In my previous January fitness tech columns, I’ve shown you devices that help measure fitness activity and keep New Year’s resolutions on track. I’ll finish with the Kinematix Tune (www.kinematix.pt), a running sensor that uses detailed measurements to provide personalized coaching and improve performance.

Today’s fitness devices can measure all kinds of things, but the challenge is to make those measurements useful. As a runner who’s occasionally developed injuries from poor form, I was interested in what the Tune promises. Using sensors built into insoles, it captures data with every stride to create a detailed portrait of how the user runs.

The Tune system sells for $199 and includes two insoles and two transmitters that send data to a free phone app. I found placing the transmitters a little tricky at first, but eventually got them clipped on my shoe correctly so they don’t rub against my ankles.

The app provides a variety of measures, but understanding what they all mean takes some time. As someone who’s prone to landing on my heels (which is jarring to the body), its heel strike measurements are the most useful. I see that I heel strike much more on my left foot than my right, which I should work on.

The app also measures stance dynamics (how efficiently you use the ground for forward movement), how long each foot is on the ground during a stride, and how many steps per minute the runner takes. Spending time understanding and improving each metric will lead to a more efficient and fast stride.

The app can also create a tailored fitness plan for each user made up of floor exercises that should help the body improve. I haven’t started this part yet, but will. Data is only available through the app at the moment, but Kinematix plans to offer a web interface in April.

After testing the Kinematix Tune, I think it shows a lot of promise in helping runners improve. I’d like to see the sensors get smaller and the in-app information get easier to understand.

For anyone considering an exercise monitoring device for their own workouts, be sure the data it measures is truly useful, and not just data for the sake of data. Taking measurements is easy; turning it into useful guidance is the hard part.

Follow TROY DREIER at http://twitter.com/TDreier or e-mail him at loggedon@mac.com.

 

 

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.