Moxy Workshop in Boulder, CO, last weekend ...

Imagine yourself in one of the most beautiful cities in the United States, possibly in all of North America, Boulder, Colorado.  That’s where I was this last weekend, January 17 and 18, 2014. The backdrop of the Rockie Mountains, and the beauty of the city, made it the perfect backdrop for our event.

The event?  The first ever Moxy Monitor Workshop.  Athletic trainers who call this cycling Mecca home, invited us to Boulder to hold this very special event.  They brought us into Boulder  to see how Moxy could help them with assessments and training guidance for themselves and their athletes.

Cycling wasn’t the only sport represented.   There were athletic trainers from swimming, triathlon, climbing, and even a sports nutrition expert.  And we had representation from the United States Olympic Committee.   We also didn’t pull just from the Boulder area.  Attendees came from British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec in Canada, as wells as Kansas, Minnesota, California in the US, and last, but certainly not least, Beijing, China.

The workshop started with a session where all participants (and new Moxy owners)  got a chance to fire up the Moxy, pair it with the display device of their choice, and perform some demonstration techniques.  The workshop included a Moxy for each participant, which made it very easy for all attending to gain a quick understand of how to use the device.

Juerg Feldman, physiology expert and Moxy enthusiast, guided participants through a series of demonstrations and examples of the device.  It was an engaging classroom session.

The finishing touch was my favorite part of the workshop, and seemed to really keep the engagement of all of our participants.  On day 2 we went to Fascat Coaching, in Boulder, and did a live demonstration on a cycling trainer.  When we asked for a volunteer, we actually got three participants, each with three Moxy devices place on them, to participate in the ride. 

The cycling session, guided by Mr. Feldman, lasted for about an hour.  The other attendees jumped in to help with taking a variety of metrics on each athlete, and in the end , all were satisfied that they understood how the Moxy will really help them coach and train their athletes  Our final afternoon together was a great success.

I personally want to thank all the attendees for taking time out of their busy schedules to participate in this momentous event in the early life of the Moxy Muscle Oxygen Monitor – without them we could not have pulled it off. 

 

Stu Giere

Owner and President, Fortiori Design LLC

 

 

The Product Is Launched! (Garmin Forerunner, Ironman GPS, CycleOps, O-synce, Moxy Muscle Oxygen Monitor Shopping Cart, NIRS)

Really?  Yes - this is for real. 

Moxy Muscle Oxygen Monitor is now available for sale.  The web site has been updated this week with a shopping cart, and orders are being taken now!

This is an exciting step for any company.  Doesn't matter what you are into - this is the beginning of something that you know you created, and you and your team can be proud that you were a part of it.


As always, thanks for reading my Blog!  I really appreciate the followers and the feedback that I have gotten since beginning this process.

Devices that pair with Moxy:

When you check out the updated web site, you will find that Moxy now has some pretty nice devices that it connects with, allowing athletes to have direct feedback on their SmO2 (muscle oxygen). 

The list includes many devices that display speed and cadence (S&C) directly on the wristwatch or bike computer.  We use and Ant+ protocol to display the data.  Coming soon - Ant+ that is directly developed for SmO2.

A few examples include several Garmin Edge, Forerunner, and the FR60 and FR70.  Also the Ironman Global Trainer GPS HRM and Watch, CycleOps, and two devices from o-synce.

Check out the web site and let me know what you think of the shopping cart...  And!  Thanks for reading my blog!

Stu

ACSM, Moxy Muscle Oxygen Monitor

Hello Everyone, and thanks for reading my blog!

ACSM
We are at the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) conference in Indianapolis.  If you are reading this on Thursday, we are exhibiting for one more day, so please stop by our booth. www.acsm.org

It has been a great show for us, with lots of quality contacts.  We are showing off the results of our new protocol, MyPAHD - My Physiologic Assessment of Homeostasis Disruption.  It shows how an athlete, on a bike trainer, steps through increasing Wattages on a power meter (20 watt increase every three minutes) until the SmO2 (Moxy) numbers start to fall - thus the Disruption of Homeostatis.  Pretty cool stuff, and people like it.  And if the athlete can, over time, push out that disruption point - progress is being made, and we are measuring it.

I have to say this has been a great experience.  Although living on gatorade and power bar samples all day left me a bit short on energy.

Moxy Muscle Oxygen Monitor
Don't forget to check out the forum posts at www.moxymonitor.com.  We are seeing the activity really pick up on the site, mostly due to the help of Juerg Feldman, Andri Feldman, and our testing team.  They are working with two protocols, and posting data back to us from US, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Italy. 

Thanks to all who read the blog.
Let me know if you attended ACSM!
Also let me know if you need information on ANYTHING that I blog about!

Stu

Ant+, Fact Canada, EUK, Start Up Funding, Returning to Blogging

I can't help but apologize for taking a hiatus from blogging.  It's time for a come-back - this is it.

Let's talk about Moxy - this will read like a newsletter, but it's not one, it's a blog.

Design Status:  We have a working version of what we call Moxy3 - the latest prototype, and it's Ant+ compatible.  That means that our data (SmO2) WILL be displayed on a the users current wristwatch gps device.  That is HUGE to the development of the product.  On top of that, I just got notified that the developers of the Ant+ protocol have started what they call a TWG, Technical Working Group, to help develop a protocol specific to SmO2 for the Moxy device.  This is great news for this technology!

It's who you know:  If you continue to view the forum on our web site www.moxymonitor.com you will see that Juerg Feldman of EUK and FaCT Canada is writing a lot of entries, doing a lot of testing, and really challenging our brains regarding how to best use the SmO2 that Moxy is giving us.  He has a whole host of competent trainers from all over the world working on some basic protocols that are proving once and for all that this technology really delivers.

Funding: There is still a lot of activity on the funding side of things.  We are offering ownership to potential investors, so send them our way of you know someone that would be interested.

This is the tough part - getting a new business off the ground.  We believe in what we are doing, and that's what really counts.  We have a great team, and there's no substitute for that.

Thanks to everyone for putting up with my break from blogging, and please, please, please send me a comment or question (or two).  Let's talk about it!

Thanks for reading my blog!
Stu

Half Marathon Training, Heart Rate Variability,

Hello Everyone, and thanks for reading my Blog!

It's been quite a while since I blogged, which runs counter to the idea of having a blog in the first place.  There are so many things going on, so that's not the reason I haven't posted in a while. 

Half Marathon Training
When it comes to running (or anything, for that matter), it is important to set goals.  I know that there are quite a few runners that don't focus on racing, improvement, etc., but just do it to enjoy their time in the outdoors and to stay healthy.  And to those types, I salute you and promise some day to join you.  But for now ... I think I will just keep trying to get to a level I am comfortable with.  This years goal has always been to compete in the Green Lake Road Race (Minnesota thing).  That's a 12 mile loop around a busy recreational lake in my area.  To meet that goal (including the word "compete", meaning to "be competitive") I decided to take on one or two Half Marathons this year prior to the Green Lake race.  I have been preparing by 1) no change to the idea of Tempo Runs and Intervals, and 2) big changes to the Endurance runs.  So far I am up to 9 miles on my once-a-week endurance outing.  So far, what I have noticed is that running 4 or 5 miles is not as much of a challenge as it once was - proving, at least for myself, that these endurace runs really are a good method for improvement.  Wish me luck - I hit my first Half on March 24th.

Heart Rate Variability
Have you heard of this???  The heart rate varies more when the body is relaxed or not under stress, and varies less when under stress (like from extreme exercise).  Check out some of the comments in the blog on this topic at www.moxymonitor.com.

I PROMISE to keep you updated on my exploits to complete a Half.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Stu

Oxidative Capacity, Physiological Adaptations

Hello Everyone, and thanks for reading my blog!

A lot has been going on, and I'm sure I will touch on a few of those minor items, but today I would like to focus on what it means to get "better" as a runner.

I just completed my first 5k of the new year, and my speed is at least holding up, despite some weather affects, and of course the large clothing I have to wear for running in this Wintery weather. 

To start with, I would like to offer the following blog post from our folks at www.MoxyMonitor.com :

http://my.moxymonitor.com/blog/bid/258422/The-Role-of-Physiological-Adaptation-in-Endurance-Performance

As I continue to train, and put on a lot of miles (at least I think I am) some of the gains are coming.  But I am finding that I can run and run and run, and not get better very quickly.  I am looking forward to maintaining a good pace for this season, and I have already started out a minute faster than I started last season.  Now the challenge is to find an actual "program" to do it with.  Based on all the information I am reading, there are at least 3 modes of training that I need to include every week: Pace or Tempo Runs, Interval Training, and Long Slow Runs (for Endurance).

Looks like its about time for me to get a plan together and hit the road hard with it. 

I also am trying to push up my "long" runs, so I can squeeze in a Half or two this season. 

Hope everyone is having a great Winter.

Thanks for reading my blog!
Stu

Runner's World Holiday Challenge, Winter Running Gear, Moxy Muscle Oxygen Monitor

Hello Everyone, and thanks for reading my blog!

First of all, I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!  2013 is going to be a great year.  And as I look back on 2012, I have made progress in a lot of areas that I know I can be proud of.


Runner's World Holiday Challenge

I stuck with it.   It appears that this CAN be done.  Although running every day, with out a day off, is not something the experts would recommend.  I think my body and mind have taken some instictive actions to deal with a lack of full recovery days - the best example being those many days where I just ran one mile, then called it quits.  My body seemed to want to stop as soon as possible on some days, and on other days (like yesterday) it seemed to just want to keep going beyond my running goal.   And the total miles aren't really that high compared to most runner's standards: I hit a total of 112 miles since Thanksgiving, and 80 miles in December alone.  Now what?  Time to set some new goals and get moving!

Winter Running Gear

Update on spikes or cleats for running:  I blogged awhile back about starting to use the type that have spikes on the heel and ball of the foot.  They worked great, except for the fact that they kept rotating around to the top of my feet.  Not all the way, but enough for me to notice it while running.  So finally I bought some Yak Trax (the Yaktrax Pro to be exact).  Like the spikes, they work great on packed snow and ice.  So far nothing seems to work well on ice with snow on top if it - it's just slippery and unsafe for any type of traction aided running.  The snow forms a slippery mat between your shoe and the ice, and is almost a sinch to cause a slip.  Back the the Yaktrax Pro - these have a strap across the top if the foot in the ball area, and seem to stay in place quite well.  Really enjoyed my runs this week with the Yaktrax Pro.

Moxy Muscle Oxygen Monitor

Great progress over the last 12 months on Moxy.  We started the year buried in some tough issues, which we dug ourselves out of.  Then we produced a nice Moxy 1 prototype that worked when wired up to a PC.  We got some great data off of those first 5 prototypes, and learned that the next device, the Moxy 2, had to be wireless and display data on a wrist watch.  Moxy 2 was available in August.  It was very effective, and accompanied us on our debut at Interbike in Las Vegas in September.  Now we are just embarking on the next redesign (Moxy 3) that will be able to connect with many wrist worn GPS devices that our target customers already own.    Feel free to check out our site: www.moxymonitor.com



Thanks to all of you for reading my blog, and have a Happy New Year!

Stu