Whose idea was it to cram hard, plastic, inflexible round things into our ears while working out? Whomever it was obviously did not have small ear holes. Which is odd, considering everything electronic seems to be an invention of the Japanese, and they’re small people. Which brings me to my point. I am a small person. Perhaps my auditory orifices are proportionally sized to my petite stature, and therefore, the standard IPOD ear pieces are less comfortable for me than the average person. In fact, they hurt like hell.

After attempting to use them a few times while working out, I decided that it just isn’t right for headphones to cause me more agony than my abdominal crunch routine, so I threw them out and went back to an old pair. But I found myself having ear hole envy as I skulked around the gym in my oversized, circa 1982-Walkman era headphones while watching everyone else strut around with their dainty ear pieces conveniently out of view.

So as not to be obvious, I’d inconspicuously steal glimpses in the mirror at anyone with a strap around their arm and cords hanging from their head, trying to determine whether they were secretly suffering in pain, or if indeed, those round suckers were fitting perfectly in their ears. It was like watching a utopian society of which I couldn’t be a member. (Cue violin music in your heads, now.) Everyone seemed to move with utter ease through their workouts with no apparent pain from the ear pieces, and no cord slippage.

I tried to avoid eye contact with the other gym rats so as not to be confronted with the question I know they were all thinking when they looked at my gigantic, outdated headphones, ‘are you listening to an air traffic controller with those things, or actual music?’ I was jealous. I had a severe case of headphone blues.

That all changed one day when my friend, who every time I wore my headphones, referred to them as ear muffs and asked me if I brought my scarf and mittens too, dragged me with him to Target. Lucky for me, he knew enough about new advances in technology to know that there were better headphone options available.

Thanks to my buddy, and the geniuses at Nike, I have pain free workouts while no longer looking like I’m getting ready to pilot an aircraft. For thirty bucks, Nike’s Vapor headphones are one of the best fitness investments I’ve ever made. They even found a way to fit the Nike swoosh on that little piece of plastic. How cool is that?

The genius in the design is twofold. They have a thin piece that goes around the ear, which supports the ear piece so it can gently rest in your ear rather than being jammed into the ear, and without ever falling out. The ear pieces themselves rotate in all directions allowing for easy placement and adjustments. Best investment ever!