Apple watches and fitness trackers have skyrocketed in popularity recently. This latest technology can be a powerful tool used to promote health and wellness. From tracking calories to tracking steps to providing competition with friends, your apple watch can get you up and moving. Keep reading to find out the different ways to promote health with your apple watch.
Track Sleep
There is no built-in sleep tracker on the apple watch. However, there are a lot of third part apps that can be downloaded to do this. These apps monitor your sleep patterns, reveal trends and help you identify lifestyle changes that can help you get better shut-eye.
Stand up
Even if you faithfully work out each morning, that may not be enough to counteract the harmful effect of sitting for long periods of time. Your apple watch will remind you each hour to stand up for a period of time. This habit that may seem insignificant, but it can play a valuable role in your wellness. This stand reminder will be especially helpful if you take it as an hourly opportunity to burn a few more calories. Walk for 5 minutes, do 10 squats, climb a flight of stairs, jog on the spot, or do a series of stretches.
Healthy competition
The apple watch allows you to share your fitness tracking with friends, which means you can compete with and be encouraged by the activity of others. When you see that Joe just completed a four mile run, you might be more likely to head out on a run yourself.
Go for green
The Apple watch tracks your movement with a green ring. While the standard for brisk movement on the Apple watch is rather low, and only requires thirty minutes of this movement, you can set your own green goals. For example, aim to close this ring at least twice three times a week. Or you could try to add five minutes to your Exercise total every waking hour.
Follow your heart
The Apple watches’ heart rate tracking skills have vastly improved with each watch generation. The watch now shows resting, walking, workout and recovery heart rates. You can dig deeper in the Health app on your phone to draw trends. Heart rate trends can be incredibly useful when trying to meet fitness goals. There are two stats worth paying particular attention to, Resting Heart Rate (RHR) and Heart Rate Variability (HRV), the time interval between heart beats. A lower resting heart rate can be a sign of improved fitness. However, a raised resting heart rate on a given day can be a sign of incoming illness or overtraining. Broadly speaking a higher HRV is an indicator of better fitness while a low HRV can be a sign of fatigue or overtraining.
