While heart-rate monitoring has long been a viewed as a good way to take a snapshot of a person’s current level of fitness, most endurance athletes know that measuring their VO2 max can be even more enlightening. Measuring an athlete’s VO2 max usually requires him or her to work out in a lab while wearing a special oxygen mask designed to track performance. Most of us don’t have access to that kind of equipment, however, making it difficult to track our own breathing levels while exercising. But a new wearable is looking to change that by tracking both heart rate and oxygen intake in one easy-to-use device.
The SweetzPot Flow launched on Kickstarter on Tuesday, February 27, and promises to revolutionize the way athletes track their performance. The device comes in the form of a chest strap, which can be worn while running, cycling, rowing, or just about any other type of aerobic activity. The Flow is able to track oxygen intake — measured in liters per minute — to help athletes better understand their rhythms and patterns of breathing while exercising, allowing them to set and maintain their pace while building speed and stamina over time.
The fitness tracker is compatible with both Strava and Garmin Connect, but will also ship with its own iOS and Android app as well. When activated, the Flow can map running and cycling routes, and will monitor speed, distance, and duration, too. It will even graph heart rates throughout a workout and show breathing patterns, including when the athlete inhales, how long they hold their breath, and when they exhale as well.
SweetzPot CEO Havard Bjor tells Digital Trends, “We have developed this product over a long time with the intention of making a great consumer product for measuring breathing. The company’s vision is not dependent on the success of the upcoming Kickstarter, and we will launch it independently of the success of the campaign.”
That is good news for athletes looking for this kind of device, as crowdfunding campaigns can sometimes be a risky proposition. The Flow is expected to ship in the third quarter of 2018 for $299.
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