Industry brief / PN—INSIDER
PN—INSIDER · 17 August 2026

Lactate Patch

ONASPORT is a chest-strap system that estimates lactate thresholds from sweat during exercise.

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Dear Performance Nutrition Leaders,

This week: a WorldTour nutritionist interview, the latest news, and a tart cherry shot with magnesium.

💡 LATEST RESEARCH

The equation is supposed to be the starting point. In this sample, every starting point was high.

Herrera-Amante and colleagues measured resting metabolic rate by indirect calorimetry in 40 male professional footballers, then compared the result with 12 predictive equations. The list included Harris-Benedict, Cunningham, Mifflin, Henry, etc.

All 12 overestimated the measured value, by between 8.38% and 36.38%.

The authors also tested a support vector regression model built from anthropometric variables. It reduced individual error to a mean absolute error of 169.3 kcal per day and a root mean squared error of 190.7 kcal per day, but explained little of the variance.

That model is not presented as the replacement. The sample was 40 men, the model has not been externally validated, and the authors say that validation is required before broader use.

In these professional footballers, where indirect calorimetry is unavailable, the number from an equation remains an estimate with a potentially substantial error range, not a measured requirement.

Read the full paper here →

📈NEWS

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💡PERFORMANCE TECH

ONASPORT is a chest-strap system that estimates lactate thresholds from sweat during exercise.

The €340 chest strap combines ECG with a single-use ONAS10 microfluidic card. Once sweat reaches the sensor — typically five to ten minutes into exercise — it reports heart rate each second, sweat rate and dehydration every 15 seconds, sodium every 30–40 seconds and sweat-inferred lactate every 60 seconds.

Onalabs says the system works best when sweat flows continuously for at least 20 minutes. It lists cold conditions below 10°C, short HIIT sessions and sub-two-minute sprints among the less suitable uses.

The lactate value is not a direct blood reading. A lactate electrode, heart rate and sweat rate feed a trained model; the company's product page calls direct-source lactate “coming soon.”

A June 2026 study of 36 active people and endurance athletes reported close agreement between sweat-inferred and capillary thresholds and maximal-lactate-steady-state power. This study was published by Onalabs cofounder Xavier Muñoz.

Barça Innovation Hub is a strategic partner. Onalabs' latest €9.4 million capital increase includes €4.6 million from Spain's SETT and is intended partly to industrialise and commercialise ONASPORT.

Check out ONASPORT →

Read by teams at…

Written by Dr. Alfie Gordon

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