By Lisa Neff

Contributing writer

Think textile energy, power-generated garments…

Because the brand new IonX Recovery Gear from Canterbury of New Zealand’s is like the Gatorade of athletic apparel.

The sportswear and accessories—shirts, pants, shorts and braces—help the athlete’s body create more energy and restore balance.

You say, impossible?

Well, it’s true.

IonX uses the trademarked Ionized Energy Fabric, which has a negatively charged electromagnetic field built into the structure of the fabric. During a workout, the fabric actually improves the delivery of oxygen to the muscles, increasing output and accelerating recovery.

Canterbury is not a new name in athletic apparel. The company has been making on- and off-field clothing for athletes for more than a century. So you’ll see pro players wearing IonX, including Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya, the Portsmouth soccer team and pro golfers Michael Campbell and Jim Furyk. www.canterburynzusa.com

Life and times: Life Fitness’ Dual Watch and Heart Rate Monitor looks like a standard sports watch and tracks body condition like a sports trainer. The watch features advanced heart rate sensing technology, Active EKG, providing an electro-cardiogram reading in seconds. Other features include a timer and a stopwatch.

Green fashion: A4 sportswear went green earlier this year, creating a line of eco-friendly sustainable tanks, T-shirts, shorts and pants from soft organic cotton fabrics. The clothes maker promises no herbicides and pesticides were used in growing the cotton and all dyes—seagreen, tomato, navy, sky blue and earth colors—are “earth friendly.” A4 also makes a stretch fleece collection of dance and exercise wear.

Against rain or slow: An early morning row in Lincoln Park or even a run along the lakefront requires windproof fabrics and breathability. Rowers also will want a waterproof jacket that keeps out the wet. The Massachusetts-based Atlantis WeatherGear makes a Grand Prix soft-shell jacket that’s grand protection against the elements. www.atlantisweather.com

Night moves: When the time change comes around, darkness falls early in Chicago. That doesn’t leave much time for the 9-5 set to run or ride after work, unless they run or ride in the dark. The LED Sport Vest from Colorado-based Nite Ize sports a black mesh design illuminated by two LED stripes that can be seen for up to a mile. You decide whether you want to flash or glow when you go. www.niteize.com

Take it in strides: Planning to work your way to a thinner you this winter or trying to stay lean through the cold months? Sportline’s pocket ThinQ can keep you on track on the track, charting steps taken, distances traveled and calories burned. ThinQ is the world’s thinnest pedometer, just a little chunkier than a credit card compared to the pager-like pedometers of old. But while ThinQ cuts out the bulk, it didn’t trim features and quality. A dozen walkers of varied heights recently put ThinQ to the test and the gadget consistently measured their distances and steps accurately. www.sportline.com

Handy work: Have trouble pocketing the cell phone in a pair of jogging pants? Store Your Stuff mittens feature built in pockets to hold pocket change, a cell phone, credit cards or a set of keys. A fold-over flap keeps valuables in place, but accessible. The 100-percent arctic fleece keeps paws pampered. And the color combos match up with most sports teams. www.varsitycouture.com

Pick-up game: Chicago fans are good sports, right? Nerf’s Peyton Manning Pro-Grip football promises some good competitive fun in any pick-up game. Keep the ball in a desk drawer, in a car trunk or a backpack for anytime fast action on any makeshift gridiron. The easy-grip texture allows sports fans to get a handle on their game. The high visibility spiral helps to make the football easy to spot for accurate catching. For every football sold, Hasbro donates money to the PeyBack Foundation for disadvantaged youth.

Rec room workout: The Expresso Bike is a web-enabled bike that simulates the outdoors with 30 virtual courses, from city streets to country roads, alpine trails to outer space. You won’t find this stationary bike in many gyms. It features a web-based system for tracking and analyzing workouts, software for music and riding courses, advanced steering and shifting mechanisms. www.expresso.net

Less than 15 percent of the U.S. population regularly heads to the gym. But about 98 percent of the population watches television. Demandfitness recognizes this trend, which is why the Internet-based service provides about 175 fitness class videos for downloading. Demandfitness’ Internet instruction comes in three levels and five training modes. www.demandfitness.com