Monday, March 11, 2013

Moxy Monitor: A technology to keep your eye on...

FaCT Canada signs agreement for the Exclusive Canadian Distribution of the Moxy muscle oxygen saturation monitor.www.moxymonitor.com
 
Fortiori Design has developed the Moxy Muscle Oxygen Monitor system to measure the oxygen levels of muscles in athletes while they exercise. Its accurate, real time measurements are fundamental to athletic performance. Oxygen is the fuel that drives the muscles, and muscle oxygen levels are constantly changing with exercise intensity.
Once you find your steady state SmO2 level for a given muscle, you can monitor changes to SmO2 levels during your workout in real time. Monitoring the oxygen levels in specific muscles provides a more relevant and scientifically-accurate way to measure your athletic performance.
 
Athletes often train at various intensity levels. Sometimes they train at very high-intensity levels to induce stress in the muscles; this is in part what causes muscles to grow and to develop.
High-Intensity training is also very hard on muscles. Athletes often train at low intensity levels to allow muscles a period of recovery.
Moxy indicates where you’re at. It produces an accurate picture of the state of each targeted muscle at any given time. With Moxy, athletes have a powerful tool to monitor and adjust training intensity levels needed to optimize performance.
Even if athletes can get pretty close to optimum by occasionally measuring VO2 and heart rate on a metabolic cart or relying on perceived level of exertion, Moxy will provide real-time confidence that their muscles are reaching the proper metabolic state to maximize effectiveness.

Moxy will be available for puchase in June, 2013.

www.fact-canada.com

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Watch for new Polar heart rate monitors coming soon to Fact Canada. RCX3 and RCX5 Tour de France.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Biacorpus RX 4000 Body Composition Analyzer

Bio-electrical impedance analysis to measure body composition.
Modern medicine has definitely abandoned body weight as the prime metric for nutritional health. First it was replaced by BMI (the body mass index), still a very useful indicator, but body composition now clearly has become the “golden standard”.

Bio-electrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a fast, reliable, affordable and non invasive technique to measure body composition. Its accuracy and dependability have been scientifically proven and clinically demonstrated time and time again. It uses the fact that tissue types differ in electric conductivity. Bones and fat, for instance are bad conductors. Skeletal muscles on the other hand, due to their water and electrolyte content, have much lower impedance. BIA makes it possible to precisely determine the distribution of the individual components, e.g. fluids (“water”), muscle mass and fatty substance in the body.

The Biacorpus is a 4 channel fully segmental Bioimpedance Body Composition Anayzer validated in Europe with a 98% correlation with DEXA, the golden standard for body composition measurement.

Software BodyComp V 8.3
A state-of-the-art, multifunctional application suite, simple to operate and easily personalised. It analyses both body composition and hydration levels. It is a versatile, professional tool, producing numerous clear and understandable printouts that can be handed directly to the client.

•It calculates and displays total body water (TBW), extracellular water (ECW), body cell mass (BCM), extracellular mass (ECM), fat-free mass (FFM), fat mass (FM), and base metabolic rate (BMR) among many other statistics
•It provides data import/export from/to MS-Excel, CSF text files and earlier BodyComp versions
•It has extensive data exchange and data aggregation capabilities, both within private networks (client/server) and over the internet
•It runs on Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista and Windows 7
•It offers serial and USB connectivity with the Biacorpus RX 4000 Measuring Device
•BodyComp V8.3 statistically and accurately approximates the actual FFM hydration level, instead of using a static assumption (usually 73.2%). This way it eliminates the risk of hydration level dependent BIA errors
The Biacorpus RX 4000 Measuring Device
Is a state-of-the-art fully digital, phase sensitive, 4 channel impedance measuring device. Each channel applies a 50 Hz AC to precisely measure resistive and capacitive impedance as well as phase angle (PA).

By means of its 4 capturing interfaces it can simultaneously record the values for the body as a whole, the trunk, the arms and the legs. This helps pinpoint peripheral fluid retention and enables a more precise anatomical assessment.

The is extremely easy Four or eight electrodes are attached to the test person’s hands and feet. The resulting measurements (resistive and capacitive impedance) as well as anthropometric data are manually entered on or automatically transferred to a computer, where they are duly interpreted by the software. The results can be filed for future reference and/or are available for immediate consultation.

Output:
•Body fat percentage
•Fat-free mass
•Body cell mass
•Total body water
•extracellular water percentage
•actual/normal range graph

www.fact-canada.com

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Sensorize FreeJump Motion Analysis System

In the world of competitive sports athletes find that they are their own fiercest opponents. When the goal is to optimize performance, it becomes crucial that athletes accurately measure and analyze their own improvement.

FreeJump is specifically designed for strength assessment & monitoring directly on the field! FreeJump offers the ultimate stand alone solution to analyze different jumping tasks; thanks to its computing powers, information such as jump height, muscular power, and flight times are available immediately after each jumping exercise on the FreeJump graphical display.

FreeJump provides comprehensive database construction tools. With FreeJump, tracking athlete's performance history or comparing the performance of various athletes within the same team is very easy.

FreeJump is accurate and reliable. FreeJump is the first wearable, wireless, and portable product on the market that takes into consideration trunk inclinations during strength assessment, delivering the most reliable information.

FreeJump is small, wearable, and wireless, and is specifically designed for strength assessment & monitoring directly on the field! FreeJump offers the ultimate stand alone solution to analyze different jumping tasks; thanks to its computing powers, information such as jump height, muscular power, and flight times are available immediately after each jumping exercise on the FreeJump graphical display.

FreeJump provides comprehensive database construction tools. With FreeJump, tracking athlete's performance history or comparing the performance of various athletes within the same team is very easy.

FreeJump is accurate and reliable. FreeJump is the first wearable, wireless, and portable product on the market that takes into consideration trunk inclinations during strength assessment, delivering the most reliable information.

www.fact-canada.com

PhysioFlow Non-Invasive Hemodynamic Monitoring

PhysioFlow Enduro is a small and portable, battery-powered, noninvasive cardiac output device that was designed primarily to be used while a subject (or patient) is exercising. Enduro is unique in that it is the only noninvasive device that can reliably and repeatedly provide cardiac output and other hemodynamic parameters during exercise.

PhysioFlow is finding wide application in patient and physician office care settings; everywhere that accurate, noninvasive determination of cardiac output and other hemodynamic parameters are needed.

PhysioFlow Enduro is the first ICG product that has proven useful for serious amateur or professional level sports training. Its improved performance during exercise and enhanced muscle-artifact rejection brings noninvasive, cardiac monitoring to many types of athletic conditioning/training programs.


We have been using the PhysioFlow Enduro to analyze/monitor hemodynamic parameters associated with Sport Training. Setting training programs using personal cardiac output and other hemodynamic data optimizes your individual training plan to a degree never before possible.

fact-canada.com

New Spirotiger Respiratory Endurance Trainer

The new generation SpiroTiger is now available from Fact Canada

Compact, lightweight respiratory trainer for athletes that comes in two versions: GO for basic training and SMART for the more advanced, with a PC connection and software for sending training data to a computer. This makes it easy to monitor and keep track of your training on the computer.

Spirotiger GO

•display for training supervision
•integrated training software
•memory capacity: 1 training session
•PVC box
•Bonus DVD for application

Spirotiger SMART

•display for training supervision
•integrated training software
•memory capacity: space: 99 training sessions
•textile box
•wireless connection to the PC including training software
•integrated and retrievable training modes
•additional expendable items
•Bonus DVD for application
•sport specific training mode



www.fact-canada.com

Monday, July 28, 2008

Flexibility Training (Stretching)

Introduction

Flexibility training or stretching is a conditioning factor that comes closer to mythology than sport science. What we see going on as stretching is often nothing more than an organized act of controlled contortion. We stretch because someone tells us we have to, everyone is doing it so no one stops to ask why, when and how. Newer studies are starting to question more and more the effects of stretching. The following theory, anatomical and physiological information will give you a beginning critical base for understanding stretching.

Anatomy and Flexibility

Passive body structures - joints
- ligaments

Active body structures - muscles including tendons

Flexibility is dependent on many factors which may we may or may not be able to change.

- Age: We lose flexibility with age
- Gender: Women are generally more flexible than men
- Genetics: Shape of joints and bones, muscle tension, hormone levels, muscle fiber type.
- Time of day
- Temperature
- Fitness level and type of sport or work
- Psyche (stressed or relaxed)

We need to distinguish between normal mobility, hyper mobility and hypo mobility.

Normal Mobility


Hyper Mobility


Hypo Mobility


With regard to the norm, it is important to keep in mind that there are individual differences in body type, etc., so there should always be an assessment of the individual athlete and the demands of his/her sport before designing any kind of stretching program. (For example, a gymnast needs to be hyper flexible for his/her sport but for the runner it has been proven that running economy suffers it the athlete is hyper flexible.)

Muscular Imbalance (MIB) and Muscular Dysharmony (MDH)

To be able to stand upright with a good relaxed posture and to look smooth and coordinated during running or any other activity, we need to have a muscle system that works optimally and economically together.

MIB describes an imbalance in the horizontal plane, that is, an imbalance between opposing muscles. For example, the hamstrings are the muscles that bend the knee and the quadriceps are the muscles that extend the knee. These muscles need to have a similar tension and strength to maintain a balance. Such opposing muscles are termed Agonist and Antagonist. While you bend your knee the hamstrings are the agonist muscles and the quadriceps are the antagonist muscles. Another example would be the abdominal and the back muscles. Muscular Imbalance may be developed by improper training. For example, strength training that is focused on developing the abdominal muscles (6 pack) while ignoring the back muscles. This situation may be aggravated by bad posture (sitting all day in a slouched position will tend to shorten the abdominal muscles and stretch the back muscles) or by repetitive work with overload of first the muscle and later the actual joint. The continuously overstretched muscles of the lower back will lose tension and therefore the ability to protect and move the back properly. At the same time, the trained abdominals will shorten and will often change in metabolic activity (too high tension causes oxygen deficit and change of fiber type). These changes will eventually lead to loss of performance and injuries.

MDH describes an imbalance in the vertical plane (a weakness in a muscle chain). Such an imbalance is developed after an injury requiring a cast, where one muscle in a chain loses its strength. The purpose of rehabilitation is to eliminate injuries due to such MDH and an athlete should never go back into competition until rehabilitation is complete. Returning to competition too early can initiate a cycle of re-injury until the problem becomes chronic.

Both MIB and MDH will show up as:

A Performance Loss
B Tension Change (muscle length)

Performance loss can occur due to an imbalance at the knee as in the above example. A shortened antagonist does not allow the agonist to develop the full strength for motion because it uses much of its strength to overcome the resistance of the antagonist. For example, shortened hamstrings will not allow the quadriceps to develop full power for kicking a ball.

The overuse of a muscle can produce a change in the muscle’s metabolic activity. A too high tension will reduce blood flow which will reduce the amount of oxygen supplied to the muscle. This changes the work time of the muscle (anaerobic activity) which may finally even change the fibers doing the work. For example, the back muscles of a rower has STF fibers but constant overuse will increase the muscle tension and therefore reduce the oxygen supply for these muscles, promoting a switch to the use of FTF fibers. This may completely change this athlete’s performance without anyone realizing why!

These changes in performance (strength) or muscle length may be Functional or Structural.

Functional Change from Stretching


The sarcomere is the basic contractile unit of a muscle.


Structural Change from Stretching



A: Normal physiological muscle length
B: Structural shortening of the muscle (decrease in the number of sarcomeres)
C: Structural lengthening of the muscle (increase in the number of sarcomeres)

Summary

To produce an effective training plan it is necessary to assess each athlete and design a program appropriate for the individual not a whole group. This applies to flexibility as well as to endurance and strength. Before beginning on a stretching program we have to be sure that the muscle we stretch really has one of the above problems. It may be that an antagonist is too weak, requiring strengthening, rather than stretching the agonist.

Before beginning on a stretching program and even before testing muscle length it is important to make an anatomical assessment of body symmetry. (Leg length, joint symmetry, etc.)

Once we decide to stretch we have to plan how often and the appropriate technique for each individual athlete. As with all conditioning factors, we have to re-assess over time whether the athlete is making the desired progress and adjust the program accordingly.


www.fact-canada.com