Friday, April 13, 2018

"Humon" muscle O2 sensor review

DIY ramp testing

It was with great excitement that I followed the press info, development news and release of a new muscle O2 sensor from a company called Humon.  The Moxy is a great device with a huge consumer base but has not been modified in many years.  BSX is smaller, lighter, less expensive but the company is basically past history.  My hope was that the Humon product would address several issues.  First, provide solid peer reviewed independent (not done by their advisory board members) studies showing that the sensor would benefit training, race pacing or recovery.  I was also hoping for something even smaller than the BSX, perhaps in the Polar OH1 range in size and weight.  In addition, the sensor should be easily movable to other body areas during a weight training session, or even changing the site during a ride without re-calibration.  A strong Ant+ signal is mandatory especially with some products like a Garmin Fenix 5 (weak Ant reception).  In addition, compatibility with some Ant+ head units that may have older muscle O2 protocols or need the speed/cadence sensor workaround was expected.  I am not a fan of the smartphone app being integral in the start stop and monitoring but if you are going that route, hopefully the app with show some details (second to second detail). 

Did we get any of this?

Preface: This review is going to be a bit different from some, but I am coming at this from an alternate use case perspective.  The unit is designed for the rectus femoris (at least the study was done at that spot) so I guess my use is out of their spec.  However both BSX and Moxy are able to be used on alternate sites.

Company Hype- Well we did not get anything unexpected from the "claim" standpoint.  More non substantiated claims of better recovery, pacing and warmup.  How this is an "AI" coach is beyond me.  But since AI is the new catch phrase, why not claim it.