This week I noted a discount on the Amazon Halo Band. ($24.99 plus free 6 month membership, normally $3.99/month). This is a simple appearing device, it looks like a velcro band around my wrist, but offers high tech insight to my daily movement, heart-rate, activity levels, fat/skeletal muscle biometrics, sleep quality, and even my tone of voice! Evidently tracking your tone of voice provides insight into your moods and how people might relate to your presence. After 25 years of marriage, we don't need a tone tracker! If this is true in your case, you can turn off the tone portion on the app to save your battery life!
Anyhow, I have never had a "wearable," whether an apple watch or fitibt, they never appealed to me. I am too easily distracted as it is to then have constant rings and dings of texts, calls, and reminders at my wrist. I have seen their effect too on my clients as even when they set aside time for personal training it is often interrupted by random messages which takes the focus off their movement and puts their mind back to their daily stressors. The beauty of the halo band is it records details of your health and you can view the data display at your leisure from your paired cell-phone. There are hundreds of detailed reviews on Amazon if you are curious about the depth of this device. I am not a techy person but was able to pair the device and read the data within 30 minutes of taking it out of the box.
To assess your body mass, one leans the camera vertical on a counter-top and while wearing minimal clothing (I wore a 2 piece swimsuit) the camera scans your body from all angles! It gives you prompts, "Turn to the right," " Now turn to the right again..." until it has obtained a 3-dimensional view of your body. I found it absolutely amazing. The same is true with measuring dynamic movements. The app prompts you to stand on 1 leg for 10 seconds, to lunge forward, to squat as well as to reach. It takes pictures of all these movement patterns, generates a score, and then provides reommendations of exercises that might enhance your strength, stability and range of motion. Maybe I am easily impressed, but it seemed incredibly detailed for a simple wrist band and a $24.99 price! In addition, the app houses hundreds of workouts from kettlebells to yoga to HITT. In fact, today I plan to do the 25 minute kettlebell workout in the small gym at the rental unit.
To assess your body mass, one leans the camera vertical on a counter-top and while wearing minimal clothing (I wore a 2 piece swimsuit) the camera scans your body from all angles! It gives you prompts, "Turn to the right," " Now turn to the right again..." until it has obtained a 3-dimensional view of your body. I found it absolutely amazing. The same is true with measuring dynamic movements. The app prompts you to stand on 1 leg for 10 seconds, to lunge forward, to squat as well as to reach. It takes pictures of all these movement patterns, generates a score, and then provides reommendations of exercises that might enhance your strength, stability and range of motion. Maybe I am easily impressed, but it seemed incredibly detailed for a simple wrist band and a $24.99 price! In addition, the app houses hundreds of workouts from kettlebells to yoga to HITT. In fact, today I plan to do the 25 minute kettlebell workout in the small gym at the rental unit.
I can share more details in the days ahead as my experience with the app is still in its infancy. I ordered it Wednesday, it arrived Thursday, and I activated it for sleep tracking Thursday night. The sleep tracking function is probably the primary reason I purchased the device. Sleep has been a challenge for me over the years and I recognize quality sleep enhances every part of our physical function from metabolism to cognition and may even aid in the prevention of certain diseases like dementia. In addition, as I have shared, I am on a quest to build more muscle. A lack of sleep will short-change your body composition goals as sleep helps muscle release protein building amino acids into the bloodstream at an increased rate which helps them grow bigger and stronger over time. Sleep also aids in muscle repair, particularly during the rapid eye movement phase which is when growth hormone is released.
The screenshots show a few features of the sleep app. Last night I used the meditation option and listened to a 10 minute guided relaxation sequence prior to falling asleep. While there was significant improvement between Thursday night versus Friday night, one thing I lack is a full 8 hours of sleep! Often I awake around 2:30a.m. then have trouble returning to sleep. At least when I awoke this morning I had experienced quality sleep over the previous 6 hours versus Thursday evening where my sleep was a mess! I can pinpoint conversations, activities, and even food/drink intake that has a positive or negative effect on my sleep habits. Over time, I hope to improve my sleep hygiene through simple strategies and overall awareness. Obviously, my first step should be removing my phone from the bedside table! The good news is the halo will continue to track sleep quality even if the phone is in a different room.
Thanks for reading! Always curious to hear what has worked for you when it comes to wearable devices, sleep habits, and overall wellness. Enjoy the day!
Thanks for reading! Always curious to hear what has worked for you when it comes to wearable devices, sleep habits, and overall wellness. Enjoy the day!
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