I am SO excited to announce my partnership with Agogie, Wearable Resistance! I found this brand organically through a wellness email newsletter that I subscribe to. Ironically enough, the email this brand appeared in was an old one, and during the beginning quarantine, I had committed to catching up on ALL of my emails (don’t ask me if my inbox ever hit zero) . In another lifetime, I might have skipped over the headline advertising wearable resistance leggings, but given the fact that we are all trying to get creative with our methods of staying active and fit while gyms are closed and everyone is doing their best to stay home, I was intrigued by the concept. I wound up ordering the pants that week, and fell in love with them as soon as I put them on. I wrote an honest review on my Instagram, which the leadership at Agogie read and liked, and the rest is history!
Agogie has found a way to sew resistance bands right into the leggings, so there is added resistance with every single movement that you make. There are two levels of resistance available, +20lb and +40lb. One of the things I love about the concept of wearable resistance is that it works to activate your muscles and strengthen your natural movement patterns while you are just living your life, so the things you are already doing can simply be done with a little more oomph – cleaning your apartment just became your new favorite workout! As an added bonus, low impact consistent resistance helps strengthen stabilizer muscles, which can rehabilitate tendons and joints.
I will cut right to the chase and let you know that my discount code “MADDIE” will get you $20 off at checkout! I give you ALL the deets below, but check them out for yourself – they have options for both men and women!
It makes sense that Agogie will become a go-to for athletes when they train (to take an example, Agogie is to a track athlete what the baseball donut is to a batter warming up during a game to help with speed), but what about other people? Agogie wants to use its platform to not only enhance training for a variety of existing athletes of all levels, but also bring the concept of fitness to a community of people who wouldn’t normally indulge. I am so thrilled to be a part of this mission since it so closely aligns with my personal fitness goals through my blog! For example, for a long time I have been trying to get my mom into the gym with me. Whether the reason be that she doesn’t have time, she feels uncomfortable with other people seeing her while she works out, or that she doesn’t want to touch communal equipment, I have not yet been successful. Once I discovered Agogie, I decided that I HAD to get my mom to try them. I did successfully get her into the pants (I may or may not have had to bribe her with the promise that she would get a feature on my blog & Instagram), and we started with just a walk around my parents’ upstate house so she could get a feel for them. By the end of our walk, she was doing squats for fun! The pants solved a lot of the barriers to entry for her when it comes to the fitness world:
- No need to worry about having extra time, because the pants give you the opportunity to add resistance to your day-to-day activity
- No need to worry about the discomfort of entering the fitness world as a beginner and facing judgment from others in a gym
- No need to learn and operate equipment, because the bands themselves effortlessly work without you having to do anything other than moving your body as you normally would.
- *Less* of a need to worry about the the risk of injury that comes with heavy weight training and use of machines. The leggings are low impact, and are about as risky as body weight activity. I do want to stress that body weight activity is still risky! A wise person (I don’t remember) once said, “treat every weight like it could hurt you.” Whether it’s the 5lb plates that you are adding to your squat bar, or the weight of your own body – always take the responsible precautions because it is important for the health of your body!
After my momma tried the +20lb leggings, I asked her about her experience. Here’s what she said:
“When I first saw the leggings, I thought they might be uncomfortable, but boy was I wrong! I wore them the whole day and they felt like regular yoga pants! The support was evenly distributed and the placement of the resistance bands was so perfect that I couldn’t tell they were there at all. They also looked flattering, and no one could even tell they were different. The following day, after my walk with Madeline, a quick squat workout, and then wearing the pants the rest of that day, I could tell that my legs had been worked out, but not to the point of being uncomfortably sore. I put them in the washing machine and hung them to air dry and they still looked as good as new. I would definitely recommend these pants, and I can’t wait to try the +40 lb version!”
Here’s my review (on the +40 lb resistance):
Function – These do EXACTLY what they promise – create more of a challenge for body weight movements. I immediately noticed the added difficulty on my morning walk and run, but the effect was amplified when I did my stairs workout and body weight leg workout. The leggings are great for moves that have a lot of range of motion in your legs, and also when your leg straightens out entirely at some point during the move. Bonus, they proved excellent for abs (especially leg raises).
Look: I was the most concerned about this, but honestly, I think they look normal! They have a bit of a jogger look and the fabric scrunches, more so at the bottom. The stirrups at the bottom leave a hole by your achilles, and the rest of the pant travels into your show, so it felt kinda like a baseball uniform (not that I know what that’s like at all) (and this is also not a bad thing). You can also wear taller socks if you don’t love the look of the bottom of the pant.
Comfort: They’re obviously not as comfortable as your favorite pair of buttery leggings, but I didn’t find them particularly uncomfortable at all. The waist band is tight to help hold the pants up, but it is also thick enough to properly disperse the pressure so it was very comfortable. The leggings are designed very well. The ankles are also tight to keep them from riding up, and I found the elastic around the ankle to be the least comfortable aspect of the legging. Aside from that, once I had them on for a few minutes, I hardly even noticed the difference (until I started moving, obviously!) The fabric is also light and breathable, so I didn’t feel like I was overheating at all during my workouts.
Overall, I think that these leggings really do add enough resistance to make body weight exercise and day-to-day activity significantly more challenging. I think it’s great that Agogie makes two different levels of resistance, so the +20lb version can be worn all day, to add subtle challenge to daily life, and the +40lb version can be intentionally worn during a body weight workout, bike ride, run, or any other activity that utilizes primarily the lower body. In addition to the weight training that I already do, Agogie has already become another integral part of my lifestyle, and I find myself reaching for them every week as soon as I get them out of the wash!
Don’t forget that my code “MADDIE” will get you $20 off your order at checkout! I hope you love these pants just as much as I do, and are as excited as me to see what this brand continues to revolutionize in the future of fitness!
Maddie Danza 