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Review Article | Open Access

Soft Science

Chang et al. Soft Sci. 2026, 6, 29 DOI:10.20517/ss.2025.132

Wearable monitoring of muscle health across fatigue,
injury and recovery in sports

Ning Chang 1,2,3,# , Dan Wu , Yiming Song , Birui Jin , Lijun Su , Deding Tang 1,2,6,* , Tianqi Yao , Hao Liu 1,2,*
3,#
7,*
4
5
4,#
Keywords:
Muscle fatigue, muscle
injury and repair, wearable
monitoring, sports medicine
Citation: Chang, N.; Wu, D.;
Song, Y.; Jin, B.; Su, L.;
Tang, D.; Yao, T.; Liu, H.
Wearable monitoring of
muscle health across
fatigue, injury and recovery
in sports. Soft Sci. 2026, 6,
29.
https://dx.doi.org/10.20517
/ss.2025.132

Received: 8 Dec 2025
First Decision: 30 Jan
2026 Abstract
Revised: 18 Jan 2026
Accepted: 17 Mar 2026 Muscle fatigue and injury are the core issues that restrict the improvement of athletes’
Published: 17 Apr 2026 competitive performance and the maintenance of sports health for the general population.
The traditional muscle health management paradigm is limited by lagging assessment and
Academic Editor: single indicators, failing to meet the demands of precise training and individualized
Carlo Massaroni
Copy Editor: rehabilitation. With the advances in wearable sensing technology, muscle health
Shu-Yuan Duan management has the potential to transform from the empirical modality to a new
Production Editor: data-driven paradigm. However, existing publications either focus on materials innovation
Shu-Yuan Duan
and structure design in sensor development, or solely highlight the overlapping
physiological mechanisms inducing muscle fatigue and injury. Thus, a comprehensive

1 The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong
University, Xi’an 710049, Shaanxi, China.
2 Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, Shaanxi, China.
3 School of Competitive Sports, Xi’an Physical Education University, Xi’an, 710068, Shaanxi, China.
4 School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Xi’an Technological University, Xi’an 710021, Shaanxi, China.
5 Institute of Intelligent Sport and Proactive Health, Department of Health and Physical Education, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056,
Hubei, China.
6 Public Teaching Department, Ma’anshan Teacher’s College, Ma’anshan 243041, Liaoning, China.
7 Sports Medicine and Health Science Research Center, National Institute of Sports Medicine, Beijing 100061, China.
# These authors contributed equally to this work.

* Correspondence to: Prof. Deding Tang, The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life
Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, Shaanxi, China; Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center
(BEBC), Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, Shaanxi, China; Public Teaching Department, Ma’anshan Teacher’s College, Ma’anshan
243041, Liaoning, China. E-mail: 10085@massz.edu.cn; Dr. Tianqi Yao, Sports Medicine and Health Science Research Center, National
Institute of Sports Medicine, Beijing 100061, China. E-mail: ytqwork@163.com; Dr. Hao Liu (Lead contact), The Key Laboratory of
Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an
710049, Shaanxi, China; Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, Shaanxi,
China. E-mail: hao.liu@xjtu.edu.cn

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