On the back of a successful Kickstarter campaign, and having unveiled its BSXinsight device at Interbike in Las Vegas this September, BSX Athletics is now gearing up to roll out the product, which is billed ‘the world’s first wearable and non-invasive lactate threshold device… that is changing the way athletes train.’
BSXinsight has so far had a strong reception from members of the media, industry players and retailers. According to the company, it has been hailed as ‘revolutionary tech in the endurance sports world’. A notable review was posted by Ray Maker at the highly influential DC Rainmaker website.
“I think from a device standpoint they’re solid… Thus I’m looking forward to seeing the unit hit shelves and seeing how coaches and athletes utilize it in training and racing,” said Ray Maker at DC Rainmaker.
Testing lacate – wearable and non-invasive
Lactic threshold is a gold standard measurement for endurance athletes and is used by elite athletes, Olympians and professional coaches worldwide. It is a single number that defines both an athletes’ current athletic capacity and their ideal training zones.
Until now, the only way to obtain a lactic threshold analysis was to ‘pay an exercise scientist to stick you with a needle multiple times.’ BSXinsight gives an instant lactate threshold result without performance lab visits or blood draws. It aims to make lactate training simple by automatically determining an individual’s personalized training zones.
BSXinsight uses optical techniques (specifically near-infrared spectroscopy – aka NIRS) to non-invasively monitor athletic performance. ‘NIRS uses light to measure and record activity inside living tissue in a safe manner.’
A light source shines a signal into the target, which then passes through as it returns back to a detector. Depending on the physical and chemical properties of that tissue, the signal is distorted along its path. These distortions (also known as absorption spectra) are what contain the information that is processed. From this, BSXinsight derives its lactate analysis data.
Along with the Interbike début, BSX Athletics was hailed as an innovative company and awarded the Market Pioneer/Innovator Award from ANT+ Alliance – a subsidiary of Garmin Sports and GPS Technology. Dustin Freckleton, Company President and co-founder accepted the award on behalf of BSX Athletics at the ANT+ Symposium held on 23-26 September 2014 in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada.
BSX Athletics feels that BSXinsight opens a new era to athletic development and achievement. The company adds that the technology it has developed has opened a market that, until now, has been left in the dark. With the strides that BSX is making, lactate threshold testing could be in the hands of a significant numbers of endurance athletes this coming December.
BSX Athletics has started taking pre-orders for BSXinsight at BSXinsight.com. The company currently offers three different lactate threshold devices: Running Edition, Cycling Edition and Multisport Edition – which are respectively priced at US$299.99, US$369.99 and US$419.99.
BSX Athletics is an endurance sports technology company based in Houston, Texas. Its mission is to make ‘every athlete a personal record holder, by taking the guesswork out of training and to give athletes the most powerful information available.’
