $220? Well, to start, they're made with leather from Himalayan yaks. Not sure that yak leather is actually better than cow leather, but maybe it's like strapping a talisman to your feet? In another life, your shoe scaled the world's most daunting peaks. What else? I guess you also have to add to the cost of the shoe the massive amounts of cash the company spent physically scanning the feet of thousands of runners in an attempt to build a "barefoot" style shoe that's rooted in real foot anatomy. And maybe there's also this: ECCO recommends the shoes only for advanced runners. Supposedly, us less advanced runners can't handle the speed the BIOM A is dishing out. I'm annoyed that that makes me want them. 

SW Labs

Add Some Caffeine To Your Morning Ride

I would bike to work, you say, but then when would I drink my coffee? Social Workout's esteemed engineer Micah has that problem all worked out. Behold: The bike coffee holder, or as it's properly called, "The Morning Rush Coffee Holder Kit." $39.99 and you too could be sipping and riding. Micah gives it a big thumbs up. Though, after risking death one morning with an improper mug, he vigorously recommends heading the kit's warning that "mug holder ring only to be used with accompanying commuter mug. Using other devices or cups will lead to spillage and possible serious accidents."

Mammary Mobility

Bad Bras Lead to Knee Injuries

Good sports bras are important. Just ask Kimberly Rae Miller who dreams that one day she "will stop running around the parks of New York City, grimacing as I watch other women jog by me with their boobs thudding downward with every step." Or ask the researchers at the University of Portsmouth in England. They attached reflective markers to the breasts of female runners and charted the "trajectories" of their breasts using using infrared cameras as they wore various types of bras or went braless. At the same time, they simultaneously measured the force of the women's foot strikes on a track. Turns out, running with poor breast support is more than just a pain in the boobs. The more you jiggle, the harder your foot strikes, and the more prone you are to injury. So buy a good bra. As a final note, I couldn't not share my favorite line from the New York Times write-up on the study: "A raft of new studies has established, convincingly, that breasts are more mobile and less manageable than most people once believed." There you have it.

Workout Tech

The New Apple Smart Bike

What's a "Smart Bike"? Not 100% clear, but that's the name of the new bike tracking and communication system Apple filed a patent for last week. The basic gist is this: It's a little like Nike + iPod. The patent filing leaves some of details fuzzy, but using your iPhone or iPod Touch, the new system will let you trick your bike out to electronically communicate with other bikes, sharing data about everything from distance, cadence, and heart rate, to altitude, elevation, and incline. Apple already has some pretty cool cycling tracking apps, so you gotta figure there's even more awesomeness in the smart bike than they've outlined in their patent filings. New launch dates or prices available yet, but we'll keep you posted. (via Outside via Wired)

Shoe Wars

The French Flout Barefoot Running With World's Cushiest Shoe

Barefoot running, eet is for, how you say, loozers. Ze french, we demand ze luxury, ze padding. We eet ze baby birds, we fatten ze gooses' livers, we french the fries. Run barefoot? Les boules! Passé! Ze french shoe, Hoka, eet eez 30% softer and 2.5 times ze volume of ze typical running shoe. Like ze softest décolletage. Like ze fluffiest croissant. C'est magnifique! (via Outside)

Shoe Wars

Nike's Big Fake Butt Ads

Back in 2005, Nike came out with a series of big butt ads. "My butt is big and round like the letter C and 10,000 lunges have made it rounder but not smaller and that's just fine..." read the copy. The image that accompanied these words was a disembodied rump, and this week a whole bunch of people got really excited because they thought Nike had reissued the ads, but this time with a real butt attached to a real lady (see image at left). Alas, turns out the new ad was a fake. One clue: the fakers are bad spellers and presumably Nike has copy editors. ("It's my embassador to those who walk behind me," reads the fake). Nike's actual new ads, we're sad to report, feature no butts whatsoever. Though they do rip on toning shoes, which is kind of fun.