The ‘athlete as a human machine to be optimised’ isn’t a brand new idea, however lately the proliferation of wearables has been frantic. The days of fortunately slapping on a coronary heart fee monitor are gone; now we have now energy measurements, core temperature sensors, blood glucose displays, and watches that bathe you with scorn while you haven’t recovered proper or acquired the right length of sleep.
Hydration, although, has been a comparatively untapped effectively of knowledge till now. Garmin has for a while had a predictive hydration characteristic, nevertheless it’s not primarily based on any precise measurements. Real measurements of water loss and sodium loss have been attainable however in a lab. Enter from stage left, Flowbio; a startup primarily based in London providing a small, wearable sensor that tells you the way a lot fluid and salt you’ve misplaced after your trip (or run, if that’s your cup of tea), and importantly what you are able to do about it.
I spent a day at its HQ and undertook a dwell check of the sensor to deliver you a glimpse of the longer term. The sensor, as I’ll go into, is actually offered out for the brief time period at the least, however regardless it was one of the crucial eye-opening days I’ve had in a while and effectively value speaking about.
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The firm
Flowbio is, within the context of the athletic knowledge industrial complicated, a small outfit that from what I can inform cascades down from CEO and human ball of vitality Stefan van der Fluit. Based in a collection of items in a transformed biscuit manufacturing facility (with charming names like ‘almond studios’) the Flowbio workforce has developed, examined, and manufactured its S1 sensor in-house.
There’s the principle workplace, however adjoining is an especially sweaty check room full with a pair of Wahoo Kickr bikes and a treadmill for athletes to undertake testing. Across the corridor is the manufacturing facility ground, so to talk, the place the sensor housings are all 3D printed, after which assembled, packed, and shipped out; really a cottage trade, however bang updated.
The sensor
The S1 is, confusingly, the second iteration of Flowbio’s hydration sensor. The first iteration was nonetheless a wearable unit, however relied on a single-use stick on housing; not essentially the most sustainable factor on the earth, however extra importantly asking athletes to continually stick issues to themselves I used to be instructed was only a barrier to it turning into part of the traditional routine.
Roll onto the S1 and it merely clips onto an current coronary heart fee strap or an arm strap within the case of my check unit. It’s small, and kind of takes the identical kind because the well-established Core physique temperature sensor.
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On the skin of the 3D-printed housing is a single button, used for pairing, and on the within subsequent to the pores and skin is an especially small aperture into which your sweat flows to be measured.
The check
The check naturally begins with a run-through of what I might obtain if I used to be a buyer. One small field incorporates the sensor, the same old fast begin information, and curiously a small empty bottle with a needle-like attachment. This, I used to be instructed, is to sometimes flush the sensor by with clear water to maintain it in tip-top situation.
Pairing was a comparatively easy affair, although the S1 companion app is just supported on iOS for now so I did should borrow an iPhone. Once the sensor is paired up there’s only a closing step of linking it together with your most popular health monitoring platform (Wahoo, Garmin, Polar, Zwift, Coros, and TrainingPeaks all supported) earlier than hopping onto a Kickr bike for an hour and a bit in a scorching room.
If you need a deep dive into how the sensor works, and its accuracy, Flowbio has revealed a white paper. The abridged model is that entire physique fluid loss (WBFL) was calibrated towards the usual measure of entire nude physique mass earlier than and after train, with fluid consumption measured to account for any mass achieve.
Whole physique sodium (WBS) was calibrated by having athletes put on adhesive reservoir patches throughout train, with the sweat collected by way of a syringe and analysed. These knowledge factors had been then used to create the corporate’s proprietary algorithm which scales up the info collected from the sensor, considering the exertion from distance, time, energy, coronary heart fee, and physique dimension. Flowbio claims it reveals glorious settlement with lab-based knowledge assortment strategies, and is evidently extra handy. Interestingly the info reveals higher settlement at larger fluid loss charges, so the more durable you’re working the higher the info is.
The knowledge
I’m not an information nerd it should be stated, however primarily I feel that’s as a result of plenty of it isn’t actionable. Power knowledge is attention-grabbing, however and not using a coaching plan that makes use of it, it’s successfully only a good quantity to have a look at. The identical goes for coronary heart fee, and calorific knowledge (inaccurate as calorific estimates offered by a head unit are) are a straightforward strategy to give your self an consuming dysfunction as I’ve came upon.
Stefan, using subsequent to me throughout my sweaty hour, impresses on me the significance of actionable knowledge. Knowing what number of litres of fluid you misplaced and what number of milligrams of sodium is attention-grabbing, however ineffective should you don’t know what that equates to by way of meals or drink. The neat factor concerning the S1 companion app is you could hyperlink it together with your most popular supplier of hydration merchandise (SiS, Precision Hydration et. al.) and the app is not going to solely inform you what your WBFL and WBS figures are, however what you are able to do about it: Take three tabs in two bottles of water, in my case. No weighing out desk salt.
Currently, the info is proscribed to a post-ride system, however within the fullness of time, real-time hydration knowledge may be very a lot on the playing cards. What this may entail stays to be seen. It might be literage and sodium fields subsequent to your HR and mileage in your head unit, or just alerts warning you that you’re dropping extra fluid and salt than ordinary for a given stage of exertion.
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Verdict
In my brief time with the Flowbio S1 sensor, I have to say I used to be very impressed. The concentrate on actionable knowledge is to be applauded, and the entire system appears extraordinarily effectively thought out. Obviously, it being iOS solely is a little bit of a disadvantage in the mean time, however I’m certain that’s one thing that’ll be addressed sooner or later.
I’m perennially susceptible to complications, which I all the time put down to simply not consuming sufficient. With an hour with the S1, I realized that not solely am I furiously sweaty, but additionally extraordinarily salty, dropping round 1.7g of sodium for each litre of sweat. Within my session, I managed to pump out simply shy of a litre of water and 1,615mg of sodium, which explains why I’m fairly so headache-prone.
Considering I solely ever use hydration tabs for giant rides on scorching days it’s no marvel I usually really feel just a little off. The 1500mg tablets are the strongest that Precision Hydration makes, for instance, and with a purpose to correctly replenish myself I’d have to be taking a kind of each hour. Clearly an enormous deficit, but additionally, with what’s a really easy-to-use and interpret system, one thing that’s tremendous straightforward to rectify.
The value is value discussing too. The sensor itself is £329, which is dearer than the Core sensor, however I’d go as far as to say it’s much more helpful for lots extra folks. There can also be the price of all the additional hydration merchandise it’s possible you’ll have to buy – If I take the Precision Hydration instance I’d want roughly one tab each hour, which is about 89p value. Over the course of per week, you may simply clock up ten quid’s value, or £40 a month. Cheaper should you purchase in bulk after all, nevertheless it’s sufficient to make me take into consideration making my very own combine.
All in all, although my first impressions are glorious, and I feel with sufficient time having these kind of completely mounted to ones HRM would be the norm for a lot of enthusiastic amateurs; the professionals are already at it, with a number of WorldTour groups already adopting Flowbio, and everyone knows what the professionals will we all comply with to a point.