Athleta launches workout clothes for high-intensity exercise

US premium sports and activewear brand Athleta, part of Gap Inc., has launched a new women’s workout collection engineered with proprietary fabrics for high-intensity movement.

Athleta, more known for its yoga and pilates clothing, has developed an eight-piece ‘Train’ collection to “empower women through their most intense workouts” as it looks to broaden its focus to high-performance training.

The collection is the culmination of more than three years of rigorous, comprehensive wear tests with a range of women, including elite professional athletes and everyday consumers, as well as third-party lab tests to perfect the fit and design, including shape retention, strength, pilling, snagging, breathability and wicking.

The result is a high-performance training assortment featuring proprietary ‘PowerMove’ high-performance fabric crafted with recycled polyester derived from post-consumer plastic bottles to lessen environmental impact.

The brand states that ‘PowerMove,’ constructed using a fine 50-gauge double-knit machine, boasts an interlock construction that is ultra-light, breathable and quick-drying while offering optimal compression with both vertical and horizontal compression for a supportive fit.

The fabric is cut on the cross grain to give her flexible compression, allowing for more stretch vertically on the body which offers support for explosive movements such as box jumps and burpees, making it geared towards medium to high-impact workouts.

Casey Schumacher, senior director of design at Athleta, said in a statement: "Our innovative new Train Collection truly brings to life Athleta's mission to empower women through movement. With this launch, Athleta continues its commitment of creating products for real women with our obsessive attention to every detail.

"We wanted to ensure we created a product she could jump, lift, sweat and move in without distraction."

Items in the ‘Train’ collection include Interval Tight, which features a unique waistband design that uses adhesive technology, allowing it to mould to the body to ensure an optimal fit, alongside Interval Stash 7/8 Tight, Interval Stash Capri, Interval Stash Short (7-inch), and Interval Jacket.

There is also an “unstoppable fleece” range for pre and post-workout needs, featuring an Unstoppable Full Zip, Unstoppable Quarter Zip Vest and Unstoppable Jogger. The pieces use a new proprietary ‘Flex Fleece,’ fabric that's a midweight technical fleece made with recycled polyester fibre and spandex for stretch, which is wicking, quick drying and breathable.

Prices range from 69 to 135 US dollars.