Measuring Energy Expenditure: Why Accuracy Matter and How Myontec Makes It Possible

In elite sports, the smallest margin can make the biggest difference. From sprint speed to recovery time, every aspect of performance is tracked and optimized. Yet, one of the most critical - and often overlooked - components of athletic success is energy availability. Recent research highlights that over 40% of athletes suffer from Low Energy Availability (LEA), which can lead to performance drops and serious health risks like Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs).*

So, how do we fix it? The answer starts with accurate measurement directly from the muscles - and wearable EMG technology like Myontec smart clothing.

Why Energy Expenditure Must Be Measured Precisely?

Energy availability is defined as the energy left for bodily functions after exercise energy expenditure is subtracted from caloric intake. Miscalculations here can lead to under-fuelling, which compromises physical performance, recovery, and long-term health.

Athletes often rely on generic calorie estimates or training load scores - but these don’t reflect the true energy consumption on muscle level and physiological demands of each session. Without an accurate view of muscle activity and workload, it’s easy to under- or overtrain. Without the data accuracy in measuring energy expenditure, it's impossible to optimize recovery meal and nutrition.

That’s where Myontec steps in.

The Science of Measuring Muscle Activity

Unlike wrist-based wearables or external trackers like GPS or video-based analysis, Myontec’s smart textile-based EMG system offers a direct window into the muscles themselves. It records real-time EMG muscle activation patterns as well as motions with IMU sensors, giving sports scientists, coaches, and athletes objective insights into energy expenditure at the muscular level.

Key advantages:

• 🎯Muscle-specific load and intensity tracking. Load distribution between hamstring, quadriceps and glutes matters.

• 🔄Symmetry analysis to prevent stiffness and overuse injuries

• ⏱️Fatigue monitoring to manage training load in real time

• 🔋More accurate energy output estimation (time and amount) than indirect heart rate or external sensors (GPS, IMU, location based sensors, video)

How Myontec Measures Energy Cost

Myontec’s technology uses surface EMG embedded into a comfortable compression garment. EMG data is collected from big leg muscles together with IMU (motions) sensors. This creates a multi-modal dataset to estimate energy use based on:

• Muscle recruitment distribution and intensity in big leg muscles as these muscles play the most important role in energy expenditure in running based sport

• Contraction duration of these muscles

• Movement patterns

• Running speed and distance

This data can be can be integrated with HR and GPS data to enable even more comprehensive view. Myontec software can give personalized estimate of muscular energy output, making it one of the most accurate non-invasive solutions for energy expenditure currently available.

“In addition, EMG shorts were found to reflect total body energy expenditure throughout different intensities of a versatile treadmill activity protocol. The estimate was superior to accelerometer-derived energy expenditure estimate at low loads, if individual calibrations were performed as in the present study (Tikkanen et al. 2014). This suggests that measurement of thigh region muscle activity gives a valid gross estimate of total body physical activity (Pesola et al. 2016).”**

Why It Matters in the Field

Whether you’re training a Premier League footballer, a Tour de France cyclist, or a national-level sprinter, knowing how much energy an athlete actually uses allows:

• 📊 Smarter fuelling strategies

• 🔁 Better recovery protocols

• ⚖️ Avoidance of Relative Energy Deficiency, REDs, and overtraining

• 📈 Enhanced performance over time

With REDs linked to drops in agility, coordination, and explosive power, precision isn't a luxury - it’s a necessity.

Final Word

In the high-stakes world of professional sport, marginal gains define success. Measuring energy expenditure accurately isn't just science - it's strategy. Myontec’s smart EMG technology delivers the data needed to support athlete health, optimize training, and drive long-term performance.

Ready to measure what truly matters? Visit https://www.myontec.com/shop to learn more.

Sources:

*Gallant Tara et al., Sports Medicine Nov 2024, Low Energy Availability and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-024-02130-0

**Pesola Arto, Reduced Muscle Inactivity, Sedentary Time and Cardio-Metabolic Benefits. Effectiveness of a One-Year Family-Based Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial, December 2016 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311714054_Reduced_muscle_inactivity_sedentary_time_and_cardio-metabolic_benefits_effectiveness_of_a_one-year_family-based_cluster_randomized_controlled_trial

Check also

Tikkanen Olli et al. EMG, heart rate, and accelerometer as estimators of energy expenditure in locomotion, September 2014 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24504428/

Grassadonia Gabriel et al., Comparison of Metabolic Power and Energy Cost of Submaximal and Sprint Running Efforts Using Different Methods in Elite Youth Soccer Players: A Novel Energetic Approach, published in Sensors in April 2024 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11054392/