SPORTS INNOVATION:Inventive designs and materials are revolutionising sports equipment.
When the Irish rubgy team stepped out onto the field to face Namibia in Bordeaux's Stade Chaban-Delmas yesterday, female fans may have found themselves somewhat distracted by the clinging Canterbury jerseys adorning the toned torsos of the Irish players.
But the purpose of the new kit is not merely to accentuate the peak physical fitness of the Irish squad. And although it's true that the skintight jerseys are more difficult for opponents to grab, this isn't the main reason either for switching from the looser shirts favoured in the past.
Although impossible for the naked eye to detect, the key advantage of the new shirts is that they are "ionised". This means that they generate tiny microelectric currents which pass into the player's nervous system and stimulate blood flow. And as Joe Middleton, chief executive of Canterbury puts it, increasing blood flow is the "Holy Grail" of sports science.
Traditional methods of achieving this include massage, hot and cold compresses, tight-fitting compression wear or jumping into ice baths after training. Middleton says that the Irish team has even gone as far as enduring kryotherapy sessions in Poland, sitting in chambers that take their body temperature down to minus 20 degrees.
According to Middleton, wearing an ionised shirt can be just as effective as sitting in an ice bath or kryotherapy chamber, but how exactly does it improve performance? Firstly, ionised blood can absorb and hold more oxygen, and the process of transferring oxygen from the blood to the muscle becomes more efficient.
The second benefit is that the improvement in blood flow flushes out residual waste products such as lactic acid, which is left in the muscles after high intensity activity. This reduces recovery time after exercising, and therefore allows players to squeeze in more training sessions.
Still sceptical that simply wearing an IonX (as Canterbury has branded it) shirt enables players to sprint faster, push harder and train more often? Canterbury has the scientific evidence to back it up. Tests carried out at leading sports science universities have proved that wearing this apparel can increase output by 2.7 per cent.
Ionised clothing was originally developed for the US military. A special liquid finish is used on the shirts, and when this comes into contact with heat and moisture it triggers the ionisation process. Together with its US partner which developed this technology, Canterbury holds a 25-year patent on the "secret source".
Canterbury is also sponsoring Scotland, South Africa, Australia and Japan in the Rugby World Cup. All of these teams, except Japan, have been training in ionised gear for the last few months. "The Irish guys have been using this and there's no question, they go over to France with a physical advantage," says Middleton. The question of whether this is an unfair advantage and therefore constitutes cheating has been raised, but Canterbury insists that its kit doesn't contravene any rules.
Premiership football team Portsmouth have been training in ionised gear, while US open winner Michael Campbell also uses this specialist technology. Ionised horse blankets are currently being trialled on race horses and a polo team.
In the future its uses may even extend beyond the sporting world. "We don't quite know what we've got on our hands," admits Middleton. Truck drivers could benefit from ionised clothing, he says, as increased blood flow helps people to stay alert.
The technology may also have an application in the case of leg surgery, which typically causes circulation difficulties as patients have to lie down while recovering.
Canterbury was founded New Zealand in 1904 to manufacture rugby jerseys for the All Blacks, but despite being over 100 years old the company is constantly innovating and rolling out fresh products.
"Our goal is to come out with something pretty ground-breaking at least once every two years," he says.
