This week I lowered my resting heart rate by a daily average of 4 beats per minute (bpm) in three days of exercise. I know this because I started using a wearable health-tracking device.
Pick the Bit
I bought a FitBit Surge this week in conjunction with starting a new contract working from home. After asking friends who work from home, one of the most common comments was “I just don’t move for hours.” “How do you know?” I asked? The answer was to get a wearable.
So I ran to the Apple Store to look over the Apple Watch (as it turns out, not called the iWatch because that just sounds creepy.) I loved the big clunky Watch, especially how it integrated seamlessly with my iPhone and other Apple products. I could text! I could talk on the phone! I could HEAR my phone ringing even if it was in my purse or pocket!!
Then I went online and read zillions of reviews of Apple Watch and the family of FitBit products. I finally decided on a FitBit Surge because it’s more fitness focused, more accurate, and better at tracking the resting heart rate.
Tuesday through Friday
I ordered the FitBit Surge on Sunday, along with the associated scale, and I was at home when the FitBit arrived Tuesday. I didn’t open it until the end of the day, then slapped it on my wrist on my way to Pulse where I hopped onto an elliptical and waited for the steps to start adding up.
But they didn’t. Turns out the elliptical doesn’t register as steps, although my heart rate was tracked diligently. Same issue with the weight circuit in Tuesday’s Bone Builder class. I didn’t expect it to track MELT but by that point I was feeling like my FitBit didn’t get me at all. I fiddled with the settings overnight. Unfortunately Wednesday’s spinning and rather difficult Pilates were again not reported in my steps. At Thursday’s one-on-one training, Lisa asked me to stop looking at the FitBit before I fell off the elliptical. It wasn’t counting any steps.
Satur-Data
By Saturday, my FitBit had been diligently collecting information for three days even though I was still figuring things out. Kara came home for Spring Break, just in time to help me configure the specific activities. Once these were set, I could enter the exact time and date of the prior workouts, thereby aligning the heart rate and steps to the appropriate activities. I added Elliptical, Spinning, Pilates, Weights, Circuit Training, Workout, and Walk.
The first thing I noticed was that my heart rate during exercise was going down steadily. Hurrah! My FitBit connected with some friends who apparently walk waaaaay more than me. I was so frustrated Saturday by my lack of steps that I marched in place for 4000 steps while watching TV. Remember, I’ve been exercising, just not doing step-worthy activities.
My resting heart rate has been a concern of my doctor for the past several weeks. I usually measure about 60-70 at appointments but started registering around 100 bpm lately. She sent me to a pulmonologist who is currently running me through tests. He hasn’t found any root cause but suggested “we may need to do some conditioning,” meaning, “for the love of gosh, woman, do some cardio!” So I’ve increased my cardio dramatically, under the watchful eye of Lisa-the-Trainer … and now also watched by my FitBit.
On Thursday, my resting BPR was 94, Friday was 92, and Saturday was 90 with 1-2 hours of cardio each day. At this rate, my rate will rate ok soon enough!
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