CHECK Muscle Fatigue Using A Device And Smartphone

    Athletes know their bodies, but its still tough to quantitively say when to push harder and when to rest – there are too many factors that make up your overall body load. The same is even tougher for coaches. You may have some idea of how and when to push your athletes, but each athlete responds differently to exercises and has an individual recovering process. The old adage is true, you cant improve what you can’t measure. And an Oulu, Finland based company has come out with CHECK, a device and smartphone app that objectively measures muscle fatigue.

    The CHECK assessment device contains a thumb sensor, acceleration meter, and assessment device that stimulates your muscles and nerves to check your muscle fatigue (H-Reflex). The measurement only takes a few seconds, and the results are transferred to your iOS or Android device via bluetooth.

    Once there, the results are assessed and visualized for recommendation of what the athlete should do next, or if there are signs of overloading. The app also is able to identify the root cause to avoid overtraining, such as training, nutrition, or rest.

    We live in the era of data, and the entire assessment history is uploaded into the cloud so athletes and coaches can view their entire assessment history, or share it with third party services. They also provide tools for trainers, as well as comparisons to people with similar background.

    The app and device are sold as a service with a monthly fee. They’re targeting teams, individuals, and partner sales to selected segments for monetization.

    Amateur and professional athletes have taken to heart rate monitors to measure their performance, but the heart is only one muscle that makes up the overall body load. While heart rate monitors measure real-time performance, the CHECK system is designed to measure your overall body load only once a day – preferably in the mornings.

    I’m a sucker for any sort of bio-medical devices that plug into a smartphone, and CHECK is definitely up there on the “the future is now” scale. CHECK is released today as part of the Leaders In Performance conference in London.