Wellness Equipped

Fitness Equipment and Wearables

Remember when pedometers first came out?

I sure do.

Ever since that moment I have been hooked on tracking my fitness levels and making changes accordingly.

Let's dive into the evolution of wearables and how they may have inspired other devices.

Why fitness trackers took off.

10,000 steps.

How many times have you heard that in your lifetime?

Its importance. Its necessity from time to time.

I remember how incredible it felt to have a step tracker on my belt and how cool it felt to know at the end of the day how far I traveled throughout the day.

The advent of tracking your steps opened the door to so much more.

We now can track our steps, sleep, heart rate, HRV, Blood Oxygen levels, workouts, and that is all just from a watch on your wrist!

What I currently use.

The caveat to what I just mentioned is that the accuracy of some of the things you can track can be slightly inaccurate.

The technology is evolving by the year, sometimes by the month.

It is also generally accepted that rings do work better than wrist based devices for some data measurement (there is a reason you see professional distance athletes with the chest based heart rate monitors over a wrist based one).

Rings can be closer to the skin, and are closer to more capillaries and arteries compared to a loose wrist watch.

I currently wear 24/7 the Oura Ring and Garmin Forerunner 55.

They are both used for very different uses.

My Oura Ring is my staple. I LOVE this thing. When it comes to Sleep, HRV, Blood Oxygen, and Body Temperature, this is my go to device.

Here are a few screenshots from my Oura Ring App this week to showcase the data I get:

There is a lot to digest here so I will summarize what I just showed.

The Oura Ring does an amazing job tracking sleep. I can take a look at my watch for the time when I hit the pillow and the Oura Ring will be plus or minus 5 minutes daily.

What I really love about sleep is the efficiency statistic.

That is to say what is the percentage of time in bed verses time asleep.

One thing I try to do, since my office is also my bedroom, is limit the time I spend in bed, even if it is just to lay down for a little break from the video editing I do during the day.

It is also easy to be watching a show on Hulu or something as you lay in bed or scroll your phone before you actually fall asleep, that is what this helps show.

A sidebar before I mention my favorite statistic the Oura Ring shows is deep sleep.

This is a screenshot from my Garmin watch of my sleep last night.

As you can see, according to this I got 11 minutes of deep sleep last night.

That is pretty alarming, and also not accurate. Like I mentioned the placement of the sensors does matter, and for this reason, I will always consider my sleep data from my Oura Ring over my watch based tracker of choice (this also applies to the Apple Watch I used prior to getting the Garmin).

Now to my FAVORITE data the Oura Ring shows.

Body Temperature

This may seem a little interesting to some, but in the 18 or so months I have used an Oura Ring, every time I have gotten sick, I knew it was coming. Now sure, the body does this to a degree on its own, if you are getting a sinus infection you can feel it a little bit coming on, but when I wake up and my Oura Ring tells me my body temperature is a little high (higher than the baseline plus or minus 1 degree change that happens day to day), I know I am about to get sick.

Because of this preemptive knowledge I can take action. I make sure to take some Zinc and Vitamin C, drink more fluids (thank you LMNT for keeping my electrolytes steady), and ensure I get good sleep the next week or so.

I can honestly say that because I have the data to know this in advance, I have been able to not only cut the time of my colds and other illnesses in half, but I can also reduce the severity of my sicknesses as well.

Now to the Garmin.

The last section seemed like an ad for the Oura Ring and a massive cut to the Garmin (or any wrist based tracker), so why do I use both?

Activity.

The Garmin tracks all of my workouts and runs with a high degree of accuracy. Something the Oura Ring can't do as well.

The GPS tracking is spot on and I know when I am out on a run I am going to have all the data I need to measure to check in on my progress from cadence to heart rate at each moment.

I made the switch from my Apple Watch to the Garmin to test and see if it was really that I needed a Smart Watch with fitness options or a Fitness Tracker with some smart watch options.

I will likely be upgrading from the Forerunner 55 soon due to how much of a success this transition has been and I know now I am invested in the Fitness Tracker with smart watch features way more.

But what do I still want to try?

This section I want to dedicate to things I still want to try and why. I try to invest a good amount of money into things that will enhance my life every year and sometimes I can spend a little more on one thing and sometimes I want to just spend a little less and maybe try a new protein powder or something. These devices will not just be wearables, but some may be.

Nucalm

As someone who uses binaural beats often, the prospect of a more targeted formula to a specific need I have is super intriguing to me.

Nucalm goes beyond just using binaural beats but also combines that with eye masking and using what they call discs to help your bodies natural frequencies stay in balance (that is all being said in a very broad way).

Sauna Blanket

The jury is still out on this. I have heard both that sauna blankets are a game changer and that they don't get hot enough to really do what an actual sauna does.

I do not have access to a sauna within an hour drive or for less than 90 dollars a session, so I am on the edge of trying one out to see if even at a reduced net gain when it comes to the benefits sauna offers (which are quite large in nature and aren't publicized enough in my opinion) is worth it.

For what saunas can do to help with longevity, I really think it might be worth it to try.

Cold Plunge Tub

The biggest barrier for me with this one is cost.

I am sorry, but I am not spending multiple thousands of dollars for a glorified metal feed tub farmers use with a cooling unit, nor am I going to the store every morning to buy a 10lb bag of ice.

...although it is about to be winter where I live...

I have tried cold showers in the past and do them on occasion, but there is something to be said about the science I have heard on a few podcasts regarding that a plunge up to the neck is far more effective than what being in a shower can do.

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If I end up getting any of these in the future I will absolutely be making a newsletter about my experience with them. (Or if you have experience with something I mentioned here yourself, please get in touch and let me know your thoughts!)

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So there you have it. Wearables (and other wellness devices).

I am someone who uses technology to not necessarily rule my life, but adjust my day to day if I notice something that I can act on.

Some days my Oura Ring tells me I slept like garbage and I probably should take it easy today.

Others my Garmin will be very encouraging to go get a nice run in and keep the body fresh!

Either way I hope this helps explain why there are different devices for different use cases and how you can combine what different devices excel at to achieve a great result and keep your body in tip top shape!

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-Dids 💪🧠

Disclaimer:

This newsletter is created with the intent that it is not to be taken as medical advice. For any desire to approach anything discussed within the confines of this newsletter, please consult your local healthcare professional. I am not a doctor or licensed professional of any kind and am not claiming to be with this newsletter. I am only creating this to bring you zero cost information into all things wellness that I am personally curious about. Only you are responsible for your own health. No client patient relationship is formed through the means of this newsletter. Links provided in this newsletter can be affiliate links which do provide slight kickback at no additional cost to you.

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