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Moxy
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Moxy Muscle Oxygen Monitor Review}}
[[File:Moxy.jpg|right|thumb|150px]]
Moxy is a device for measuring [[Muscle Oxygen Saturation]] or SmO<sub>2</sub>. Currently it is the only Muscle Oxygen sensor on the market after both [[Humon]] and [[BSX]] went out of business. (I am selling my Moxy; contact me at moxy<at>fellrnr<dot>com if you're interested.)
=Introduction=
Moxy works by shining infrared light through the skin and into the muscle to measure how much oxygen your blood is carrying to that muscle, called [[Muscle Oxygen Saturation]] or SmO<sub>2</sub>. The idea is that a hard-working muscle will use a lot of oxygen so the blood in the muscle will have less oxygen remaining. Moxy provides a figure for the percentage of oxygenated blood compared with the overall total. (For the technically minded, Moxy is looking at the differential infrared absorption from saturated and desaturated hemoglobin.) This technique has been used in laboratories for a while, but Moxy is the first device that is practical for regular use. Moxy is a small device that is taped above the muscle, and provides real-time information to a variety of devices including many recent Garmin watches. In many ways Moxy is a similar to a heart rate monitor, measuring something that is a proxy for exercise intensity. The Moxy approach is a little different to many others because it measures a specific muscle, and while that is influenced by overall exercise intensity it does provide some uniquely muscle specific insights. The Moxy has the characteristics of a research device rather than a consumer product. It's rather expensive, and some aspects of it are a little crude, but the flip side is that a lot more effort has gone into the underlying functionality. It's not a trivial device to get the best out of, and I think it will appeal more to coaches and serious athletes than it will to the recreational runner. While [[Muscle Oxygen Saturation| SmO<sub>2</sub>]] sensors are compared to measuring blood Lactate, I don't think this is valid.