EMFIT opts for a subscription model
EMFIT opts for a subscription modelLike WHOOP, EMFIT has decided that a subscription model is a better option for their business. This week they will announce the details of the new pricing structure and confirm that existing customers will be able to continue with the monitor they bought for no additional charge.
My understanding from EMFIT is that the existing EMFIT monitor is finished from a hardware point of view and that the company is able to update its features wirelessly through new firmware. I sense that EMFIT would like the security of a future revenue stream that a subscription model would bring and it seems they are implementing that in a fair way.
Today’s announcement from EMFIT won’t affect existing users who will retain a free access to the online platform.
Must Read: QS EMFIT Review
Fitbit Smart Ring Patents Registered
Super keen journalists have been trawling through Fitbit’s patent registrations and it seems that Fitbit has filed patents for SpO2 and Blood Glucose sensing by a ring.
Patents do not always come to fruition and can merely be used to control the competition and bring future revenues from licencing. However, patents can sometimes be a good guide to new products as we saw with Shimano’s recent filings for their new Dura-Ace 12-speed wireless groupset that should be appearing this month(?).
That said, it seems highly unlikely that Fitbit would be able to release a SpO2 and Blood Glucose sensing ring even in 2022 when they don’t have a ring product at all right now. Contrast that to Apple who is rumoured to still be a long way from a Blood Glucose solution for Apple Watch. For Fitbit to release a ring product in 2022 would face a MASSIVE catch up task to compete with the relatively basic products that are already sold like Amazon Halo and newer entrants like Circular…Fitbit has to catch up AND THEN overtake their features by adding SpO2 and Glucose.
Smart Rings occupy an interesting space in the market. There are several players, some go down the health & fitness route and others go down the tech route (Motiv) with authentication-type devices. Smart rings represent a potentially massive market and one that would be highly profitable when approached sensibly yet almost all companies seem unable to even produce a properly sized heart rate tracker.
AI Endurance Introduces automatic Detrended Fluctuation Analysis DFA alpha1 (DFA a1) tracking
I’ve been using AI Endurance for the last few months as a sense check for some of my workouts. I have my ‘plan’ and if I’m feeling particularly good or bad on any given day then I check to see what AI Endurance recommends instead of what is on my plan.
AI Endurance uses machine learning to determine which of your historical workouts have achieved your best outcomes that are suited toward your race goal.
Their DFA Alpha 1 announcement is the application of a mathematical method to sense the HRV changes that occur as you pass through your lower aerobic threshold (LT1, AeT) and to identify that point.
Here’s some more info behind that
- More detailed info: AIEndurance.com
- Connect Garmin Connect to AI Endurance (Strava will not pass HRV to AI Endurance so you can’t use that)
- For best results, use a Polar H10 connected by BLE to your Garmin
- Ensure that your Garmin is logging HRV (by default it is NOT logging HRV)
- Perform a super easy ramp test indoors with a long slow progressive ramp either on a treadmill or stationary bike.
The importance of knowing your aerobic threshold (AeT) is massively important for endurance training as you want to ensure that your aerobic workouts are genuinely aerobic…go higher and you start to burn carbs.
new Garmin DFA Alpha 1 Widget
Link: Garmin App Store
New developer HRVAplha1 has released a CIQ widget of the same name that allows you to monitor the value in real-time.
via @pavlinux, thank you
Fat Maxxer also introduces DFA Alpha 1 functionality
Thank you to Fat Maxxer developer Ian Peake who made me aware of his contribution to spreading some DFA a1 goodness with his new Android app.
More: Android Release of Fat Maxxer
More: github.com
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Nice assortment of stories, thanks.
I’ve been using an EMFIT device for ~4 years now, glad to see they will allow existing users to continue as is. Not sure why I’m surprised by a company doing the right thing but I am!
As a long-time emfit user, I’m not at all surprised by this. Even a few years ago I was wondering if/when they would go out of business because once you buy it they are on the hook to provide the services “forever” for free, so I was waiting on the shoe to drop and the service to just go down some day, lol. Only so many people willing to buy a product like this.
So this is great news, in fact I wouldn’t mind paying a small subscription fee even for my existing/old hardware if I got new services/analysis/etc… This is a niche product so I’d like them to stay alive.
yep
they re-use the same hardware for elderly care and infant care as well so there are other markets.
Does Emfit have any preview of the improved paid version for existing customers?
existing customers get the same deal…ie same service for free. there is no better product/service.
the new product is sold on a subscription basis with minimum committment
The subscription prices seem to be fair, since the device is already included:
19 Euro per month for 6 months
15 Euro per month for 12 months
12 Euro per month for 24 months
I already own a device would consider a subscription for 3 Euro per month if my data is stored endless. I own the device since 2015, but my data only goes back to 2018 and guaranteed is only 1 year.
How much success have you had with DFA1 calculation estimates? I keep running a test with my Polar H9 chest strap per their suggestions and my AeT keeps calculating way low (like 130-131bpm whereas other tests show 142-145bpm). Wondering if it’s the Polar H9.
i found similarly low results with h10
maybe the other tests are wrong!
That’s what I’m afraid of!
After I finish this current training cycle I might try a long offseason where I train under AeT as established by DFA1 and then see what happens.
P.S. Incidentally DFA1 is calculated pretty consistently spot on with what my “MAF” HR is (180 minus age) and what I trained at when previously testing out that style of training.
yes my understanding is that we all think the age-XXX formulae are rubbish because we observe apparently contradictory results from our own data. However those data often assume that a) the heart rate reading is correct and b) that the reading is actually a complete heart beat.
My thresholds have dropped over the last 10 years…am I fitter (yes) or older (yes)…maybe it’s both
edit:yes the 180-age thing is quite similar to what dfa1 produces for me
AeT estimation using DFA Alpha 1 is available now in Runalyze to all users (in the past it was for supporters only).
You can estimate the Pace, Heart Rate and Power AeT, very nice. But there’s a warning to use it with dedicated ramp tests, so I need to schedule one.
Anyway based on random searches in my activities, it seems the estimation is a bit low, indeed very close to what MAF would give.
EVERYONE says ‘it’s a bit low’…me included.
there could be a reason 🙂
we’re all training too hard on the easy sessions. but then, we already knew that !
yes def a ramp test, def a SLOW ramp and def in controlled conditions. AI Endurance is interesting in that it looks in all your workouts for ramp like segments and then applies the dfa calc to that component. results seemed reasonable to me when i looked a while back.
Yes everyone probably runs easy workouts too fast, but even so the estimation is too low, more like end of zone 1, it’s around MAF limit. Not wrong per se, but different from what I was expecting.
For context I can run while only breathing through my nose till 160 bpm or so. And still speak with no problems. Not very scientific I know, but good enough to eyeball it. At 140 bpm I can probably recite Shakespeare. 🙂
Anyway, it’s still useful I think. For ultra trail “running” I try to stay on the low side of zone 2. This is probably it…
Today went for a half hearted attempt at a ramp test (see what I did back there?). Did a 10m warm up in a separate workout to make things easier, then started at 9.7 km/h and every 2 minutes went up 0.3 km/h, stopped after 20m.
Very happy with myself I go to runalyze and have a beautiful sloping graph to look at with an AeT at 162 (nice)! Problem is apparently, and I quote, “The estimation results are not feasible”. Basically somehow the slope is the other way around, I start at 0.40 and go up very evenly to 0.75 (wtf?).
So what went wrong? No idea, but probably the fact that I walked 2-3 minutes after the warmup, might have thrown things off. Maybe my body was already starting to wind down when it thought my run apparently was over.
Also just discovered that you can set the start and end range for the estimation, so there’s no need to do a separate warmup. Next time I’ll just warmup below AeT and then start ramping up when I feel like my HR has stabilized.
i had poor success running outside. for me it was too hard to slowly ramp up.
AI endurance should be able to analyse your workout.
This was done on a treadmill with precise speed adjustments (I even used a calibrated Stryd), while using a Polar H10 strap connected with BLE. The Runalyze software is not the problem, but that I apparently am a freak of nature, where the DFA Alpha 1 increases positively with increases in speed. Should be the other way around, a negative slope, speed increases should make Alpha 1 lower… Will try again without having a 2m walking break, let’s see how it goes. But anyway, Runalyze seems great for this even with the free version, that’s what I was trying to say. 😀
gotcha!
Did a dedicated ramp test using workout from AI Endurance (starting from 8’ something pace or so and then increasing slightly every minute until… you feel like it’s not useful (I stopped at 4’ pace).
Based on this activity AI Endurance estimated my aerobic threshold at 144. Runalyze estimated at 146, but after excluding the beginning where I was running too slowly and DFA was constant even with slight increases in pace, then Runalyze estimation went to 143, almost the same as AI Endurance.
So this confirms that the estimation from DFA Alpha is more in line with Maffetone (end of zone 1) than what’s usually referred to as AeT (end of zone 2). For reference, Maffetone formula would have me running at 145 (180 – 45 years + 10 for running background). Anyway this is still a useful tool for several reasons and everyone would benefit from more runs below this threshold.
Anyone that wants to check this out, just use Runalyze (free version enough) or AI Endurance (free trial for 2 weeks).