between my regular yoga routine And with my busy work as a certified personal trainer with a specialty in gymnastics, I spend a negligible amount of time wearing, thinking, and writing about leggings. so I couldn’t be more excited to try Maät . Leggings designed for yoga without the need to provide any additional buffering in the middle of the flow.
While yoga has a reputation for being gentle on the joints – it’s pretty low impact if you skip any dance moves and it favors deep, rhythmic breathing to facilitate movement – but yoga No mats can be painful and distracting. Grab a rug, and you’ll be fine, right? Not too fast. While a yoga mat has long been considered an essential accessory to any successful yoga session, research from the journal Phenomenology and practice identifies the yoga mat as a barrier to entry for some in the way that it forces us to accumulate “more stuff” in the name of connecting with our bodies. Author Gillian Lemermeyer writes: “When it comes to a ‘serious’ exercise, “the idea of the rug being necessary, even essential, persists.”
Like a yoga mat, we are constantly changing the way we think and use it tight pants (How many times will TikTok force me to buy grimaces like an angry face in the butt?). What was once considered an ’80s aerobics essential has now become a wardrobe essential for casual and advanced yoga practitioners, making way for leggings to enter the market with Unique features like built-in knee pads to replace the towel you need to carry in your knee hand. That’s where Maät comes in.
The addition of a built-in knee pad is a great way to make yoga more accessible to those who have pain or are constrained by the space and sheer weight of a yoga mat.
When founder and designer Maät Fiona Devaney noticed she needed to put a towel under her knees during yoga poses to relieve pain, she looked for a more time-saving solution: pants. leggings have built-in knee pads, inspired by built-in happiness. the cushion she used to experience in her wetsuit while surfing. Born from the discovery that is the brand Leggings 1.0, has built-in motorcycle-like tapered knee pads and is designed with soft yet durable materials that offer lightweight compression and four-way stretch. They come in five versatile colors from army green to Metal for $148 each. Who are they for? Anyone who needs a little extra TLC in the knee area or anyone who works out without a mat – either because they’re traveling or can’t be bothered to bring it to the studio.
There’s a lot to love about these leggings. Their compression material and high-waist fit provide a snug fit that not only provides greater comfort, but also reduces muscle fatigue, increases capacity, and reduces muscle and joint strain. During abrasion testing during a strength yoga class, seams firm up in poses that require enhanced range of motion in the hip flexors, such as the half-stand, baby fun and the bird of paradise tied up. From a visual perspective, knee pads are far from something weird you’d want to put on before rollerblading down the boardwalk. Curved seams surrounding the pads are intentionally designed to lengthen the leg while offsetting any mass.
The pads themselves, made of 100% foam covered with polyester and spandex, are nothing short of genius. When I practice on both hardwood floors and shaggy living room rugs, they provide a dreamy, pillow-like feel that gets me ready to stay in a knee-centered position. camels and dogs. Although fortunately I solved my kneecap issues in physical therapy a few years ago, I can totally see how these leggings can assist someone like that. during training, living with knee discomfort, whether degenerative or post-operative (under the supervision of a physician). or physical therapy, of course).
Along with strength yoga, I tested these leggings in my Pure Barre class, which required participants to spend more time on all fours during movements like push-ups and corrected butt kicks. change. This puts an undue amount of strain on the standing knee, which can impair your ability to stay stable and work through the active leg. This time around, I feel like I could go on forever, all because my standing knee feels more supported on the integrated knee pad.
For such a technical pair of leggings, I’m amazed at how simple it is to care for them. Like any high-performance leggings, they hold up best when hand-washed and line-dried, but they can also be machine-washed on cold, gentle inside-out (only make sure to avoid folding them at the knee pad when storing them to preserve their shape).
While I appreciate the yoga-driven marketing, the brand is short-selling by shrinking into that tight box. I can see these leggings as a complete miracle for people who spend a lot of time doing housework, gardening, or any other type of manual labor that requires a transition from sitting to standing. I still wear my leggings to scrub my bathroom, and let me tell you, my toilet has never been so clean.
As someone who is about 5 feet 3 inches short, my knees are in a rather low position than the average person or at least lower than the knee of the prototype the brand used when designing these leggings. . That means the built-in knee pad sits right under my shinbone below the knee, where I don’t necessarily need any during my workout. Due to this mismatch, I had a lot of pinching in my ankle, which not only caused mild discomfort and a feeling of overload, but also limited my ankle mobility and range of motion. When I collect material in my thighs, I can experience the joy of knee pads. While the knee pad isn’t annoying by any means, you feel its presence while walking or standing, making it – for me – more of a hassle than it should be.
While the brand was kind enough to send me two of their models – charcoal and black leggings – I was drawn to the charcoal color for their sleek, high-performance Tula fabric made of polyester and elastane, reminiscent of Lululemon Wunder Train leggings I wear for everything from hot yoga to Peloton training camp. The charcoal model offers more sweat-wicking properties than the black version, the brand’s original product was made of plastic and spandex that reminded me of a living room-friendly feel Everlane leggings 24/7 which I reviewed last year (and quickly lived there). If you tend to sweat a lot, the material used in black leggings may not be suitable. Thankfully, because of the dark color, you won’t have to worry about any sweat stains.
The characteristic of a yoga mat is that it cushions virtually every aspect of your body during practice. What worries me when using these leggings alone — sans mat — is that users are currently lacking wrist support in poses like downward facing dog or chaturanga, or head support when performing movements. Do shavasana or twist the spine in a supine position. Your best bet is to pair these leggings with a mat or if that’s not feasible, some travel-friendly microfiber towels for extra perspiration and impact.
Workout clothes — and leggings in particular — are an incredibly personal choice because our bodies are shaped differently and we all move differently. The addition of a built-in knee pad is a great way to make yoga more accessible to those who have pain or are constrained by the space and sheer weight of a yoga mat. While I have to secure them to keep them in line with my knees, a taller person can see these leggings as the difference between skipping a do exercise due to limited or enthusiastic maintenance of the practice of yoga. At the very least, they make a great gift for a sporting friend who seems to have everything, but can totally benefit from a wardrobe essential when on, off – and even maybe not – the rug.
