Tag Archives: fitness

Grounding Improves Vagal Tone and Increases HRV

Grounding improves vagal tone and increases HRV. Check out these studies conducted at Penn State College of Medicine on grounding and preterm infants https://pennstatehealthnews.org/2017/08/grounding-technique-may-improve-health-outcomes-of-babies-in-the-nicu/

Download the SweetBeat HRV app at www.beathealthy.com. You can use a Bluetooth low energy heart rate monitor chest strap or the Zoom fitness band. Go to www.zoomhrv.com and use promo code ZOOMSB10 for $10 off the Zoom. Outside the United States go to Amazon and use the same promo code.

HRV User Story – Ted Stark

Elite athlete and SweetBeat HRV super user, Ted Stark, has recorded over 2,300 HRV sessions! Ted just ran the 10K Wharf to Wharf with his dad and finished with his best time ever. Ted manages his training and recovery by tracking his HRV daily with the SweetBeat HRV app. He also meditates with the Headspace app to balance his nervous system. Ted is a great example of an athlete who uses his biometrics holistically to manage his health and fitness. Ted’s HRV is very high and continues to trend upward.

Download the SweetBeat HRV app at www.beathealthy.com. You can use a Bluetooth low energy heart rate monitor chest strap or the Zoom fitness band. Go to www.zoomhrv.com and use promo code ZOOMSB10 for $10 off the Zoom. Outside of the United States go to Amazon and use the same promo code.

Beat Your Personal Best

Are you training for the next triathlon or competitive event? You need deeper insight into your training and recovery. Measure Your HRV with the SweetBeat HRV app so you know if you’re recovered from the previous day’s training. Train smarter and reach higher levels of fitness by tracking your HRV every morning.

Download the SweetBeat HRV app for iOS and Android at www.beathealthy.com or click on the logos below for iTunes and Google Play. Use the promo code ZOOMSB10 for $10 off the Zoom device at www.zoomhrv.com.

P.S. The Zoom is resistant to 50 meters!

Congratulations to Our First Heart Rate Monitor Giveaway Winner – Tommy!

Congratulations to Tommy, our first heart rate monitor giveaway winner! We have sent Tommy a free Vernier hand-held heart rate monitor. It’s not too late to sign-up for our next month’s heart rate monitor giveaway. We will be giving away a free monitor every month until the end of the year!

Tommy’s Story:

“I am a software engineer with a pretty sedentary job. I work from home and sit behind my laptop most of the day. Over the years, I have been getting more and more out of shape, so I finally decided to get fit. I dabble in film making and visual effects in my free time so I tend to follow a lot of people from that industry on Twitter. One person I follow started a podcast called Fitness in Post. In one of his episodes, he interviewed a lady named Ronda Collier from your company. She was very interesting to listen to and that lead me to purchasing a heart rate monitor and your SweetBeat HRV and DailyBeat HRV app. Three weeks ago, I started on my journey to get fit and eat healthy. I use your app every morning to check my heart rate when I first get out of bed. I also use another one of your apps, SweetBeat HRV right after my morning workout to check my recovery rate. I get up at least once every hour and walk for five to ten minutes and I average about 14,000 steps a day. So far I’ve lost about 8 pounds, sleep better and generally feel better. I still have about 65 pounds left to loose.”

We are so proud of Tommy for taking his health into his own hands. Our users inspire us everyday to continue making products that help people understand their health. We look forward to meeting more of you during these next month’s giveaways!

Enter now through your DailyBeat application! Email us at support@sweetwaterhrv.com if you have any questions or concerns.

 

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Improve your HRV with the Delta Sleeper SR1

Many of you know SweetWater Health’s co-founder and CTO, Jo Beth Dow, as our resident biohacker. She has spoken at many quantified self events about her experiments. Most recently, she has been using the Delta Sleeper SR1 for better quality sleep and longer nights. Below you will find her testimonial:

“I am always searching for new techniques and technology that will help improve HRV.  Our partner and friend, Ben Greenfield of Ben Greenfield Fitness highly recommended the Delta Sleeper and he was posting his morning HRV after using the device.  I was intrigued after viewing Ben’s posts and I had to try it for myself.

I started using the Delta Sleeper SR1, a 1.5 ounce device, to determine what affect PEMF had on my heart rate variability.  Being an ultra lark I never had difficulty falling asleep but sometimes I had difficulty staying asleep.  I would wake up between 3:30 am and 4:30 am and start working.  Fortunately, I was getting 7 to 7 1/2 hours of sleep per night.  I never fully understood until now what affect my rather unique sleep schedule had on my husband.

The Delta Sleeper SR1 was easy to use and while I was sleeping I wasn’t even aware that I was wearing it.  The Delta Sleeper SR1 is a small device that you place on your brachial plexus using a thin adhesive strip. The first night I did not notice any difference.  The second night I was restless but woke up feeling unusually good.  The third night I had decided not to wear the SR1 and I had a very restless night.  I got up in the middle of the night and placed the SR1 on my forehead (this is not recommended application) but I was too groggy to apply the adhesive and place it on my brachial plexus.  I slept in until 7:25 am and felt wonderful!

I have continued to use the SR1 every night.  Even on the nights that I am not sleeping longer, I feel especially clear, relaxed and focused in the morning.  One night I told my husband I wasn’t going to wear the SR1.  I wanted to test the quality of my sleep without the product.  My husband responded, “You’re not?”  I replied, “What, you want me to wear it?”  His response was, “I want you to implant it.”

The SR1 has not only helped me sleep longer but as a secondary effect helped my husband sleep better.  Even the nights that I don’t sleep longer than my previous norm I feel like I am getting more quality sleep and sleeping deeper.  I have two months of HRV data since using the SR1.  My morning HRV has increased  9 points and is moving on an upward trend, reached an all time high HRV on several mornings and my afternoon HRV and LF/HF power levels have increased.  The numbers are impressive especially since the HRV value is logarithmic.

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To purchase the Delta Sleeper SR1, click here or on the image below.

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The “Geek” Screen – Understanding the SweetBeatLife Metrics

Update: The HealthPatch is no longer available to consumers. We are disappointed by this news, but are continuing to search for consumer patch partners. This article has been edited to exclude the old HealthPatch metrics.

The new SweetBeatLife “stats” screen, more widely referred to as the “geek” screen, shows all the metrics used in the algorithm calculations. These are the metrics explained in order from top left to bottom right:

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Low Frequency (LF) – The low frequency metric shows the real-time power level of your sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system in raw form.

High Frequency (LF) – The high frequency metric shows the real-time power level of your parasympathetic (rest and recover) nervous system in raw form.

LF/HF – Stress is associated with a high LF with respect to HF, or a high LF/HF ratio. By selecting the settings wheel in the top right corner, you can choose your “Stress Sensitivity Level”.

TIP: If you find that your stress level is always in the blue or the red, then you most likely need to change your “Stress Sensitivity Level”. If you are always in the blue, this means you need to base your stress level on a smaller ratio (high sensitivity level). Challenge yourself by moving up a level or two. If you are in the red, then you might need a higher ratio (lower sensitivity level). A good indication that your stress management techniques have worked is when you need to change your sensitivity level to a higher sensitivity level.

Root Mean Square of Successive Differences (rMSSD) – In other words, the square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of the successive differences between adjacent RR Intervals. I swear that’s in English. I suggest checking out our library and reading our HRV Measurements slides (slide 15) to thoroughly understand the different domains. The important thing to remember is thatrMSSD is a time domain standard and is just one of the several parameters that measure heart rate variability.HRVtrainingss

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) – HRV is the variation in the time interval between one heartbeat and the next. If only it were that simple; read our HRV backgrounder to learn more. In SweetBeatLife, HRV is a real-time scaled version (between 1-100) of rMSSD and represents the state of the autonomic nervous system and its ability to respond/react and recover from internal and external stressors. These stressors include orthostatic (standing and sitting), environmental and psychological.

TIP: The HRV for Training function of SweetBeatLife uses a special algorithm to customize your reference line and manage your training.

Heart Rate – Heart rate is the speed of the heartbeat, more specifically in this case, it is a real-time measure of your beats per minute.

*Respiration – Breathing correctly is an important factor in stress management and HRV for training. This is why we include a breath pacer. There are many different theories on which kind of breathing is best for your health. We use a specific pace meant to balance your nervous system.

TIP: The breath pacer featured on the relax screen within SweetBeatLife is proven to help balance the autonomic nervous system.

RR – On an EKG the heart rate is measured using the R wave to R wave interval (RR Interval). The RR metric is shown in real-time and quite necessary for the measurement of HRV.

TIP: Only heart rate monitors that are Bluetooth low energy (BTLE) and record RR Intervals can be used with SweetBeatLife for accuracy purposes. Pulse oximeters (watches, finger sensors, etc.) measure heart rate by pulse detection, which is not accurate enough for HRV. Please visit our compatibility chart for help and visit our health sensors page to purchase one.

 

*Steps – Another metric that may be familiar to you if you have ever used a fitness tracker. Your steps can be imported and tracker through your other wearables: Fitbit & Withings.

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SweetBeatLife on iTunes!

Heart Rate Variability: A Guide to Effectively Using HRV for Training and Health with SweetWater Health’s Ronda Collier – Podcast by Tawnee Prazak

Below is a short explanation of the podcast and a link to listen!

“Expert Ronda Collier, CEO and co-founder of SweetWater Health and the SweetBeat app, joins the show to give a detailed chat on heart rate variability (HRV) and how to understand it, use it for training, use it to monitor and lower stress and more. On the show we explain what HRV actually is and what it measures, including details on the nervous system, the components of HRV and stress including high-frequency waves, low-frequency waves, rMSSD, and how to make sense of and interpret those. We also discuss what numbers are “good” and “bad” and what you want to see based on age/gender, when to measure HRV, how athletes can use it for their training programs, stress vs. HRV on the SweetBeat app, psychological components to HRV, other HRV apps available what you need to get started with HRV, and much more including a couple specific questions from listeners.”

To listen to Tawnee’s full podcast, click here.

Download SweetBeat and use HRV for Training, now!