What is the Oura Ring and what is it used for?

Monitoring all of the cyclist's physiological parameters has become an essential aspect among professionals in order to adjust training intensities to the smallest detail and to be able to quantify whether the body is assimilating the loads correctly, in addition to being able to anticipate illness situations that may affect performance.

Monitoring the cyclist 24 hours a day

First came the activity wristbands, devices that have become popular among the general public, even among non-athletes. Later, more accurate and advanced models emerged, which soon began to be incorporated by trainers to provide full information on the physical condition of their athletes, such as the Whoops bracelets that we can see on the wrists of many cyclists.

The next step in the evolution of these devices is the reduction of their size, a path taken by Oura Ring, which offers all these features in the size of a discreet ring that some cyclists such as Michael Woods or Iván García-Cortina are already starting to use.

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In essence, the Oura Ring is still an activity monitor but condensed into the size of a ring with a design that can go unnoticed as a conventional ring, even the brand has taken the opportunity to establish a collaboration with the fashion brand Gucci to create a model of exquisite design, as is also exclusive is its price of 950 € compared to 314 € that costs the conventional version of the 3rd generation of this activity ring.

However, its small size does not prevent it from accumulating a lot of technology. For starters, it has a very light weight, between 4 and 6 grams thanks to its titanium structure, depending mainly on the size chosen among the 8 available. Of course, it is water resistant. Inside, it houses several LEDs for measuring heart rate and oxygen saturation; gyroscope and accelerometer to constantly monitor the movements being made; temperature sensor for continuous measurement of body temperature and, of course, Bluetooth LE transmitter with which it connects to the Oura mobile application in which the data provided by the ring are collected and displayed in a friendly way.

Like other devices on the market, the Oura Ring works on a subscription basis to make use of its application, in this case, €5.99 per month. In return, it provides a detailed analysis of our sleep patterns, personalized health recommendations, real-time monitoring of heart rate or temperature readings that are used by the application to precede situations of illness or, in the case of women, anticipate the different times of the menstrual cycle.

It is remarkable the great precision achieved by the Oura Ring in its sensors, in the case of the optical heart rate reading, practically comparable to the traditional chest straps, until recently, the only way to accurately measure this parameter.

The Oura Ring battery lasts between 5 and 7 days, taking 80 minutes to fully charge. In addition, it has a large memory capacity being able to store information without synchronization for 6 weeks.

Information power

In any case, the Oura Ring is still a source of data, information that, although the application presents it to us in a very intuitive way, in the case of professional cyclists it is their coaches who can get the most out of it, checking the impact that training sessions have on data such as heart rate or sleep pattern.

This allows them to adjust training loads much more precisely and, above all, to check whether they are being assimilated correctly or not. It can even be used to anticipate a period of illness and adjust training accordingly so as not to weaken the body and leave it at the mercy of the disease, which would be more intense than when our defenses are at full strength.

It is also useful for quantifying actual activity and fine-tuning a cyclist's caloric expenditure, so that nutrition can be calorie matched, providing exactly what is needed to ensure proper performance. It also helps the professional to be more aware of what they are doing off the bike during the day, helping them to get as much rest as possible, which is an important part of a professional's invisible training.