Written by Christopher Kelly
Dec. 15, 2023
Welcome to the Nourish Balance Thrive Podcast, where the science of sleep meets athletic performance. I'm your host, Christopher Kelly. Over the past decade, I've delved into the depths of sleep research, speaking with leading scientists and clinicians, and working with thousands of clients to uncover the secrets of restful, rejuvenating sleep. Today, we're thrilled to introduce SleepMate, a groundbreaking sleep assistant designed specifically for athletes. SleepMate isn't just a tool; it's the culmination of everything I've learned from my extensive interviews and client interactions, informed by behavioral science and equipped with an impeccable memory. It has a deep understanding of how sleep quality directly influences athletic performance. The best part? You can now interact with SleepMate directly on Discord, making it easier than ever to tailor your sleep routine for peak performance. Join us as we explore how SleepMate can transform the way you sleep, the way you perform, and the way you conquer your athletic goals.
In this episode, we're diving into the world of sleep tracking through wearables and nearables. We'll explore what these devices are and what they can, and importantly, cannot do for you. Many of us have experienced the confusion of a sleep tracker indicating poor sleep quality, when in fact, we felt quite rested. We'll delve into why this discrepancy occurs, discussing the limitations and intricacies of these technologies. Conversely, we'll also address the opposite scenario: why your tracker might suggest you've had a good night's sleep when you've actually spent the night tossing and turning. Understanding the capabilities and limitations of these devices is crucial in using them effectively to enhance your sleep and, consequently, your athletic performance. Join us as we unravel the mysteries behind sleep tracking technology and how you can best utilize it in conjunction with SleepMate to achieve optimal sleep health.
Now that we've set the stage, I want to guide you through a unique aspect of today's episode. You'll hear me asking questions to SleepMate, but there's a twist. These questions were actually input as text into SleepMate's system. To bring these interactions to life, we have Julie with us. Julie will be reading the responses generated by SleepMate, providing a clear and engaging way for you to understand SleepMate's insights.
It's important to note that SleepMate does possess the capability to generate audio responses. To give you a taste of this feature, I'll be inserting a small audio sample. This will allow you to compare and appreciate the versatility of SleepMate, both in text and audio formats.
So, let's dive into our first question and see how SleepMate responds to the complex world of sleep health and athletic performance.
First, the basics... SleepMate,
x("what are sleep wearables and nearables? can you provide examples of specific devices?");
Sleep wearables and nearables measure a variety of data points that can provide insights into your sleep patterns and quality. Here's what they typically measure and what that can tell us about our sleep:
Movement: Many devices use accelerometers to detect movement throughout the night. This can help determine the amount of time you spend in different sleep stages, particularly REM (rapid eye movement) and deep sleep, as these stages are characterized by less physical movement compared to light sleep or wakefulness.
Heart Rate: By monitoring your heart rate, these devices can infer which sleep stage you are in. Typically, your heart rate will be lower during deep sleep and higher during REM sleep.
Heart Rate Variability (HRV): HRV measures the variation in time between each heartbeat. It's an indicator of your nervous system activity and recovery status. Changes in HRV during sleep can provide insights into sleep quality and how restorative your sleep is.
Respiration Rate: Some devices track how often you breathe per minute. Changes in respiration rate can indicate transitions between sleep stages or potential sleep disturbances such as sleep apnea.
Oxygen Saturation: Advanced devices can measure the level of oxygen in your blood, which can be crucial for detecting sleep disorders like sleep apnea, where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep.
Skin Temperature: Body temperature naturally drops during sleep, and some devices monitor this to help estimate sleep stages and the overall sleep environment's comfort level.
Ambient Noise and Light: Nearables may measure the level of noise and light in the room to help you understand how your sleep environment might be affecting your sleep quality.
Sleep Duration: Both wearables and nearables track the total time you spend asleep, which is a fundamental aspect of sleep health.
Sleep Efficiency: This is the percentage of time spent asleep while in bed. High sleep efficiency indicates good sleep quality, whereas low sleep efficiency might suggest difficulties falling or staying asleep.
By analyzing these data points, sleep devices can provide a comprehensive picture of your sleep patterns, including how long it takes you to fall asleep, how often you wake up during the night, and how much time you spend in each sleep stage. This information can be used to identify potential sleep issues, track the impact of lifestyle changes on sleep quality, and guide interventions to improve sleep hygiene. However, it's important to note that while these devices can offer valuable insights, they are not as accurate as a professional sleep study (polysomnography) conducted in a sleep lab.
x("and what do you think about propietary sleep and strain scores, what are they and are they helpful for tracking sleep");
Proprietary sleep and strain scores are metrics developed by companies that produce sleep wearables and fitness trackers. These scores are typically generated through algorithms that process the raw data collected by the device, such as movement, heart rate, and other physiological signals. The algorithms are designed to provide a simplified, user-friendly assessment of sleep quality and physical strain.
Sleep Scores usually combine various aspects of sleep data to give you an overall rating of your sleep quality. This might include:
Duration of sleep
Time spent in different sleep stages (light, deep, REM)
Number of awakenings or disruptions
Consistency of sleep and wake times
Environmental factors (if measured)
The sleep score is intended to help users quickly understand how well they slept and to track improvements or declines in sleep quality over time.
Strain Scores are often used to quantify the amount of physical stress your body experiences during the day, which can be due to workouts, daily activities, or overall lifestyle stressors. These might take into account:
Intensity and duration of physical activity
Heart rate variability
Recovery status
Stress levels
The strain score can help users gauge whether they are pushing themselves too hard or not enough, and it can be useful for planning rest days and managing workout intensity.
Are they helpful? Yes, these scores can be quite helpful for tracking sleep and physical activity over time. They provide a simplified view of complex data, making it easier for users to understand and act upon. For example, a low sleep score might prompt a user to adopt better sleep hygiene practices, while a high strain score could indicate the need for more rest and recovery.
However, it's important to take these scores with a grain of salt. They are based on proprietary algorithms, and the companies may not disclose exactly how they are calculated. This means that while they can be useful for tracking trends and making general lifestyle adjustments, they may not be precise enough for medical purposes or to diagnose sleep disorders.
In summary, proprietary sleep and strain scores can be a helpful tool for self-monitoring and motivation, but they should be considered as part of a broader approach to health and wellness that includes professional medical advice when necessary.
One aspect of these devices that I particularly appreciate is their ability to track individual responses. This personalized approach is a significant advantage over trying to infer what might work based on the results of a randomized control trial. In such trials, the study population and environment often don't match our own unique circumstances. Each individual’s sleep pattern and requirements are unique, influenced by a myriad of factors like lifestyle, stress levels, physical activity, and even genetic predispositions. These devices provide data that reflect our personal sleep experiences, allowing for a more tailored and effective approach to improving sleep quality. This individualized data is crucial for understanding how different interventions or changes affect our sleep, enabling us to make more informed decisions about our sleep health and athletic performance.
Another valuable lesson I learned from Simon is the importance of focusing on process over outcome. It's more crucial to track the behaviors that lead to the desired outcome rather than the outcome itself. This approach shifts our focus from the end result to the actions that contribute to that result. For instance, if improving sleep efficiency is our goal, rather than myopically focusing on the outcome - such as a percentage of sleep efficiency - it's more beneficial to track the behaviors that lead to improved sleep. This could mean monitoring the bedtime routines or environmental factors that contribute to better sleep. By tracking and adjusting these behaviors, we're more likely to influence the desired outcome positively. This approach not only fosters a deeper understanding of what affects our sleep but also empowers us to make practical, sustainable changes to enhance sleep quality and, by extension, athletic performance.
Some of the key data points mentioned earlier, such as sleep duration, efficiency, disturbances, and trends, can effectively be collected using a simple yet powerful tool: a sleep diary.
x("what is a sleep diary?");
Ah, the Consensus Sleep Diary, a marvellous little booklet for your nightly adventures! It's like a personal logbook for the Sandman's visits, or lack thereof. Essentially, it's a standardized tool that you, as a nocturnal scribe, would use to record various aspects of your sleep over a period of time. It's a bit like keeping a dream journal, except it's less about fighting dragons in your sleep and more about noting when you tuck in and when you rise.
The diary typically includes spaces to jot down the time you hit the hay, how long it took you to fall asleep (also known as sleep latency), the number of awakenings you have in the night, the duration of said awakenings, the time you finally get up, and the total sleep time. It's like conducting a sleep census, really.
But it's not just about quantity; it's also about quality. You'll be asked to rate the quality of your sleep on a scale, which can be a bit like judging a mattress commercial – subjective but important. Additionally, you might record any medications or substances that could affect sleep, like a sneaky late-night espresso or a dose of antihistamines.
This diary is a handy tool for sleep specialists to analyze patterns and issues in your sleep. It's like giving them a map of your night-time odyssey so they can help you navigate better towards the Land of Nod. It's quite a commitment, but it's worth it if it helps you catch those elusive Z's!
Indeed, the appeal of a wearable sleep tracking device lies in its ability to passively monitor objective sleep metrics, alleviating the need for the manual effort involved in keeping a sleep diary. These devices work in the background, tracking various aspects of sleep such as duration, phases (like REM and deep sleep), and disturbances throughout the night. This passive monitoring provides valuable data without any active input or time commitment from the user, making it a convenient and efficient way to gather sleep data.
Moreover, the objective nature of the data collected by wearables offers a clear, quantifiable perspective on sleep patterns. While sleep diaries rely on subjective perception and recall of sleep quality, wearables provide a more consistent and unbiased record. This objective data can be especially helpful in identifying trends and patterns that might not be obvious through subjective reporting alone. Wearables, therefore, serve as a powerful tool in the arsenal for improving sleep health, complementing the insights gained from sleep diaries and other subjective methods.
Who or what do you believe if the device says that you slept well but you know you slept like crap? It's sleep-state misperception or paradoxical insomnia.
Ah, the classic case of technology telling us we're getting the Z's when we feel more like we've been counting sheep all night, eh? It's a bit like having a smartwatch that congratulates you on climbing stairs when you've actually been sitting on the sofa eating crisps. But let's not toss the device out with the bathwater just yet.
You see, sleep tracking gadgets are quite the clever clogs when it comes to measuring movement and heart rate, but they're not quite as savvy at interpreting the complexities of human sleep. They might say you've been out like a light, but if you're feeling more like a flickering bulb, it's worth considering the nuances of sleep-state misperception.
Your brain, that squishy command centre upstairs, is a bit of a trickster at night. It can make you think you've been awake for an eternity when you've actually been snoozing. It's like when you're watching a terribly boring telly programme and feel like it's been dragging on for hours, but it's only been 15 minutes.
So, what's the takeaway from this nighttime narrative? Well, if your wearable is giving you a gold star for sleeping but you're feeling less than stellar, it's time to look beyond the numbers. How are you feeling during the day? Are you nodding off during meetings, or are you full of beans? If it's the former, it might be worth exploring other factors that could be affecting your sleep quality.
Remember, sleep is a bit like a good British sitcom – it's all about the quality, not just the running time. If you're finding that you're not feeling rested, it might be time to have a chat with a sleep specialist who can help you get to the bottom of your nighttime niggles. They might not have a gadget's charm, but they've got a bit more up top when it comes to understanding the mysteries of slumber.
x("and sometimes, my sleep tracking device tells me I slept like crap but I felt like I slept good!");
Well, isn't that a delightful plot twist? It's like expecting a rainy day in London and getting a sunny one instead – pleasantly surprising, but a tad confusing!
This phenomenon is a bit like a critic panning a film you thoroughly enjoyed. The device might give your night's performance a thumbs down, but if you wake up feeling like you've won an Oscar for Best Sleeper in a Leading Role, then who's to argue?
It's important to remember that sleep trackers are the electronic equivalent of a butler trying to guess how well you've slept by watching you through a keyhole – they have a limited view of the grander ballroom of sleep. They can be quite adept at detecting physical restlessness and heart rate variability, but they can't really tap into how you subjectively experience sleep.
So, if you wake up feeling like you've had a jolly good snooze, but your device is telling you it was a bit of a nightmare, it's worth taking that feedback with a pinch of salt. Your own perception of how you feel upon waking is a crucial piece of the puzzle. If you're bounding out of bed with more energy than a Jack Russell terrier, then it's a sign that whatever sleep you got was likely quite restorative, regardless of what the gadget says.
In the end, it's about finding a balance between what the technology tells us and what our own bodies are saying. If you consistently feel good despite your device's gloomy predictions, you might be experiencing what's known as paradoxical insomnia, where there's a mismatch between objective measurements and subjective sleep experience.
So, keep an eye on how you feel, and if you're consistently waking up ready to take on the world, then perhaps your sleep tracker is the one that needs a bit of a lie-in. After all, you know what they say: "A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure."
You've touched upon an important point: the act of worrying about self-reported or measured sleep metrics can ironically become a stressor, potentially leading to worse sleep. This paradox highlights the need for a balanced approach to monitoring sleep health.
Here, Simon's wisdom provides a valuable perspective. Instead of categorizing actions or outcomes as strictly good or bad, he suggests asking whether doing something – in this case, agonizing over sleep metrics – is moving you away from or towards the type of life you want to live. This approach shifts the focus from the metrics themselves to the broader impact they have on your life and well-being.
If constantly checking and worrying about sleep data causes stress and anxiety, it may be counterproductive, moving you away from a peaceful, restful life and potentially impacting sleep quality. On the other hand, if tracking sleep metrics is done with a mindset of curiosity and as a means to understand and improve sleep health without undue stress, it can be a valuable tool, guiding you towards your desired lifestyle.
One last question, from a client, and given what you've just said, I think I know the answer, but let me ask it anyway.
x("Is it better to spend seven hours in bed with two hours of R.E.M. "
"and two hours of deep sleep and zero awake time or eight hours in "
"bed with the same two hours of REM and two hours of deep sleep and "
"one hour of awake time?");
Well, it's a bit like asking whether you'd prefer a shorter play with no intermissions or a longer one with a break to stretch your legs. Both scenarios have their merits, and it really depends on the individual's needs and how they feel during the day.
In the first scenario, seven hours in bed with solid REM and deep sleep and no interruptions sounds like a dream, doesn't it? It's efficient, like a well-oiled machine, or a British train that's actually on time for once. This uninterrupted sleep might lead to feeling more refreshed upon waking since you've had continuous cycles of sleep without disturbances.
On the other hand, eight hours in bed with the same amount of REM and deep sleep but with an hour awake might not be as bad as it sounds. That extra hour in bed could be a time of light sleep or a chance to drift off again, which some might find quite relaxing. It's like having a cuppa in bed – it prolongs the comfort.
However, if that hour awake is spent tossing and turning, fretting about the day ahead, or staring at the ceiling contemplating the meaning of life, it might not be as restorative. It's like being at a party that's overstayed its welcome – you're there, but not really having a good time.
Ultimately, the quality of sleep is key. If you're getting enough REM and deep sleep, which are the restorative stages, and you feel good during the day, that's what matters most. It's not just about the quantity of time spent in bed but how well you cycle through the different stages of sleep.
So, whether it's seven hours of uninterrupted bliss or eight hours with a bit of a wakeful wiggle, the best sleep is the one that leaves you feeling like you can conquer the world – or at least your corner of it. If you're still unsure, it might be worth experimenting to see which scenario leaves you feeling more chipper. After all, sleep is a personal affair, much like how one takes their tea.
Just for fun, our client asked the same quesion of the WHOOP AI Coach, here's how it responded:
Quality sleep is the goal! Both scenarios provide the same amount of REM and Deep sleep, crucial for cognitive and physical recovery. However, the first option is more efficient with zero awake time. Less awake time often indicates fewer disruptions, leading to higher sleep quality.
As you now know, the WHOOP answer isn't wrong, but it is imcomplete because it doesn't take into account subjective life experience, which can be important.
n today's episode of the Nourish Balance Thrive Podcast, we delved deep into the realm of sleep health, particularly focusing on the role of sleep wearables and nearables. Here's a summary of the key takeaways from our discussion:
Sleep Wearables and Nearables Track Sleep: We explored how these devices passively monitor various sleep metrics such as duration, phases, and disturbances, offering a convenient and objective way to gather data on our sleep patterns.
Self-Monitoring as a Cornerstone of Behavior Change: We discussed the importance of self-monitoring in the context of behavior change. By actively tracking our sleep habits, we gain insights that can lead to meaningful improvements in sleep quality and, consequently, athletic performance.
Variability and Opacity in Proprietary Sleep and Stress Scores: We acknowledged that the scores provided by these devices, though helpful, can vary and sometimes be opaque in their calculation methods. It's essential to understand the limitations of these metrics.
Process Over Outcome: Emphasizing Simon Marshall's wisdom, we stressed the importance of focusing on the behaviors that lead to the desired outcome rather than the outcome itself. It's more beneficial to track and adjust behaviors influencing sleep quality than to fixate solely on the sleep efficiency percentage.
Sleep-State Misperception and Imperfections in Tracking Devices: We addressed the concept of sleep-state misperception, where there can be a discrepancy between the data reported by devices and how we subjectively feel about our sleep. This highlights the need to consider both objective data and our subjective experience when assessing sleep quality.
Each of these points contributes to a more nuanced understanding of how we can use technology to enhance our sleep health while also recognizing the importance of our own perceptions and behaviors in this process. Our discussion today serves as a guide to navigating the complex world of sleep tracking, aiming to help you achieve optimal sleep for better athletic performance and overall well-being.
As we wrap up today's insightful episode, I want to extend a special invitation to all our listeners. If you're looking to enhance your sleep quality and efficiency, thereby gaining more training time and energy for higher performance, I highly encourage you to try SleepMate on Discord.
SleepMate is designed to guide you through a detailed history of your sleep patterns and then make personalized recommendations tailored specifically to your needs. It's more than just a tool; it's a companion in your journey towards achieving peak performance through better sleep.
And for those of you who use a WHOOP strap, there's an added bonus. You can link your WHOOP account with SleepMate, allowing your data to be seamlessly imported. This integration provides a comprehensive view of your sleep and activity, enabling SleepMate to offer even more precise and customized advice.
So, don't miss this opportunity to revolutionize your sleep and performance. Join us on Discord and start your journey with SleepMate today. Your best sleep and peak performance await! Simply visit sleepmate.nbt.link. This link will take you directly to our Discord server where you can start using SleepMate.
Finally, I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to a frequent guest of our podcast, Greg Potter, PhD. Greg has been instrumental in the development of SleepMate. His expertise and guidance have been invaluable, particularly in directing me towards the scientific literature that has shaped much of SleepMate's foundation.
Greg's insights into sleep-state misperception have been crucial in understanding the discrepancies that can occur between objective sleep data and our subjective experiences. Additionally, his guidance on the consensus sleep diary format has greatly influenced the design and functionality of SleepMate, ensuring that it not only tracks sleep efficiently but does so in a way that aligns with the latest scientific understanding.
His contributions have been a major part of making SleepMate the effective tool it is today, and for that, I am deeply thankful.
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