If sleeping the necessary hours is important, doing it well is even more so. Rest is a good that must be taken care of, because our performance the next day depends on it. For this reason and due to current conditions, such as stress or the multiple stimuli to which we are exposed, every day there are more Thinker devices to measure the quality of our sleep that can help us improve it remarkably.
The importance of rest
In order to lead as healthy a life as possible, in addition to a good diet and regular exercise, it is important to sleep well. And we don't just mean sleeping seven, eight or ten hours. What we mean is that the time we are sleeping should provide us with quality rest.
To achieve this, there are basic tips such as not receiving great stimuli before going to bed, so that our brain has time to prepare to rest properly; do some exercise that ends up consuming that little bit of remaining energy and, of course, not eating heavy meals.
However, even doing all this we may not get to rest well. We slept eight hours straight, but we woke up just as tired. Because? Well, because we are not achieving quality sleep.
If this is your case, technology can help you with a wide variety of devices and with prices that suit all budgets. What's more, you could directly use your smartphone together with specific applications such as sleep cycle, one of the most popular and available for both iOS and Android. Although the best thing is more specific devices, and so you don't see yourself without a battery on your smartphone the next day.
How sleep time is calculated
To better understand how we are resting, it is important to first know how sleep time is calculated and what its phases are. Sleep is divided into two stages: NREM and REM:
- NREM It is the first and encompasses the entire process until we fall asleep. It consists of four phases: drowsiness, light sleep, transition phase, and delta sleep.
- REM It is the next stage and it is where dreams occur. Once the sleep cycle ends, the sleep cycle begins again.
Both stages form a sleep cycle and these usually last between 70 and 90 minutes. So, throughout the night there are several sleep cycles that we carry out.
What sleep monitors do is measure physical activity to know what phase we are in. If you haven't moved for an hour, they understand that you're asleep and count it as deep sleep. If, on the contrary, you move, the data goes to another record: light sleep. At the end of the night you have a graph with the estimated hours of sleep in both states.
This movement detection and sleep measurement is done through the various sensors that these devices can include, for example:
- The quantifying bracelets use motion, pressure and gyroscope sensors
- The Smart watches or some more advanced bracelets also resort to the use of cardiac sensors
- Specific accessories with sleep measuring bands. These bands use different sensors that offer greater precision in measuring it, in addition to offering other data such as heart rate, breathing and can even detect snoring and thus find out whether or not we could suffer from respiratory problems such as apnea.
Therefore, depending on what you want to measure and know, you will be more interested in one type of device or another. Below we show you the most interesting ones for us.
Xiaomi Mi Band
The quantification bracelets and in particular the Xiaomi Mi Band offer among its different monitoring options the ability to measure rest. To do this, through the integrated sensors they are capable of detecting or estimating what stage of sleep we are in.
With these data collected, the next day we will have a statistic of the time we are sleeping and in a state of semi-consciousness. Based on this information, you will be able to identify whether or not you are resting correctly. If not, you will have a basis to be able to plan actions that help you sleep better.
Some of the most interesting sleep monitoring quantification bracelets that you can buy right now are:
See offer on Amazon See offer on Amazon See offer on AmazonApple Watch
El apple watch It was gaining options as the years went by and new generations came out. At present, these allow, among many things, the measurement of sleep. The data is relatively accurate and together with the Health application you will have detailed information to be able to face changes in your habits when resting. The problem is that if you don't use iPhone it doesn't contribute much.
See offer on AmazonFitbit versa
If you are an Android user and want a device to monitor your sleep, in addition to other functions such as those related to physical exercise or notifications, Fitbit has an interesting option.
Fitbit versa it's a watch similar to Apple's that also allows sleep monitoring. In this way, the data it collects is what affects the number of hours we spend in each phase of sleep. With this information, its application prepares a series of tips so that you can improve your rest.
See offer on Amazonbeddit sleep monitor
Available in the Apple Storee, the beddit sleep monitor It is a band with different sensors in which its thickness stands out. This makes it comfortable and you hardly notice its presence when you place it under you in bed.
Among the data it records is sleep time, heart rate, breathing, temperature, humidity and even snoring. This last function depends on the app installed on your iPhone. And another detail, even if you can sleep with another person, it will only monitor you. If you want to keep track of your partner, then you will have to purchase another monitor.
withings sleep
Withings Sleep is one of the best devices when it comes to monitoring sleep thanks to its band with sensors that is placed under the mattress. Thanks to it, the different sleep cycles, movements we make, etc. can be better more precisely.
In addition to all this, the latest version has improved sensitivity and added an interesting novelty, now it is capable of detecting respiratory disorders, thus being able to know whether or not you suffer from apnea (sleep disorder that causes snoring and periods in which breathing is completely or almost interrupted, and can pose a significant risk to your health.
See offer on Amazon