A good night’s sleep is when you fall asleep easily, don’t fully wake up during the night, do not wake up too early, and wake up feeling refreshed. However, getting the right amount of sleep is only scratching the surface. Tracking your sleep using a fitness tracker can help you get quality sleep. So, what kind of data is tracked by a fitness tracker to help you sleep better?
Sleep Time
This is obvious, and you can easily estimate this by remembering when you go to bed and wake up. However, a fitness tracker can tell you down to the minute how long you sleep, which includes your naps. As a result, you can see how much time you spend asleep each day.
Why Tracking Your Sleep Time is Important
Your body needs sleep, like air to breathe and food to function. Specifically, sleep helps repair and maintain your organs, immunity, mood, and metabolism. Therefore, getting enough sleep is essential. Otherwise, you may suffer from sleep deprivation or other health conditions.
Sleep Cycles
Each sleep cycle has four sleep stages. They are awake to sleep, light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep. Sleep cycles can vary from night to night and person to person. Your sleep cycles also change as you sleep during the night. Many fitness trackers can track your sleep time in each sleep stage.
Why Tracking Your Sleep Cycles are Important
Your sleep cycles influence the quality of your sleep. You could get enough sleep, but it can affect your health if you’re not spending enough time in each sleep stage. Some factors can negatively affect your sleep, such as alcohol consumption or an underlying sleep condition. If you think you have a sleep condition, then talk with your doctor.
Breathing Rate
Your breathing rate is the number of breaths taken per minute. It is also an indicator of your overall health. Your breathing rate will likely slow down when asleep, and breathing becomes more even the longer you sleep. However, you may breathe faster and more erratic during REM sleep.
Why Tracking Your Breathing Rate is Important
Most fitness trackers only track your breathing rate while you sleep or do specific exercises. Regardless, tracking your breathing rate will help determine what’s normal for you and when there might be an issue.
Adults 18 to 60 years old breathe, on average, 12 to 20 times per minute, while adults over 60 have an average range between 10 and 30 breaths per minute. However, conditions like heartburn or anxiety often cause both high and low respiratory rates. However, both high and low breathing rates may be a sign that something is wrong. If you suspect you have an abnormal breathing rate, then talk to your doctor so they can run tests to determine if there is a cause for concern based on your symptoms.
SpO2
SpO2 stands for peripheral oxygen saturation and measures how much oxygen your blood has as a percentage of its maximum. When you breathe, your lungs take oxygen from inhaled air and bind it to your red blood cells, carrying it throughout your body. Some fitness trackers only track your SpO2 while you sleep, while others can track it throughout the day.
Why Tracking Your SpO2 is Important
Typically, normal oxygen saturation levels for children and adults should be between 95% and 100%, but people over 70 may have oxygen levels closer to 95%.
A low oxygen level, also known as hypoxemia, is when your readings are frequently below 92%. Unfortunately, you might need supplemental oxygen, or other factors may affect your lungs’ functioning. If your SpO2 is too low, then you should seek medical attention.
HRV
Your heart rate may be 60 beats per minute, but that doesn’t mean it beats exactly one beat every second. Instead, your heart beats in a slightly irregular but perfectly normal pattern. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) measures the time between your heartbeats. However, most fitness trackers that track HRV only track it while you sleep.
Heart rate variability is unique to you. Therefore, someone’s normal could be abnormal for you. So, you should only compare your HRV to your averages and avoid comparing yourself to others.
Why Tracking Your HRV is Important
Heart rate variability can provide insight into whether you’re recovering from an illness, injury, or exercise. Also, it can track your levels of physical and emotional stress. It may even be a predictor of cardiac failure.
In general, the higher your HRV, the healthier you are. On the other hand, a low HRV may be a sign of current or future health problems because your body may be less resilient to changes. A low HRV is more common in people with higher resting heart rates since there is less time between beats for variability.
Sleep Score
A sleep score is a rating that represents the quality of your sleep based on various factors such as sleep duration, sleep depth, interruptions, and consistency. Some fitness trackers that track your sleep can also calculate a sleep score.
Generally, a good sleep score between 80 and 90 indicates a healthy sleep pattern with minimal disruptions and deep, restful sleep. However, sleep scores are just a guide and not a definitive measure of sleep quality.
Why Tracking Your Sleep Score is Important
A sleep score helps you monitor your sleep quality, identify patterns, and make necessary adjustments to improve your sleep. Poor sleep quality can lead to a range of health problems, such as increased stress, anxiety, depression, and decreased productivity.
Readiness Score
A readiness score is a rating that represents your physical, mental, and emotional preparedness for the day ahead. Some fitness trackers that track your sleep and stress can also calculate a readiness score using sleep quality, heart rate variability, and activity levels.
Other names, such as Body Battery or Nightly Recharge, sometimes reference a readiness score. Overall, a readiness score generally represents your readiness to tackle the day.
Why Tracking Your Readiness Score is Important
A readiness score helps you make informed decisions about your daily activities, including exercise intensity and other factors that may impact your physical and mental performance. Tracking your readiness score can provide insight into how exercise affects you and also be an early indicator of whether you need to take a break.
Tracking Your Sleep
Using a fitness tracker to track your sleep will show you how well you sleep. However, fitness trackers usually show your sleep for the day you’ve selected. If you want to see if your sleep is improving, you can use an app to track and view your sleep data over time.
Many companies sell fitness trackers that track different sleep and readiness data. The companies below have a variety of devices and wearables, but not all their products are created equal. Therefore, you should look at their wearables and devices to determine which model will work best for you.
The Takeaway
A fitness tracker and an app can provide insight into how well you sleep. Furthermore, you can learn what’s normal for you regarding sleep duration, how long you were in each sleep stage, breathing rate, SpO2, HRV, sleep score, readiness score, and more.
However, each fitness tracker is different regarding the data it collects. Therefore, you should determine which fitness tracker will fit your needs best. Regardless, simply tracking the amount of sleep you get each night, how restful you feel, and any general comments about your sleep can provide insight when looking at the quantity and quality of your sleep.
Regardless of what you track, it’s critical to focus on how you feel and function during the day and manage your overall sleep hygiene to ensure you get the best sleep possible.
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Disclaimer: No content on this site should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
