NXE workout sleeve offers alternative to annoying bands

Spring’s coming and that means working out outside more frequently than in the past months, which means figuring out a way to get your favorite music-carrying device (iPod, iPhone, ZUNE, iPad, boombox — whatever you use) comfortably onto your arm and into your ear.

Typically, this involves some sort of awkward armband with a plastic pocket and a miserably tight velcro strap. Trust me, that’s what I use when I run outside (although sometimes I’ll eschew it altogether and just carry my phone in my hand, which doesn’t look stupid or ruin the phone at all) and it sucks.

So, yeah, back to what this article is about: the ActiveSLEEVE, which is a new product from NXE that looks pretty cool, in that it doesn’t involve strangling your arm while you exercise.

In case it’s not obvious from the photo, the ActiveSLEEVE (no, I don’t get the capitalization either) works like one of those things Allen Iverson wears, only with a pocket to fit your music-playing device.

The NXE site lists “moisture-wicking, breathable comfort,”  a “cushioned pillow pocket,” (made of perforated foam mesh), “freedom” and “universal device compatibility” as the awesome reasons why you should buy it.

If those are all true — especially freedom, because it kicks ass — then it’s worth the $29.95 it costs. I won’t name what manufacturer made my current armband (primarily because I can’t find it right now), but my biggest pet peeve, aside from feeling like a heroin addictm was that my iPod constantly got soaked in moisture, which is just the dumbest thing on the planet.

An armband designed to hold an iPod while working out that gets messed up because of SWEAT? Yeah, that’s not a great product. If NXE’s armband does what it say — and I’m totally open to reviewing one, ahem — then it’s a handy solution for every single terrible thing about workout armbands.

And perhaps I’ve lept out of our demographic by discussing exercise here, but, hey, sometimes you gotta work off that pizza-a-day diet.

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