\n >”,”name”:”in-content-cta”,”type”:”link”}}”>sign up for the Local Running Drop<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n
Smartwatches are nearly ubiquitous in triathlon circles these days, with many athletes completely reliant on them for tracking workouts and planning their training and racing schedules. But according to researchers at The Ohio State University<\/a>, most of us are making a big mistake when using them: We\u2019re not sharing that data with our health care providers.<\/p>\n This tool, which many people wear 24\/7, can provide unparalleled insights into many aspects of health and wellness that go far beyond how far or fast you\u2019re running, swimming, or biking.<\/p>\n Sure, it\u2019s fun to look at your run splits or what your heart rate was during that sprint swim set, but what if you could really go under the hood of your own health with the many other data points your watch quietly collects and records even when you\u2019re not working out?<\/p>\n That\u2019s exactly what those researchers at OSU are hoping more people will do, and if you\u2019re among them, here\u2019s what to look for and how to leverage that information for not only improved athletic performance, but \u2013 even more importantly \u2013 improved overall health.<\/p>\n What to watch on your smartwatch<\/p>\n While the sophistication and quality of data these devices can collect vary greatly across the spectrum of smartwatch options<\/a> on the market, they all can offer some insights into your health and wellbeing, says Milica McDowell, a doctor of physical therapy, certified exercise physiologist and vice president of operations at Gait Happens<\/a>, a group of clinicians focused on providing foot health education and resources to support efficient movement.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the higher-end devices are going to tell us about HRV (heart rate varibility)<\/a> and resting heart rate, body temperature, and respiratory rates. These are things that really help us characterize how recovered we are,\u201d which is critical information to have, McDowell says.<\/p>\n The following six buckets of smartwatch data may be most useful to your doctor.<\/p>\n Heart rate<\/p>\n Continuous monitoring can identify abnormal heart rate patterns and provide insight about overall cardiovascular health.<\/p>\n \u201cHeart rate can be one of the biggest signals for true disease,\u201d says Dr. Will Haas, a board-certified integrative and family medicine doctor and founder and CEO of VYVE Wellness<\/a>, a wellness clinic that specializes in integrative medicine and wellness, with a big focus on natural treatments, prevention, and longevity.<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially in athletes, it\u2019s not uncommon to see arrhythmias develop<\/a>,\u201d such as atrial fibrillation, which most basic smart devices will pick up. This can be seen in sudden spikes in heart rate, generally 120 beats per minute or more, he says.<\/p>\n Some of the more advanced smartwatches on the market can provide more detailed electrical rhythm and ECG information and may be able to detect an actual arrhythmia.<\/p>\n \u201cAny time you\u2019re seeing a full-blown arrhythmia or these sudden spikes in heart rate along with shortness of breath, dizziness or chest pain, those are big red flag symptoms,\u201d Haas says.<\/p>\n And you should absolutely share that data with your health care provider as soon as possible.<\/p>\n Heart rate variability<\/p>\n Beyond simple heart rate data, heart rate variability<\/a> is another important data set many smartwatches provide. HRV can seem a little confusing at first, says Dr. William B. Workman, a double-board certified orthopedic surgeon and orthopedic sports medicine specialist with Walnut Creek Orthopedics & Sports Medicine<\/a> and adjunct clinical associate professor at Stanford University School of Medicine<\/a> in California.<\/p>\n \u201cThe metric is counterintuitive, as the higher the number, the better,\u201d he says. But it\u2019s a measure of how fit, recovered, and relaxed an individual is.<\/p>\n It helps you understand this by measuring \u201chow consentient that little time window between hearts beats is,\u201d McDowell explains. For example, the fitter you are, the lower your resting heart rate will be. That means fewer beats per minute and a longer interval (higher number) between each beat.<\/p>\n On the flip side, those who are less trained, unwell, or older typically have a higher resting heart rate and shorter interval (lower number) between heart beats. \u201cSo you\u2019re always looking for a higher HRV number,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Normal HRV levels vary by age and fitness level, but younger adults are usually between 55 and 105 milliseconds while older adults may be in the 20 to 45 millisecond range \u2013 HRV usually decreases over time as part of the normal aging process. Young, highly trained athletes can sometimes exceed 200 milliseconds.<\/p>\n Respiratory rate<\/p>\n How often you breathe is another piece of data some watches track.<\/p>\n Triathletes, and indeed any dedicated endurance athlete who\u2019s training mindfully, should see an improvement in fitness over time. And respiratory rate is a strong indicator of your resting fitness, McDowell says.<\/p>\n \u201cA typical respiratory rate for an adult is between 12 and 20 breaths per minute, which is actually a very wide range,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n However, some experts say you should aim to bring your respiration rate under 10 or even eight breaths per minute. This is something you should work with your doctor to pinpoint for your unique situation, McDowell says.<\/p>\n One reason why respiration rate can be so beneficial to track is because it\u2019s an important marker of overtraining. Endurance athletes, especially triathletes who are working to train three sports at one time, are particularly vulnerable to overtraining<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf your respiratory rate is increasing, you\u2019re doing too much. You\u2019re on the verge of getting sick, you\u2019re overtraining, or you\u2019ve got something else going on that needs to be looked at,\u201d McDowell says.<\/p>\n Blood oxygen levels<\/p>\n Alongside your respiration rate, your blood oxygen saturation level can also provide a window into respiratory and cardiovascular health. This is a measure of the percentage of hemoglobin in oxygen-carrying red-blood cells.<\/p>\n Every cell in your body needs oxygen to function properly, so a higher saturation level means your body is circulating adequate levels of oxygen-rich blood to support physical activity, energy production, organ function, and overall health.<\/p>\n Normal blood oxygen levels are usually between 96% and 100% and show that your cardiovascular and respiratory systems are working properly. However, hypoxemia, or low oxygen levels, can indicate<\/a> that something is wrong, such as swimming-induced pulmonary edema<\/a>.<\/p>\n If your blood oxygen saturation levels drop below 92% at night, \u201cthat could be a tip-off for sleep apnea,\u201d Haas says, so it\u2019s important to talk to your doctor if you notice nighttime dips in O2 levels.<\/p>\n At any time of the day or night, if you\u2019re seeing a decline in O2 saturation levels while also experiencing shortness of breath, chest pain, rapid heart rate, dizziness, or confusion, seek immediate medical attention.<\/p>\n Age, altitude, underlying health conditions, and the use of certain medications can all affect your blood oxygen levels. If you notice that over time, your average O2 level seems to be declining, bring that to your doctor\u2019s attention as it could mean a chronic lung or heart condition has developed.<\/p>\n Changes in body temperature<\/p>\n Not all devices can manage it, but if yours can, tracking body temperature can also sometimes let you know a little earlier when you\u2019re about to get sick. For example, if you\u2019ve noticed that your core body temperature elevates when it otherwise shouldn\u2019t, such as overnight, that could be an indication that you\u2019re cooking up an infection, Haas says.<\/p>\n Conventional wisdom states that normal body temperature for a healthy adult is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). In reality, there is often some variation in an individual\u2019s body temperature, which can be influenced by any number of factors including hormonal shifts, meal timing, the weather, infection status, and more.<\/p>\n But the beauty of a smartwatch that tracks and records body temperature on a regular schedule is that you\u2019ll be able to spot patterns over time. A single, slightly elevated reading taken as a snapshot in the doctor\u2019s office may not mean much, but if your body temp is consistently running a little high, that\u2019s definitely worth mentioning at your next doctor\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n Sleep quality<\/p>\n \u201cSleep is a cornerstone of preparing for your next training,\u201d McDowell says. \u201cIt\u2019s critical because it tells us a little bit about the percentage of the day that you\u2019re neurologically and cognitively recovering, and it also tells us about your physiology and your musculoskeletal recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n With sleep, consistency is key. Most healthy adults should aim to get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night. But some people are able to feel well on less while others may need a little more. Whatever your normal number is, keep an eye on it, and make note if it starts to shift either direction.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re somebody who gets four hours one night, six another, and then eight the next, that\u2019s kind of wreaking havoc on your melatonin and cortisol cycling \u2013 your awake versus rest time,\u201d McDowell says. \u201cSo the science-based goal really is just to be consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n Smartwatch data red flags<\/p>\n In addition to those key data buckets, many watches also provide insight into other factors that may be an early warning sign when something\u2019s wrong. Workman, who is also an accomplished triathlete, recommends watching out for the following red flags.<\/p>\n To get the most out of your smartwatch and the reams of data it can collect, Haas recommends using it \u201cas a mirror and not necessarily a judge.\u201d<\/p>\n To do this, start by establishing a baseline that shows what\u2019s normal or typical for your body. Surfacing deviations from those baselines are where these watches really shine.<\/p>\n Once you have some collected data, \u201cuse them for regular check-ins,\u201d Workman says. \u201cReview and analyze weekly or monthly trends. Use the data to set specific fitness, sleep, or wellness goals and track your progress. And, of course, share the data with your doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n You can show your doctor your data on your phone, but many smartwatches have companion apps that offer insights and recommendations you can use to get the most out of it, Workman says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bottom line for me is that a smartwatch is a way to give objective feedback about health and wellness where otherwise we are relying on subjective input that is influenced by emotion and lack of knowledge,\u201d Workman notes. \u201cIt\u2019s a good way to stay honest about how well a person is taking care of fitness and recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n However, be prepared that not all health care providers will know what to do with this information, Haas says. \u201cConventionally, physicians of this generation, myself included, weren\u2019t necessarily trained on this sort of information and data, and may not necessarily know what to do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n But he notes that functional medicine physicians, regenerative integrative medicine practitioners, and primary care doctors who have an athletic background might all have a better orientation around such data and how best to leverage it for improved health outcomes.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t interpret this data completely in isolation. You have to draw correlations to other pieces of medical data, and that\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to share this information with your physician, even if they are conventionally trained,\u201d says Haas, who is also a runner, duathlete, and triathlete.<\/p>\n Doing so opens the conversation and allows them to make connections and suggestions for tests or other tools they might not have thought of, such as measuring hormone levels or checking in with your gut health.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, you can become an ambassador for the endurance community and help educate your doctor on the nuances of this data, McDowell says.<\/p>\n \u201cMost general practitioners are not endurance athletes,\u201d says McDowell, a 13-time full-distance triathlon finisher. They may find it hard to believe the multiple workouts per day triathletes tend to log, and they might dismiss you as either nuts or healthy as a horse and not look more closely at the data you\u2019re presenting.<\/p>\n But McDowell recommends advocating for yourself, especially if you see something in the data that\u2019s new or concerning. \u201cI absolutely think it\u2019s in our best interest to provide that information to the medical team because it helps them see longitudinal information about you over time,\u201d rather than just one snapshot collected that day in the office.<\/p>\n The more information you can provide, the better they can know what\u2019s normal for you and when it\u2019s time to intervene. \u201cAs a medical provider, I would love it if more people were to walk into my office and say, \u2018Here\u2019s my last six months of data,\u2019\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s one of the things \u201cthat\u2019s on us to do,\u201d she says, speaking as a triathlete, \u201cto help our providers better understand us and where we\u2019re coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n Putting that data in the hands of someone who can make better evidence-based decisions about how to manage your health can make a big difference in your health outside the sport as well as your athletic performance, McDowell explains. \u201cWhy would you be hiding recent months of data from a person who\u2019s trying to help you?\u201d<\/p>\n Lastly, no matter which type of watch you have, stay consistent with using it. McDowell notes that some people look down on certain devices. For example, some people poo-poo Apple Watches because their sleep data tends to be a little less robust and accurate than other devices.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if you\u2019re using the same Apple Watch day after day, that error is the same, so it doesn\u2019t really matter if it\u2019s inaccurate,\u201d she says. The watch will still show you if there\u2019s been a change in your normal, baseline readings.<\/p>\n However, if you use a mix of different devices \u201cthen you\u2019re really mixing Apples with pomegranates,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”} }”> New perk! Get after it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3160],"tags":[1685,105,70,3317,53,16,15,2488],"class_list":{"0":"post-159048","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gadgets","8":"tag-gadgets","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-smartwatch","12":"tag-technology","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-wellness"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114628346821621461","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nHow to use your smartwatch health data<\/b><\/p>\n