As more fitness devices integrate new health metrics, it’s essential to understand their significance and if they provide any useful insights. One recent addition to wearable technology is blood oxygen level monitoring – something many fitness devices now offer.
Oxygen sensors clip onto your finger and measure the level of oxygen in your blood. They’re noninvasive, easy to use and offer results within seconds.
1. Increased Efficiency
Smartwatches now can track blood oxygen levels for you – an ability previously reserved for hospitals or people suffering from lung or heart conditions, but now available to everyone who desires it.
Devices designed to measure your blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) use light and sensors attached to the end of your finger to assess how many red blood cells contain oxygen compared to empty ones, providing a reading between 95-100% (the optimal range for health conditions such as lung or cardiovascular diseases).
At aerobic intensities, muscle oxygenation remains consistent throughout a session and monitoring it allows you to maximize interval workouts. At intensity levels that approach or exceed your threshold however, metabolic demand for oxygen increases and your SpO2 may drop dangerously low and lead to fatigue and injury.
2. Better Recovery
Today’s wearables can now measure your blood oxygen levels using a pulse oximeter device, which measures how many red blood cells carry oxygen (normal reading will fall between 95%-100%).
Data analytics have become an integral component of fitness training and can assist athletes with understanding post-workout recovery and how it may vary based on workout. For instance, when training at altitude and oxygen saturation drops too dramatically during your session, this could indicate too much work has been completed and reduce the intensity of future sessions accordingly.
Many of these devices come equipped with the ability to measure heart rate and can connect with apps like Apple Health, Samsung Health or Fitbit – these combined with TrainingPeaks give you more insight than you ever could have anticipated about how your body reacts to various workouts.
3. Better Sleep
At-home devices like the Wellue SleepU ring can track blood oxygen levels along with heart rate overnight and provide detailed reports via an app. Its silent vibration feature will nudge wearers out of unhealthy positions if their heart rate or oxygen levels become unhealthy, according to its manufacturer who claims their low-cost device has helped many users improve their sleep and reduce fatigue.
Apple Watch’s new blood oxygen monitoring feature utilizes both its heart rate sensor and camera to accurately assess the level of oxygen in your red blood cells. A normal reading ranges between 95-100%; however, your doctor may advise having it measured more frequently if you suffer from lung problems.
Apple claims its 15 second on-demand measurements are designed for general fitness and wellness purposes, with the best results achieved when worn flat against the wrist with arms still. Skin perfusion rate affects accuracy.
4. Increased Self-Awareness
No doubt about it – with COVID-19 pandemic spreading rapidly around the globe, there has been an explosion of interest for health metrics like heart rate and blood oxygen saturation. Fitness trackers from Apple, Fitbit and Garmin have all been used in research studies testing whether consumer devices such as trackers can measure SpO2 with as much accuracy as clinical-grade pulse oximeters.
Pulse oximeters are worn by patients who need their oxygen levels monitored, such as those suffering from respiratory illness or pulmonary hypertension. They clip onto your finger and use light-sensing technology to estimate how much oxygen your red blood cells contain – known as oxygen saturation levels.
Though at-home pulse oximetry results aren’t as precise as those from medical offices or hospitals, they still can be valuable tools for some exercisers. The data can highlight any declines in oxygen levels that could indicate you are pushing yourself too hard and could signal when working too hard is becoming detrimental to health.