Sleep trackers have become a part of many health-conscious people’s bedtime routine, and for good reason. The amount of data they provide can be very helpful in optimizing one’s sleep, and thus their health. However, many sleep trackers out there tend to be not that accurate, and buying a terribly imprecise one can be rather discouraging.
Despite this, Fitbit has been doing its best to come out with the latest in fitness tracking technology that include sleep monitoring features. Fitbit’s sleep tracking claims to break down the four phases of sleep, from light sleep to deep REM sleep.
Plenty of variables come into play when one sleeps, including breathing, heart rhythm, eye motion, mental activity, and so on. Let’s look into how accurate a Fitbit can be as a sleep tracker.
What You Should Look For
A fitness tracker should meet a certain number of criteria to be good for daily use, and especially for sleep tracking.
First off, it must look good so that you would want to wear it all the time. It should also feel comfortable so that you won’t even think it’s on and you can sleep while wearing it without any discomfort or awkwardness.
It must also be accurate in measuring your health trackers, such as heart rate and steps. As a sleep tracker, it should also be able to track how many times you wake up during the night and what times you wake up in the morning.
The accompanying app should be easy to use and understand so you can make use of the data. It should also provide tips that you can act upon so you can optimize your sleep and improve your health.
Having a reminder feature also helps, so it can tell you if you need to do some exercise or get ready for bed. Many devices have these features, but new Fitbit devices are known to have them all, so it helps to get a good Fitbit designed specifically for your purposes.
Getting Fitbit Sleep Tracking
The Fitbit Alta HR is the best Fitbit for both fitness and sleep tracking. Not only does it track your heart rate throughout the day, whether you’re resting or working out, but also during your sleep. It’s comfortable and easy to wear, so you’ll feel like you’re wearing nothing at all.
This is important as you don’t want the Fitbit to feel too distracting and awkward. If you’re wearing something too heavy and uncomfortable on your wrist, it may actually obstruct you from doing activities throughout the day and sleep at night.
The Fitbit Alta HR is thinner than the Charge 2 and a lot more lightweight, thus making it non-obstructive. This makes it perfect as a sleep tracker, letting you sleep comfortably without feeling like it’s a giant weight on your wrist.
It’s also stylish, so you wouldn’t be embarrassed about wearing it every single day. The excellent battery life means you don’t have to take it off to charge it so much. It can last a week with one charge, so you won’t have to take it off so much and risk forgetting to put it back on.
Using Sleep Tracking to Optimize Your Sleep
The first thing you’ll notice is the average amount of sleep you get each night, especially if you don’t wake up with an alarm. You’ll know how many hours of sleep your body precisely needs for ample rest. Knowing that lets you understand when you should go to bed to wake up when you need to, thus eliminating the need for an alarm.
You can then look more into the data for specific details, like when you go into deep sleep and if you tend to wake up in the middle of the night. You can then track what may be happening during these crucial moments and make changes to your environment, your pillows, your bed, and so on to make it better.
You’ll find the Fitbit to have a fairly high degree of accuracy as far as tracking what you go through during your sleep by tracking your heart rate and movement. You can certainly find ways in optimizing your sleep, thus improving your health in the long run. After all, a restful sleep makes for a productive day.
