A few weeks ago, Gatorade began marketing its sweatpatch. The one-of-a-kind garment is unique. It provides information on your unique sweat profile using a lab-testing technique.
PROS
- It performs well.
- It gives you useful information and calculates your exact water and dietary requirements.
- It’s easy to use.
- There are no batteries or charging stations.
CONS
- Each patch is for one-time use only.
- Scanning the patch can be a challenge.
- The app is challenging to manage for individuals who are at least semi-serious about training.
Wearables track everything from steps and calories to the number of reps and sets you lift at the gym. These devices are improving with each passing day.
But it’s fair to say that we haven’t seen a fitness device that has ushered in a new era in health monitoring in quite some time. Sure, heart rate tracking is becoming better, and we’re getting new performance indicators, but it’s the existing sensor technology that’s improving.
That appears to be changing in 2021. We recently reported that optical wrist sensors can now be used to monitor blood pressure. Although we have yet to see this become mainstream, the technology is available. Glucose tracking from the same location is getting closer as well. However, there is one incredibly useful source of health data that has been overlooked thus far: your sweat.
Additional Reading: Best Stress Monitor Apps for Apple Watch
The Design for the Gatorade Gx Sweat Patch
Gatorade, a PepsiCo subsidiary, was one of the first companies to produce a commercial sweat analysis product. Their sweat patch, created in collaboration with John Rogers and his team, examines color changes induced by chemical interactions. Users can scan the patch with their smartphone app to keep track of their dehydration and chloride levels in their bodies.
I was becoming a little annoyed as a wearable tech enthusiast because it had been a few years since we’d seen something truly unique. That’s why I was so excited to try the Gatorade drink.
One of the newest frontiers is sweat tracking. Something that has been discussed for years but has never been seen until today.
Gatorade’s sweat patch provides personalized hydration and exercise advice.
The GX Sweat Patch comes in a set of two. In the package, you’ll find a couple of single-use patches. They cost $25 for the pair, which may seem excessive—especially for a product that is intended to be discarded after use.
To acquire sweat analysis information, you simply need one patch for each type of workout. So if you go for a run, that’s one sweat patch; if you go biking, it’s another; if you go to the gym, it’s yet another-you get the idea. It just has to be an activity that causes you to sweat profusely. It’s possible that doing yoga won’t make the cut. Swimming is another option.
Gatorade’s sweat patch provides personalized hydration and exercise advice.
Gatorade also included four pods, a bottle, and a towel in the package.
The patch is only 1.25 ounces in weight and is adhered to your forearm using an approved hypoallergenic adhesive. As shown in the video below, it has a bunch of horizontal lines running across it. As you work out, they swell with sweat.
In the bottom right corner, there’s also a vertical line. It displays your salt level and also fills up as you exercise. There are no dangerous compounds or chemicals to be concerned about. According to Gatorade, the patch measures non-toxic food dyes.
Features of the Gatorade Gx Sweat Patch
Every drop of perspiration reveals information about what’s going on inside the body. It has the ability to provide data on dehydration, stress, muscle cramps, high cholesterol, depression, and even blood glucose levels.
This is the type of information that doctors typically obtain from our blood, urine, and saliva. It’s considerably less invasive to get it through sweat—no needles or cups required, thank you very much.
Although therapeutic uses date back to the 1950s, sweat science is still in its infancy. However, we are just now seeing tremendous advancements in technology for a variety of applications ranging from athletics to pediatrics to pharmaceutical monitoring. With the Gatorade sweat patch, we’ve progressed to a commercial product that everybody can purchase. But it goes even further.
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) scientists recently created a wearable sweat sensor that can precisely assess cortisol levels in the body. We’ve even heard that your smartwatch can be powered by perspiration.
Using the GX Sweat Patch According to Gatorade, the patch should only be used in temperatures above 46 degrees Fahrenheit, which can be a struggle in Europe’s capital. Because I don’t sweat much, I wasn’t sure how well the patch would hold up. especially because the weather in London has been less than ideal in recent days. Spring officially began a few days ago, but the weather begs to differ.
So, for the first test, I went out in the middle of the day, when it was “warmish” outside — around 55 degrees Fahrenheit. This is just a tad more than Gatorade’s recommended minimum.
My idea was to go for a quick 30-minute run and then keep running till I saw the patch filling up. I put on some warm clothing just in case! Plan B was to switch to HIIT if necessary.
Gatorade’s sweat patch provides personalized hydration and exercise advice.
Additional Reading: HP vs. Lenovo Laptops
The GX Sweat Patch is placed in a handy location. Because it lies on your inside forearm, it’s relatively easy to see if the translucent horizontal bars are filling up with fluid from your glands during activity. According to Gatorade, the inner forearm is the most representative of your entire body profile, so it’s vital to put it there.
The preparation was straightforward. To begin, clean the region on your inner forearm where the patch will be placed. When you’re confident it’s dried, pull the adhesive off the bandaid-sized patch and stick it on your skin with the sticky side facing you. It’s simple enough.
The patch felt secure once it was in place; there was no risk of it slipping off. That’s all there is to it; you’re ready to go.
My concern about not sweating enough turned out to be unfounded. I observed the lines going across slowly starting to become orange about 20 minutes into the run. I felt like I’d done enough when I got to the 30 minute or 6km point.
Gatorade’s sweat patch provides personalized hydration and exercise advice.
I saw that the patch was still filling up with liquid as I walked back home, eager to scan it. Not surprising, given that I was still hot after the run.
When using the patch, I recommend not scanning the results right after the exercise. While you’re cooling down, give it at least 5–10 minutes. After all, it makes no difference whether you sweat during or soon after the workout; both have the same effect on your body.
Then it was time to see the results. I wasn’t sure what I should expect. How precise can this science be, after all? Let’s have a look.
Gatorade’s sweat patch provides personalized hydration and exercise advice.
Sweat data is represented by the orange line, while salt levels are represented by the purple line.
Additional Reading: Best Always-On Display Smartwatches
Your sweat pattern is
Everyone sweats in a distinct way. The Gatorade app will display your own profile. The software is available for free. The bad news for Android users is that there is currently only an iPhone app available. So far, there is no Android app, but one is on the way.
After you’ve completed the exercise, open the app. Hopefully, you have already completed the necessary preparations. This entails creating an account and inputting basic information such as your weight, height, gender, and age.
Apple Health, Garmin, Strava, and other fitness applications are all compatible with the programme. I linked my Garmin Connect account to the Gatorade app as a Garmin Forerunner 935 user.
What I liked about the Gx software was that it immediately synchronised with Garmin Connect in the background, which meant that all of the information about the run was already there. It was extremely simple to add the line after that.
The scanning of the patch, on the other hand, was a touch finicky. In indoor settings, I tried for around 5 minutes and it simply refused to scan. It worked as soon as I stepped outside. The scan function, obviously, requires very good lighting conditions to function.
Gatorade’s sweat patch provides personalised hydration and exercise advice.
After that, you’ll be asked a few questions regarding the workout. One was about how difficult the activity was, another was about the weather, and the third was about how much water I drank during the workout. It’s simple enough.
Gatorade’s sweat patch provides personalised hydration and exercise advice.
The sweat analysis itself is intriguing and unlike anything I’ve seen in a commercial product before. The app tells you how much fluid you need to recover, how much sodium was in your perspiration, and other useful information.
My 6km run resulted in a fluid loss of 32 ounces (or 946 millilitres), which was on the low-risk end of the scale. The sweat rate was determined to be 1754 mL per hour. To compensate for the fluid loss, I would need to drink about 2 litres of fluid if I ran for the full hour.
That makes perfect sense. After this run, I drank approximately a litre of water before I realised I wasn’t thirsty any longer. As a result, I believed the assessment was correct. In normal circumstances, I would have drank only a glass or two of water.
In that sense, I found it to be beneficial information. When I do another run like this, I’ll know exactly how much to drink to recover properly.
The catch is that you must repeat the activity under the same conditions. So, if I ran 6 kilometres in the summer heat, this sweat profile would be incorrect. As a result, it’s usually best to do separate analyses in the summer and winter.
Gatorade’s sweat patch provides personalised hydration and exercise advice.
The third piece of information concerned my salt levels. At 1111 milligrammes per litre, this was on the higher end of the scale. However, I was unsure what to do with the knowledge.
You’ll also be given a training load score for the activity (intensity x duration) and instructions on how to recuperate for the rest of the day. In my situation, this meant eating 25 grams of protein within an hour of finishing the run and drinking 43 ounces of water by the end of the day. Other suggestions included rolling out the muscles using a foam roller; eating 40 grams of casein up to 30 minutes before bed; and going to bed at a specific hour.
The app goes into great detail about what liquids to drink and meals to eat in order to recover and prepare for the next workout.Some are Gatorade-branded, while others aren’t.
This type of information did not pique my attention. There was plenty of it. It’s a little too much for me. I found the app’s navigation to be a little complicated, and there was a lot of information.
Additional Reading: Best Apple Watch Band For Kids
But I did remember the most crucial information about hydration. Which I found to be quite beneficial.
Many of us are guilty of not recovering and preparing adequately for exercise. Knowing how much water and nutrition you need to ingest for peak performance and recuperation is so essential.
Gatorade’s sweat patch provides personalised hydration and exercise advice.
Gatorade also requires you to define weekly objectives. Let the app know if you wish to rest, maintain, or improve your fitness during the next 7 days. Based on your sweat analysis and workout statistics, as well as information like training load, diet, and recuperation time, you’ll receive a score for the exercise. You’ll also be given a score goal to achieve.
The Gatorade Sports Science Institute created all of the algorithms for this type of data (GSSI). For over 30 years, researchers at the university have worked with athletes to help them figure out their nutrition and hydration requirements for peak performance.
Additional Reading: Which VO2 Max Watch Is Most Accurate?
The conclusion of the Gatorade GX Sweat Patch
The Gatorade GX Sweat Patch is a one-of-a-kind item. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Is there anything I’d recommend? It is debatable.
I can see it being really valuable for individuals who are at least semi-serious about training. It enables individuals to fine-tune their bodies and abilities.
I’d probably use it a couple of times to acquire the basics. If you’re not a dedicated exerciser and only go for a run once in a while, the information provided by the patch may not excite your interest.
However, how many of us are truly conscious of our hydration requirements? Not many, most likely.
Smartwatches with this capability will be available one day. That day, though, is still a few years away. The GX Sweat Patch is the next best thing in the meantime.
