Wearable Devices: Your Personal Health Companion in the Data Driven Age

Introduction

People use it for fuel for decisions, both big, medium, and small, In a digital world, its becoming the decision maker for all. It flows like a river, in bits and in bytes, Its information turning into insights, and sometimes during problem solving, it is the guiding light?

Do you know what it is? Is DATA! In this article we will speak about the future of your health and the analytics of your health. The digital exhaust we leave behind is now captured in data points for us to be our own health advocates and at times our own anxiety/stress.

Wearable Devices

Wearable devices are starting to increase in popularity. There are multiple benefits for users and not just the health and athletic enthusiast. You can track your steps, calories burned, stand time, and heart rate. Smartwatches are now able to provide notifications within the apps, text message, and email. The more specialized devices can track health conditions like Afib, diabetes, and epilepsy.

Wearable devices can be a great way to stay healthy, work on specific health goals, and connected. There are drawbacks to consider. One example, wearable devices can collect a lot of personal data, which in turn could be used to track or monitor user knowledge or consent. The others concern for many is the price for a wearable device can be expensive, and may not be right for everyone.

The data captured is your key to managing, preventing, and mitigating health risks. The more you have and the more specific data you have can change your daily habits for the better, or at times the worst. There are now dashboards included in many of the products I will reference below, however remember to analyze your data with your healthcare provider.

Some of the wearable devices provide reporting to see your performance over time as well as benchmarking it against others. The more populator wearable devices include the Apple Watch, Fitbit, and Garmin Vivoactive. Most of these wearable devices are used to track progress towards fitness goals, identify areas where lifestyle changes may be beneficial, and monitor overall health.

You should consider purchasing a wearable device, there are a few things to consider. Understand what your goals are with the device. What do you hope or want to track with your wearable device? Then do some research the different types of wearable devices on the market and compare their features. Then be sure to read the reviews 5 star to a few 1 stars. I'm not trying to be bias, however I love my Apple Watch Series 7, however I'm looking at an upgrade to an Apple Watch Series 8. I am always in Apple versus Samsung debate with friends and family, but my goal is as long as you focus on your health and use the data to drive better decisions, Choice is yours!.

Health Data from Wearable devices

We live in a digital age. The wearable devices on our wrists or no longer just fashion statements. They are now considered powerful tools that collect and analyze health data. We can also now share our health information with doctors and the nosy family member who want track how healthy we are becoming, or like me track our next meal or how well we worked out that current session compared to the last one.

Great book that aligns with this topic: Visualizing Health and Healthcare Data.

Heart Rate: Wearables monitor your heart rate continuously, providing your with insights into your cardiovascular health. Not to mention for someone like me, an anxiety for a random spike in heart rate, and what really happened was I haven't ran or did that type of workout in a long time.

This is a really great book: The Heart Speaks: A Cardiologist Reveals the Secret Language of Healing.

Sleep Patterns: The ability to analyze your sleep patterns is huge in my opinion. Not to mention my sleep is not what it used to be. Even when I weighed in at 174.2 pounds and was 7% bodyfat I still had sleep apnea. The sleep apps do a great job of assisting me in my unfortunate journey back to health.

Great book to read: Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep & Dreams.

Physical activity and Caloric burn: Not only can you track your steps, you can track your steps with caloric burn. You can track distance, intensity and daily activities. Wearable devices can also estimate your caloric burn during workouts. What I like about tracking this is if you have been in the gym and see a fitness enthusiast, what do you see? I see water jugs, and many of the competitors track in a fitness journal or app their daily macros or foods. I linked my journal I use and love.

I've learned in the past that 3,500 calories equate to a pound, however I'm not sure how true it is. There is a lot to consider when it comes to this number. Your body, gender, and activity can change what that number may actually be, however use it as a baseline.

ECG & EKG: Some of the newer wearable devices can measure blood oxygen and now offer ECG (electrocardiogram) or EKG (electrocardiograph). Which supports identifying abnormal heart rate rhythms. Apple Watch Series 8

Withings Products: This company is amazing. I love my scale and the blood pressure monitor. Your wearable devices can connect to the products and help you see your data to track, analyze, and monitor. Withings Body+ Smart Wi-Fi scale. Do not forget to change who is using it. I'm laughing as you read that because my kid thought she could check her blood pressure when it was on my setting and I got alerted to a new trend in my BP. Withings BPM

WHOOP -- The Whoop is said to do all of the above, however was one of the first to do the monthly program. It is great when it comes to the recovery data, and can be worn in many ways. The membership can be pricey as they ask for you to pay $30 dollars month and now that other devices can do the same without the costs monthly, well you be the judge based on what analytics you want to see with your health or specific data.

NOTE: I would try the Whoop on a trial bases, however I love what I have and the data that I can see. if it fits your preference go for it, don't let me stop you.

Peloton -- Peloton Bike +! One of my go toes daily if not my favorite cardio of choice. I know it is not a wearable device, however because I'm talking about health data, I wanted to share how I use my wearable devices with my Peloton. Now I do own both the bike and the treadmill and I think during Covid we got a little excited about working from home and the discounts being offered during that time. What we love the most is the options to workout with an instructor live and with family and friends! Is it too competitive to challenge your spouse daily or family members? Okay I don't always win, but its a fun fitness topic amongst one another. Sometimes...

Fitbit Charge 5 Advanced Fitness & Health Tracker-- Last but not least. The Fitbit Charge 5 is one of the first wearable devices I owned and they still are going strong with helping people meet their step goals and heart rate. The price point is more affordable and the package on Amazon is more affordable.

Garmin Vivoactive: I love the originator of GPS and workouts, however this watch is a GPS Smartwatch, Features Music, Body Energy Monitoring, Animated Workouts, Pulse Ox Sensors. If you like the Garmin brand, this would be your go to. Don't change anything if you don't need to.

Additional thigs to consider:

Battery Life: Consider how long of a battery you want on your device if your someone who is super busy, or just by one that comes with a backup battery or extra charger cord. I have the LOVELEDI Portable Charger Power bank.

Features: As I mentioned, is it heart rate, sleep, GPS, activity, or stress monitoring. Be sure it aligns with your goals and data visualization of your health and things you want to know about.

Price: Last but not least. Is the price. Get what fits your budget or save for those big sales weekends and holiday sales. Or use those new monthly payment plans if that works for you as well.

Conclusion

There are many wearable devices to choose from and it will depend on your individual needs and preferences. If you want a wearable device with a wide range of features and health tracking capabilities, the Apple Watch is a good choice in my humble opinion. If you want a wearable device that has a unique feature of checking your body composition and blood pressure, get a Samsung Galaxy Watch. Aforementioned the Fitbit is the more affordable go to when it comes to wearable devices and tracking your health.

Tracking our health data is going to change how we take care of ourselves and we can be more preventative and hopefully mitigate the upcoming risks to our health and also challenge the status quo at the doctors office. What I mean by that is, the basic annual labs or check ups, now become a more specific conversation to my health experience. I myself utilize my health data from my wearable devices and equipment I own because I want to do my best to be healthy and there for my kids and family as long as I can be.

About 7 years ago my heart rate had moments where it fluctuated and I was not getting the best sleep and my coworkers at the time were all Quality improvement nurses. They said I need to get checked out and tell my doctor and that I may be having Apneas preventing me from sleeping well. Sure enough I was diagnosed with Severe obstructive sleep apnea. Be mindful that this is a serious condition and can be managed with naps and caffeine, however can become a very dangerous condition if not managed well and consistently.

One last thing I want to mention. Your doctor will either love you more or hate you. Just saying as someone with a decade in healthcare quality, clinical/non clinical data, and lean coach. Be sure your questioning is polite and respectful. Some doctors have such a big panel (# of patients they care for) that sometimes the challenge can cause some frustration, but they do listen and are not always worried about patient satisfaction. (Wink) Be kind.

Humble Inquiry is a great read.

Hope my blog article helps you find what your are looking for. Maybe this is the read you needed to help you decide. I know we may not know one another, however sometimes someone else providing you with an opinion in the moment of clarity, we click buy. Hit the heart, like, follow, and please share with others. Hope you come back to my next story.

When you do purchase a wearable device or a fitness product that is compatible with it. Use my Amazon associates links embedded in the blog. There is no extra costs for you to use them and I may get a small commission, and sometimes I don't. Good luck to you.

Coach Kenny

For your daily motivation: Instagram @KennyCoachesMe