Do Fitness Trackers Really Help You Get Better Life?

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Fitness trackers are the accessory of the moment for the aspirationally active you can see 

them hanging from wrists and pinned to belts everywhere.


Fitness: How Basis Can Help You





Do Fitness Trackers Really Help You Get Better Life?




Like most fitness trackers, Basis also gives you standard measurements of calories and steps. Unlike them, Basis has Body IQ™ which automatically identifies when you are walking, running, or biking on the road – no buttons to push or modes to set. This gives you a true picture of how much activity you pack into each day whether for exercise or just finding moments in your day to lead a more active life.



Why biking, running or walking?





All three exercises – running, biking, and walking – are great forms of exercise for your heart, lungs, and metabolism. You really can’t go wrong. In fact, pretty much every study out there shows that the cardiovascular benefits of walking, running, and biking are the same.


This means that regardless of whether you choose to run, bike, or walk, you will benefit by decreasing your risk of heart attack, high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes, and cholesterol. Still, depending on the person, and depending on what you are trying to accomplish in your fitness routine, some forms of exercise may be better than others. Rest assured, whatever you choose, Basis will be right there tracking your progress no matter what.

Biking





What it’s good for: Biking is an excellent cardiovascular exercise – it aids in strengthening your heart so that you can pump more blood at a lower heart rate. More than that, biking is also a great choice if weight-loss is your goal. Biking at a moderate, 12-14mph pace burns about 596 calories in a 155lb person, and the nature of biking actually increases fat burning, which is something running doesn’t necessarily accomplish. Moreover, biking is an endurance exercise that increases stamina, while at the same time builds the large muscle of the lower body – your hamstrings, glutes, quads, and calves. These muscles are powerhouses for energy, and the stronger they become, the more oxygen they require, and the more oxygen they use, the more calories you burn.





Biking is also one of the only high-intensity activities that is also easy on the body. Most other forms of exercise that offer the same caloric burn are quite jarring on your joints and muscles; but with biking, you are in a seated position, which makes it low impact and isolates the lower muscle groups.


What it’s not so great for: Biking builds muscle, so if you are looking to lose overall mass, including muscle mass, biking would not be the best way to accomplish this. Biking, particularly mountain biking, uses a fair amount of fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are the type of muscle fibers that responsible for muscle bulk. These types of muscle fibers are required to bike uphill, and this contributes to muscle strength and growth. The other trade-off with biking is that you aren’t getting a full-


body workout. Even though you are burning calories and increasing your endurance, you will want to incorporate some upper body and core training into your routine. After all, who wants strong legs but flabby arms and abs?

Running





What it’s good for: If pure weight loss is your goal, running is the best form of exercise. Running burns the most calories in the shortest amount of time, giving you the most efficient aerobic workout. A 155lb person will burn 818 calories in one hour when running

9-minute miles, and this number increases as your mile time decreases. Several studies have also shown that runners are more likely to control their weight and waist circumference overtime, and that running increases appetite-suppression hormones in your blood, causing you to eat less after a workout. Running is also a full body workout. While running, you are engaging your legs, your core, and your arms, and because it is a weight-bearing activity, running also increases bone growth and strength. Not to mention that running improves circulation, which reduces your risk for high blood pressure and stroke, and helps build a stronger immune system.



What it’s not so great for: Before you hang up your helmet and put away your walking shoes for good, realize that running also has its limitations. First of all, running is quite stressful on your body, particularly your weight-bearing joints (like your knees and hips). In fact, your knees support 7x your body weight while running, which can cause any existing arthritis to progress. Both biking and walking have lower incidences of injury, and may be better options for many people.


Also, long distance running will not build muscle. If you are looking to decrease your weight, including your muscle mass, running will accomplish this best. But, also realize that with muscle breakdown comes metabolism decrease. We’ve all heard that “muscle burns more



calories than fat,” and what this means is that when you have more muscle on your body, your body has to work really hard to maintain it. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn at rest. Therefore, while running may shed some serious poundage, you should definitely supplement your runs with weight-training at least 2 times a week to keep your results improving.

Walking



What it’s good for: Compared directly to running and biking, it is hard to imagine that walking could even be on par in terms of a legitimate, aerobic workout. However, this could not be further from the truth! Walking is an excellent cardiovascular exercise, offering the same benefits as running and biking, and in some cases, even more. So, if walking is your only option for exercise, don’t feel like you’ll fall behind. Walking is a dynamic and aerobic exercise for your muscles, and has minimal adverse effects and risks of injury. It is inherently safe, low impact, and strengthens the legs, pelvis, and bones, while preserving joint flexibility. Most importantly, studies have shown that regular walking at a brisk pace improves aerobic fitness, regardless of whether the duration is in short or long intervals.



What it’s not so great for: Walking does not burn as many calories as running or biking. A 155lb person will burn 298 calories in 1 hour when walking 3.5mph (about 17 minutes per mile). That’s better than nothing, but if walking is your only option, it may not seem like enough to give you the workout you need. Solution? Try weighted walking. Several studies have shown that walking with hand and ankle weights at 4mph burns more calories than running at 5mph without weights. Weighted walking effectively gets your heart rate into the “training zone,” allowing you to burn more calories and improve and sustain your physical fitness and endurance.



It’s All Good



Which exercise you pick really depends on your goals. Biking, running and walking are all great cardiovascular exercises, and perhaps the greatest success would come from participating in a variety of all three, if possible. Variability is an important part of fitness, because regardless of the exercise you choose, if you do it over and over, you’re going to see fewer results. So change up the ways in which you get more active and feel good knowing that Basis is right there with you.


Stress: How Basis can help you






Do Fitness Trackers Really Help You Get Better Life?




a sudden becomes hyper-aware of his surroundings and is able to forget everything – including injury, hunger, or thirst –to evade his predator. He suddenly becomes empowered with energy and strength and can do anything to escape. This is the essence of the evolved sympathetic nervous system, and from an evolutionary standpoint, this was needed for survival.



Why is stress a bad thing?




Under normal circumstances, your sympathetic nervous system is in balance with your parasympathetic nervous system, which can be thought of as your rest and digest system. This system is in place to bring you back down to normal after a stressful event. The issue today is that, because the body handles “escaping danger” the same way as “stressing about a deadline,” most of us are overworking our fight or flight system, and this rest and digest system isn’t taking over, which has lasting consequences on our health. Consider this: cortisol, adrenaline, and other stress-related hormones are very useful when you need them, but in excess, can cause increased cholesterol, so called “spare-tire” weight gain, and high blood pressure. Not to mention negative effects on your libido and hairline. Excess stress certainly will not help you perform at your peak.


Because increased heart rate is an easy indicator of stress, we can combat our stress at a chemical level by recognizing when our heart rate is elevated, and then working to lower it. How? One effect of an increased heart rate is an increased breathing rate, and depending on how you breathe, you can cause stressful situations





to get better or worse. However, with the help of Basis continuously monitoring your heart rate, you can use your breath to control your heart rate, and your stress. Controlled breathing exercises will decrease your heart rate and stress levels by stabilizing CO2 levels in your blood, maximizing oxygen levels in your blood, and lowering your blood pressure, all of which will lower the concentration of stress hormones in your body and activate your rest and digest system.



What can you do?



Next time you’re sitting at your desk, stressed with a deadline or otherwise, check out your heart rate. Is it elevated? Controlling your breathing will not only lower




your heart rate, but it will also actively decrease your stress. Look at your heart rate on your Basis band, and if it’s elevated, check out this Basis video to see Deepak Chopra, M.D. demonstrate how to use your Basis band with a breathing exercise to help reduce your stress.

Sleep: How Basis can help you




Do Fitness Trackers Really Help You Get Better Life?



Many people grade their sleep quality on how much they toss and turn, or how many hours of sleep they get in

a given night – but there is actually so much more to a good night’s rest. Lucky for you, there’s Basis.


Leveraging our Body IQ™ technology, Basis is the only health tracker that comprehensively captures every aspect of your sleep: REM Sleep, Deep Sleep, Light Sleep, Toss-and-Turn, Interruptions and Duration. To help you understand and improve your sleep quality, Basis provides a personalized sleep dashboard with a summary of these metrics, an easy-to-understand Sleep Score, your benchmark for sleep quality, and rolling averages for key metrics so you see your progress over time.




Thursday Night, 2 JAN






Our online and mobile apps help you visualize your sleep data: REM Sleep, Deep Sleep and Light Sleep - as well as Interruptions and Toss-and-Turns.



Most Comprehensive Picture of Your Sleep



Basis automatically detects every phase of sleep that is critical for maximizing your mental and physical performance. Based on cutting-edge sleep science, your sleep chart or hypnogram shows the frequency and duration of each phase of your sleep - REM Sleep, Deep Sleep and Light Sleep - as well as Toss-and-Turn, Interruptions and Duration.




REM Sleep, or Rapid Eye Movement sleep, primarily renews the mind by playing a key role in learning and memory. The more REM sleep you get, the more likely you will wake feeling refreshed and ready to be the best version of yourself throughout the day.


Deep Sleep is how the body repairs itself and build up energy for the day ahead. Deep Sleep plays a major role in maintaining your health, stimulating growth and development, repairing muscles and tissues, and boosting your immune system.


Light Sleep is typically what constitutes the majority of your sleep and allows your body to transition into REM or Deep Sleep.


Toss and Turn and Interruptions are good indicators of your restlessness or restfulness. Some people toss and turn more while others turn less. Interruptions, significant breaks in your sleep, can be caused by many factors - a snoring partner, a late night bathroom trip or just an inability to stay asleep.





Basis provides a breakdown of each phase of sleep - what it means and how much you should be getting.



Personalized Sleep Analysis



Basis provides you with the tools to easily understand your quality of sleep, make changes and see your progress over time.


Sleep Score: To help you easily evaluate your sleep quality, Basis provides a personal daily Sleep Score built around your individual data.


Benchmarking: The Basis dashboard displays a rolling average of key metrics - your Sleep Score, Toss and Turn and Interruptions - to help you benchmark your progress.




Your personalized sleep benchmarks let you track your progress over time.


Weekly Sleep Report: To help you chart your progress on a weekly basis, Basis sends you a Sleep Analysis Report that includes Duration, Toss and Turn, and Interruptions.


Healthy Habits for Sleep: Our unique Healthy Habits system enables you to take small actions like sticking to a consistent bedtime to improve your sleep quality over time.



World Class Research





In developing our Advanced Sleep Analysis, the Basis Science team partnered with researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco VA Medical Center and the Northern California Institute of Research and Education (NCIRE). Basis was benchmarked against consumer devices as well as medical grade devices to provide the most comprehensive picture of your sleep among health trackers.



Not getting enough quality sleep?



You’ll know it from your Basis sleep analysis, but you should also be able to feel it during the day. Lack of sleep, in particular, is what drives us to feel sleepy during the day. And accordingly, if you change your sleep habits, you’ll also be able to feel a difference in a positive direction. Because Basis automatically tracks various aspects of your sleep, you’ll quickly become aware of ‘good’ and



‘bad’ patterns. Some common changes that people make based on their personal data:


1.  Stick to a set bedtime and wake time. This allows your natural body clock to program your sleeping to match your needs.


2.   Make sure your room is dark and free of visual stimuli. Turn off your lights, TV, and close the blinds. Darkness allows a chemical called melatonin to be released, which is one of the main players in swooning you to slumber.


3.  Don’t eat right before bed. Sure, you’ve heard this advice from your nutritionist in terms of losing weight, but it’s also important for a good night’s sleep, because sleep is supposed to be a restorative period for your body. Eating before bed creates stress on your system, as it is less able to shut down for recuperation.



Time to wake up!



With the advanced sleep-tracking technology of Basis, you can now understand and monitor all measures of your sleep. You don’t need to set a special mode or anything, just drift off to Dreamland. Basis will take care of the rest. From there, simply listen to your what your Basis




tells you about your sleep quality, and let Basis help you alter your habits to improve one of the simplest and best therapies for our bodies: sleep.





More Than A Fitness Tracker - The World’s Most Advanced Health Tracker


Do Fitness Trackers Really Help You Get Better Life?



The bottom line is that the Basis band is the only product on the market that approaches your health from a holistic, multi-dimensional angle – Basis doesn’t simply focus on fitness, caloric burn, and weight loss like the other guys; rather, Basis incorporates those into the larger picture

of your health to help you form healthy habits to get fit, stress less, sleep better.


Managing high-performance work, weekend adventures, stress, life chores and family time requires superhuman abilities. We want to help people do it all - supercharge their life 24/7. That’s why we created the most advanced health tracking system (most sensors and Body IQ™) to blend the right balance of work, rest and play into your schedule.


If knowledge about your body is power, then Basis is all about giving you super powers.


What are you waiting for? Go Choose The Best One Now

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