In the fitness arena, companies never seem to tire of offering up products with the supposed ability to exercise our bodies without requiring us to actually do anything - and the market will continue to thrive as long as the gullible and lazy among us keep feeding it. Vibrating belts designed to trim our waists while we watch tv and exercise machines that promise to give us glutes of steel in just 4 minutes a day seem very compelling during bouts of insomnia at four in the morning.

Oh, but these muscle tone garments from Japanese sportwear maker Asics are different (until proven otherwise) because they assist you in toning your muscles during exercise. They're made of elastic materials that pull your muscles together so that, for instance, with the upper body version, your shoulder blades are pulled toward the spine to correct posture. The lower body version pulls at the muscles in your butt and thighs. I suppose the idea is that the additional resistance resulting from this pulling makes exercising those areas of the body more efficient, like carrying weights in your hands while jogging.

The company makes eleven different versions of the muscle tone garment, some made of mesh for hot summers.

Via The Nikkei Weekly (subscription)