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Humon Looks Inside With the Hex Muscle Oxygen Sensor

I’ll be adding the Humon Hex into our training for the season to get new insights on my training.

We are always excited to test out new technologies, and I especially am interested in the next advancements in training. Heart rate was where it all began, and then cyclists moved to power based training. Power continues to be the gold standard, but it only tells you the result of the effort that your body is putting out, not the story of how your body is doing it. The Humon Hex aims to change that..

The Hex Muscle Oxygen Sensor is a hexagonal sensor that straps to your thigh and uses LED light sensors to measure the oxygen levels in your muscles. It’s a scientific process called near-infrared spectroscopy, which uses light to measure the oxygen-rich blood (oxyhemoglobin or HbO2) and oxygen-depleted blood (deoxyhemoglobin or Hb), which absorb light differently, and allows Muscle Ox % (SmO2%) to be calculated.

The Hex sensor securely measures from your thigh with a stretchy adjustable strap with grippers on the back.

Muscle Ox % shows you the balance between the delivery and consumption of O2. This ties into your VO2 Max, which is the maximum rate of O2 consumption during intense exercise. When you go into deficit, lactic acid is a byproduct that forms in the blood. The Hex helps you test your lactic acid threshold, and has been validated by Harvard to be 96% accurate compared to lab methods for VO2 Max testing. With this information in real time, it will allow you to train in the different zone based around your lactic acid threshold.

The Humon app provides a look into your training from a new perspective.

So what does this all mean and how will it help you be a better athlete? Well, the high level is it will help give you the information you need to warm up properly, not overtrain, improve your training efforts, and pace yourself during efforts. We’ll dive into the details more in the full review in the future, but all of your activity data is available through their Humon app or the Hex can be connected to various Wahoo and Garmin devices. You can view the data in real time or opt to download the data post workout for review.

I’ll be training with the Humon Hex for the upcoming gravel, road, and cyclocross seasons, along with marathon training later in the year. Keep an eye out for more Project OneBike articles coming soon, including product reviews, events coverage, and updates on training and racing on one bike.

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