Athlete running with visible muscle oxygenation levels through wearable NIR sensors.

Unlock Your Inner Athlete: How Wearable NIR Tech Optimizes Workouts & Wellness

Mira Elwood in Health & Wellness December 2025 • 4 min read.

"Discover how Near-Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is transforming fitness, offering personalized insights into muscle performance and recovery for everyone."

The world of fitness is constantly evolving, with new technologies promising to help us achieve our peak performance. Among these innovations, Near-Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is emerging as a game-changer, offering personalized insights into how our muscles function during exercise. Once confined to research labs, NIR technology is now available in wearable devices designed for both professional athletes and everyday fitness enthusiasts.

NIR spectroscopy, at its core, measures the interaction of near-infrared light with biological tissues. These wearable monitors emit near-infrared light, which penetrates the muscle tissue. By analyzing how this light is absorbed and reflected, the devices can determine the levels of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin, providing a real-time assessment of muscle oxygenation.

This information is incredibly valuable because muscle oxygenation is a key indicator of athletic performance. When muscles have sufficient oxygen, they can produce energy efficiently, allowing you to push harder and longer. Conversely, when oxygen supply is limited, fatigue sets in, and performance declines. By monitoring muscle oxygenation, athletes and fitness enthusiasts can gain a deeper understanding of their bodies and optimize their training regimens.

Decoding Muscle Oxygenation: What Wearable NIR Devices Tell You

Athlete running with visible muscle oxygenation levels through wearable NIR sensors.

Wearable NIR devices provide a wealth of data that can be used to personalize workouts and improve fitness outcomes. Two leading companies in this field, BSX Athletics and Moxy Monitor, offer devices that measure muscle oxygen saturation (SmO2), a key metric that reflects the balance between oxygen supply and demand in the muscles.

Here’s a breakdown of what these devices measure and how the data can be used:

Muscle Oxygen Saturation (SmO2): Indicates the percentage of hemoglobin in the muscle tissue that is carrying oxygen. Higher SmO2 levels generally indicate better oxygen supply and more efficient energy production.
Hemoglobin Levels: Measures the total concentration of hemoglobin in the muscle tissue, reflecting blood volume and oxygen-carrying capacity.
Lactate Threshold Prediction: Some devices, like the BSX Insight, use SmO2 data to predict the lactate threshold, the point at which lactate production exceeds the body's ability to clear it, leading to fatigue.
Real-Time Feedback: Wearable NIR devices provide real-time feedback on muscle oxygenation during exercise, allowing users to adjust their intensity and optimize their workouts.

For example, if an athlete notices that their SmO2 levels are dropping rapidly during a high-intensity interval, they can reduce their pace or take a break to allow their muscles to recover. Similarly, if they see that their SmO2 levels remain consistently high during a long run, they can increase their pace or distance to challenge themselves further.

The Future of Fitness: Personalized Training with NIR

Wearable NIR technology is poised to revolutionize the way we approach fitness, offering a more personalized and data-driven approach to training. By providing real-time insights into muscle oxygenation, these devices empower athletes and fitness enthusiasts to understand their bodies better, optimize their workouts, and achieve their peak performance. As the technology continues to evolve and become more accessible, we can expect to see even wider adoption of wearable NIR devices in the years to come.

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Everything You Need To Know

What is Near-Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and how is it used in fitness?

Near-Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a technology that measures the interaction of near-infrared light with biological tissues. In fitness, wearable NIR devices emit near-infrared light into muscle tissue and analyze how it's absorbed and reflected. This process determines the levels of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin, providing a real-time assessment of muscle oxygenation. By monitoring muscle oxygenation, athletes can optimize their training regimens based on whether their muscles have sufficient oxygen to produce energy efficiently. Understanding muscle oxygenation helps in preventing fatigue and maximizing performance.

How do wearable NIR devices like those from BSX Athletics and Moxy Monitor help personalize workouts?

Wearable NIR devices from companies like BSX Athletics and Moxy Monitor measure muscle oxygen saturation (SmO2), which indicates the percentage of hemoglobin in muscle tissue carrying oxygen. These devices provide real-time feedback on muscle oxygenation during exercise. For example, if SmO2 levels drop rapidly during a high-intensity interval, the athlete can adjust their pace or take a break. Conversely, consistently high SmO2 levels during a long run may indicate the need to increase pace or distance. BSX Insight devices use SmO2 data to predict the lactate threshold, helping athletes understand when lactate production exceeds the body's ability to clear it, thus leading to fatigue.

What is muscle oxygen saturation (SmO2) and why is it important for athletes?

Muscle oxygen saturation (SmO2) is the percentage of hemoglobin in the muscle tissue that is carrying oxygen. It's a key metric because it reflects the balance between oxygen supply and demand in the muscles. Higher SmO2 levels generally indicate better oxygen supply and more efficient energy production. For athletes, monitoring SmO2 helps in understanding how effectively their muscles are using oxygen during exercise, allowing them to adjust their intensity and training to optimize performance and delay fatigue. This data is particularly useful in tailoring workouts to individual physiological responses.

Beyond SmO2, what other data do wearable NIR devices provide that can be beneficial for fitness?

In addition to muscle oxygen saturation (SmO2), wearable NIR devices measure hemoglobin levels, which reflect blood volume and oxygen-carrying capacity in the muscle tissue. Some devices, such as the BSX Insight, can predict the lactate threshold using SmO2 data. All of this data, when combined, provides a comprehensive view of muscle performance, allowing athletes to understand their body's response to exercise in real-time. The ability to monitor hemoglobin levels and predict the lactate threshold enables more informed decisions about training intensity, recovery, and overall fitness strategies.

How is wearable NIR technology expected to change the future of fitness training?

Wearable NIR technology is expected to revolutionize fitness training by offering a personalized and data-driven approach. By providing real-time insights into muscle oxygenation, these devices empower athletes and fitness enthusiasts to understand their bodies better and optimize their workouts. As the technology evolves and becomes more accessible, it will lead to wider adoption of wearable NIR devices. This shift will enable more precise and effective training regimens tailored to individual physiological responses, ultimately helping individuals achieve peak performance and improve overall wellness.