NNOXX Performance Readiness – A New Way to determine by pre-workout measurements, comparisons to Garmin and other Readiness Scores

The terms Athletic Readiness or Readiness to Train appear self-explanatory. As athletes, it must be useful to have additional information to guide our training decisions to ease off and recover or go for a harder workout.

But how do we measure performance readiness at night or in the morning? and is resting physiology a good indicator of performance readiness?

Readiness assessments can be determined from measurements and metrics such as:

• Training Stress Balance (TSB) – A calculation that assesses the likely impact of accumulated fitness gains set against short-term fatigue. This is a decades-old and widely used concept based on an assessment of training load from heart rate, power or other factors.
• Heart Rate Variability – A relatively instantaneous measurement set in the context of a personalised, medium-term range. Heart rate variability emerges from imbalances in your nervous systems, which are ultimately from external stressors (like exercise). If you are within range your body is handling the current stressors well. Whilst good, HRV readings are impacted by too many factors to be perfect predictors of readiness to train.
• Perception-based metrics exist but are susceptible to obvious human flaws
• Biochemical measurements can look at hormones (cortisol, testosterone) or muscle damage indicators (creatine, kinase) but these methods require specialist equipment and invasive methods.
• Others are listed here in this paper at NIH.
• Some wearables determine a composite, weighted score based on the metrics they can measure (HR, HRV, SpO2, Sleep, Temperature, Respiration Rate). Whilst each of the constituent metrics must be related to readiness the composite nature of the metric is arbitrary. Garmin Training Readiness is one example and here is a similar composite metric from Zoar.

A New Way to Assess Readiness With a Pre-workout Assessment Based on SmO2 and NO

I produced a review of the NNOXX One sensor earlier this year, it’s a non-invasive, strap-on sensor. AFAIK, NNOXX is the only consumer-grade sports sensor to measure Nitric Oxide (NO, SNO-Hb) and Muscle Oxygen (SmO2), although other sensors measure SmO2 like Moxy and Train.Red.

NNOXX proposes a new way to assess readiness via NO and SmO2 measurement

Interpretation of SmO2 data is hard, as is interpretation of the interplay between NO and SmO2 states. For example, this table indicates how to interpret SmO2/NO states when accelerating.

More: Full pdf document that includes the effects of decreased effort and constant effort.

NNOXX Readiness Assessments

Thus for you or I to read NO/SmO2 data and determine readiness is even harder.

This brings us to the NNOXX readiness assessments. The NNOXX app guides you through a four-and-a-half minute protocol increasing your effort from easy to an all-out 15-second sprint and then a recovery. During a running or cycling assessment SmO2, NO and ‘power’ data are gathered, the latter estimated from the onboard accelerometer.

NNOXX’s algorithms then make recommendations based on the NO/SmO2 data’s rate and magnitude of change within the context of your personal history and ranges. Interestingly, NNOXX determines both muscle readiness and aerobic readiness with potential benefits for strength-based athletes and endurance athletes alike.

Here are the results from my 8 tests over 2 weeks covering some hard training days with accumulated fatigue, especially at the start.

Readiness Comparisons

My NNOXX stationary cycling assessments were taken in the middle of the day, immediately before either a ride or run.

I’ve put the readings into a spreadsheet with similar data from other tools. Garmin Readiness and HRV4Training produce waking readiness values whereas Strava’s FORM is like Training Stress Balance/TSB, calculated for the current day based on previous days.

Data Interpretation

There’s not enough data for valid comparisons to be drawn. In any case, NNOXX might argue that its data should be different. That said NNOXX Aerobic rises and falls broadly coincide with similar movements in Garmin Readiness and perhaps also reflect my perception of how I felt during my exercise later that day.

However, movements to the NNOXX Muscle Readiness scores do not seem to correspond as closely to other data.

Take Out

NNOXX has an intriguing and novel way for athletes to potentially determine readiness outside of a lab by muscle performance measurements in an assessment.

I’m hopeful NNOXX can add something new to the readiness scores available on other wearables like Garmin. I will try to get more data points over the next few weeks as the data collected so far has a degree of promise. I’ll update the info above as I do that.

More: nnoxx.com

Buy: NNOXX One from $499