Fashion Week is quickly coming upon us, so why not talk wearable tech and fashion in athletic apparel?
University of Denver business school alum Jake Waxenberg is the Director of Brand Strategy for Athos, the next generation of smart clothing. The Del Mar, California native trained at IMG Soccer Academy and the Athletes Performance Institute before playing Division 1 Men’s Soccer for the University of Denver and then going on to play for Crystal Palace in the Premier League. His passion not just for soccer but for maximizing the potential of individual performance, eventually led him to where he is today.
One of the world’s first smart clothing companies that can measure not just heart rate and breathing, but also what each muscle is doing, Athos captures all of this information in real time. Without being inundated by data that requires extensive background knowledge to interpret, Athos provides users with instant feedback so they can take action at a glance. Athos fits into any existing routine. It is worn, worked out in, and with the amazing app, whenever a set is finished, it is learned from. It is easily washed and then thrown back into a gym bag.
Jake is responsible for creating and coordinating product launch, product branding, and marketing campaign strategies. In addition to driving sales efforts across e commerce channels, sales, and offline partnerships. Facilitate relationships with co-branding and sales targets across multiple verticals ranging from athletics, rehabilitation, and the active lifestyle space.
We caught up with him to talk wearable tech today, and where the genre is going in the future.
What is the simplest way to explain the Athos value proposition to a consumer?
It doesn’t matter, whatever activity you’re doing, whether you’re lifting a weight or shooting a basketball, they all have one thing in common, you need to use the right muscles in the correct sequence and to the right extent in order to perform that movement properly. That’s the key to achieving your results in any fitness activity. Athos shows you if you’re using the correct muscles to the correct amount in the correct sequence so you can see what you’re doing well and what you need to improve on.
How is it most different from other wearable tech devices today?
Most of the products on the market are an accelerometer in different form factors; they make lots of inferences on top of inferences. These typically just display data without any real insight or any feedback that you can act on. We are different because we read what you’re muscles are doing, and we’re different because one of the core tenets of Athos is that data in isolation is useless to the consumer. Athos provides you with answers and insights that you can act on, and that will help you achieve your fitness goals.
Explain how the quality of Athos apparel sets it apart?
Athos focuses on building great workout apparel first. Figure out how to get the technology in second. This approach has led us to create innovative workout gear that holds up to the demands or rigors of any workout; it’s machine washable and dryer safe. It doesn’t matter how useful the technology is, if it’s not comfortable, stylish and you feel good wearing it then nobody going to use it.
Are there athletes who have already engaged with the platform and have become advocates of it to date?
We work with a lot of professional teams and training centers where professional athletes train in the offseason.
These athletes include:
Carl Anthony Towns
Chris Johnson
Eric Hosmer
Clay Matthews
Top NFL prospects training for the combine.
Do you ever wonder when too much tech for training will be enough?
There has been a huge movement in technology in sports in the last 15 years. Every pro team has some data analyst of staff that looks at all those factors. Data will never get in the way of playing the game, performing the movement is still the most important. When it starts getting in the way of the game, that’s when it becomes too much. When the technology and data stops allowing people to get an edge, and providing data for data sake then it’s too much
How do you see wearables evolving in the next five years?
We believe in five years the word wearables won’t exist. Everything you wear, clothing, jewelry will have some technological component feeding you information. A good example of this is that five years ago we used to call our iPhones “smart phones” now they’re just phones. Fitness will lead the way in this process and companies competing on feature sets will become the norm once “wearables” become commoditized.
As a former professional soccer player, how would this technology have helped you?
Any legal advantage you can get into your own personal performance and recovery you will take. Technology like what Athos provides would have helped me better identify my weaknesses when it comes to strength, speed, how I could increase my efficiency in training , and help avoid injury which would ultimately help me perform on the field.
Sometimes teams are slow to adapt to change in technology, what teams either in the States or globally do you see adapting to the use of technology faster than others?
The top European soccer clubs and Australian institutes of sport have always been the leader in utilizing the latest technologies in training and recovery. In the States, the Golden State Warriors are at the forefront of all things technology both in sports performance and fan experience.
What products gave you seen recently in tech and analytics will be breakthroughs in 2015 and why?
The most exciting breakthrough on the technology front that will have the largest impact on sports performance is virtual reality. The ability to improve mental practice is a huge advancement that will be readily available to a wide range of athletes. The other area is the rapid advancements in wearable technology outside of movement analysis. The ability collect more actionable insights into how the body is performing around hydration, muscle activity, and recovery. The large hurdle that we are getting the past is the friction of collecting this data by integrating the tech into the process of how we train.
Of all the brands in the wearable space today, who are the ones you follow and why?
There is so much being done in different wearable categories from all day monitoring to motion capture to at home with health care and health kit with continuous and integrative monitoring. We look at those products that making strides in all these different categories for inspiration.
