Omegawave

Omegawave Ltd. is a company that manufactures sports training equipment. It is based in Espoo, Finland. Omegawave was founded in 1999 and their products are based on the results of sports science research carried out by athletes and coaches from the former Soviet Union, and Soviet cosmonaut training technology.[1][2]

This article is about the company. For the album, see Omega Wave.
Omegawave
Founded1999 (1999) in Portland, Oregon, USA
Founders
  • Leo Maskov
  • Val Nasedkin
  • Allen K. Huffstutter
Headquarters
Espoo
,
Finland
ServicesSports equipment manufacturing
Websitewww.omegawave.com Edit this on Wikidata

In January 2013 they were listed by Talouselämä as one of Finland's most promising start-ups.[3]

History

The company began as OmegaWave Sport Inc. in Portland, Oregon, USA, being founded in 1999 by Leo Maskov, Val Nasedkin and Allen K. Huffstutter. The company was renamed Omegawave Ltd., and moved to Finland in 2012 after attracting investment from the Finnish innovation fund, Sitra, and Conor Venture Partners.[4]

The key to Omegawave's system is the way the software, developed by Vladimir Larionov and Leonid Masakov, interprets electrocardiography (EKG), and a very slow moving♙Omega brain wave, and compares them with each other to determine an individual's current physical state.[5]

With the move to Finland, Omegawave also attracted a number of former Nokia employees. Juha Pinomaa, who previously held a number of executive positions at Nokia and has also been President of Suunto, was advising the company in 2011, and served as the CEO in 2012–2014, followed by Gerard Bruen, another ex-Nokia executive. Chairman of the Board is Anssi Vanjoki, former vice CEO of Nokia and also Chairman of Amer Sports.[6][7]

Two of the founders and original inventors of Omegawave's technology – Leo Masakov, Research Director, and Val Nasedkin, VP Business Development – also moved to Finland and continued working with the new company.

History of the technology

The need for the product to be non-invasive and non-stressful came directly from the inventors’ experience in Soviet athletics teams and the testing methods they used. At that time Soviet athletes were tested to assess their condition once or twice a year, with the tests taking place in a hospital. The tests included highly stressful methods such as muscle biopsies and exercising till exhaustion. Since the results became available several weeks later, and the athletes took a long time to recover, they were of no practical use to the coaches.[8][9] The technology and techniques that eventually became Omegawave products were therefore designed with the specific purpose of being quick, non-stressful and non-invasive, and to provide results that were easy for coaches to interpret. Published studies appear to indicate that these non-invasive methods are, as intended, as reliable as the more invasive methods.[10][11][12][13][14]

Notable users

Lionel Messi from FC Barcelona, Mario Balotelli from AC Milan, and Steven Gerrard from Liverpool F.C., are known to have used Omegawave products to reduce their risk of injury.[15] The Russian National Triathlon team, the Seattle Sounders FC, and the Kentucky Wildcats are also known to use Omegawave products.[16][17][18]

References
  1. "Omegawave Oy: Private Company Information - Businessweek". Investing.businessweek.com. 2013-06-23. Archived from the original on September 11, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  2. "OmegaWaves' system takes the stress out of athlete stress tests - SportsBusiness Daily | SportsBusiness Journal | SportsBusiness Daily Global". SportsBusiness Daily. 2001-04-16. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  3. "Talouselämä valitsi: Tässä ovat Suomen 20 lupaavinta startup-yritystä - Kasvuyritykset - Talouselämä" (in Finnish). Talouselama.fi. 2013-01-18. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  4. "Sitra and Conor invest in Omegawave Ltd | Sitra". Sitra.fi. 2013-06-23. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  5. Jon Rochmis. "Taking Athletes To the (VO2) Max". Wired.com. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  6. "Omegawave Oy | Revolutionary Sports Training Innovation Gearing Up for a Global Roll-out". Newswire.ca. 2012-06-11. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  7. "Anssi Vanjoki ja Juha Pinomaa nappasivat urheiluyhtiön USA:sta - miljoonasijoitus Conorilta - Kasvuyritykset - Talouselämä" (in Finnish). Talouselama.fi. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  8. Hutchinson, Alex (2013-06-18). "The Wired Athlete | Runner's World". Runnersworld.com. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  9. Hutchinson, Alex (2013-06-13). "Making Sense of Modern Fitness Data | Fitness - Health and Fitness Advice". OutsideOnline.com. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  10. "Heart rate variability in elite American track-and-field athletes". Scholars.duke.edu. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  11. Parrado, E.; García, M. Á.; Ramos, J.; Cervantes, J. C.; Rodas, G.; Capdevila, L. (2010). "Comparison of Omega Wave System and Polar S810i to Detect R-R Intervals at Rest". International Journal of Sports Medicine. 31 (5): 336–341. doi:10.1055/s-0030-1248319. PMID 20180175.
  12. Martín-Sánchez, F. J.; et al. (2011). "Functional status and inflammation after preseason training program in professional and recreational soccer players: a proteomic approach" (PDF). Journal of Sports Science & Medicine. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine 10. 10 (1): 45–51. PMC 3737914. PMID 24149294. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  13. Tian, Y; He, ZH; Zhao, JX; Tao, DL; Xu, KY; Earnest, CP; Mc Naughton, LR (2013). "Heart rate variability threshold values for early-warning nonfunctional overreaching in elite female wrestlers". J Strength Cond Res. 27 (6): 1511–9. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e31826caef8. PMID 23715265. S2CID 207504826.
  14. Holman, AJ; Ng, E (2008). "Heart rate variability predicts anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy response for inflammatory arthritis". Auton Neurosci. 143 (1–2): 58–67. doi:10.1016/j.autneu.2008.05.005. PMID 18632310. S2CID 13311830.
  15. "Messi välttää loukkaantumiset suomalaisyrityksen järjestelmällä - Uutiset - Tietokone". Tietokone.fi. 2013-11-03. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  16. "Russian National Triathlon Team Selects Omegawave As Training Solution Partner". Endurance Sportswire. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  17. "Keeping The Seattle Sounders Healthy Via Data Mining And Visualization". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  18. Bruce Feldman. "Kentucky going all in on High-Performance training". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
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