Your muscles are talking— are you listening?

It's no secret that part of productive exercise is working hard. Intuitively, you might conclude that your level of exhaustion is a great way to measure the quality of your workout. In some ways, you'd be correct. There's just one question:

How do we measure how hard we worked?

Sure, you can take a decent guess. You might check out your pump in the mirror. You'll know that some days you worked harder than others, but that's about as far as it goes. You get a general idea of how fatigued you might be, but relying on our feelings alone doesn't always cut it. How do you know what you did well, so you know what to do better next time?

Many of us don't train our muscles or track our fatigue with great precision¹.That lack of precision leads to detrimental habits. Whether its compromising on form, working using the wrong load or equipment, or simply choosing the wrong exercises, the fact is that it's hard to get everything right on first try in your weightlifting journey².

The results of those mistakes range from inconvenient to costly. At best, you'll be wasting your time (and money) working out unproductively, confused at why you're not hitting your goals. At worst, you'll be risking injury (especially with poor form)³! With the negatives in mind, it's clear that listening to our muscles and what they're saying plays an important role in the fitness journey.

In fitness and weightlifting, the best way to become more in tune with muscles is to spend time with them regularly. No amount of tools, devices, or coaches can substitute the power of unwavering consistency².

While consistency is irreplaceable, the risks of mistakes are still there². That's where precision comes in. If you're just starting out, you might be wondering what options exist for improving your training precision. One approach is hiring a professional trainer. You can also visit clinics that provide the support and tools you need. These resources are valuable, but they're often expensive or difficult to access. The fact that they're effective yet often out of reach highlights a clear, unmet need for more accessible, detailed, and personalized feedback for our muscles⁴.

Bottom line: it's hard to train smart because our muscles speak a different language than we do.

What language do muscles speak?

Our body is designed to communicate directly and efficiently with our brain. Our brain sends messages in the form of electrical signals through neurons. When these neurons fire, they cause muscle contraction. These contractions can be measured as electrical activity. The technology that lets us see this activity is called electromyography, or EMG for short⁵.

When we look at EMG signals, we can actually learn a lot. Things like the frequency or amplitude can indicate some information about the muscles fatigue and activation during exercise⁶. Without getting into too much science, EMG enables us to analyze patterns within our muscles, and make helpful conclusions about our training. Of course, it's good to keep in mind that muscle analytics (EMG or not) are nothing new. Like all technology, the real magic is in making it more accessible to the people who need it⁷.

Where does ReFlex come into all of this?

Before 2006, language barriers for everyday people were certainly higher than they are today. Google Translate didn't invent the idea of machine translation. However, it definitely placed machine translation in the hands of millions of people by existing on something everyone used, bringing the world a lot closer together as a result.

If EMG signals are the language your muscles speak, you can think of ReFlex wearables as the translators between you and your muscles! ReFlex didn't necessarily invent the reading of EMG signals. However, our goal (and what makes us proudly unique) is to put health technology in the hands of everyone, everywhere.

ReFlex wearables are the first devices to turn EMG signals into insights specifically made for everyday fitness enjoyers. Integrating with mobile devices and other commonplace systems, ReFlex wearables go beyond EMG analysis, giving you actionable feedback that you can understand and take with you throughout your training.

What you could only once get from a clinical lab with complex equipment and rare scientific expertise is now easily accessible on your phone through a wearable device smaller than your car keys.

Reduce the guesswork in your weightlifting journey and train with precision.

Train with ReFlex.