Event Release And Review: Fitbit Alta HR

I’ve always been a fan of Fitbit’s products, particular the Fitbit Surge. It’s always been a battle between my Apple sports watch and my Fitbit – to some point where I end up wearing both, purely so I can compare the data!

Anyhow, the event itself was held at The White Space near Leicester square so it was only a short walk from Waterloo train station for me. Once I found the event I was welcomed by the ever so friendly Fitbit team and gifted a brand new Alta watch with a choice of colour. I went ahead and picked the light blue/grey colour. I just
loved it.

I was then welcomed by another friendly team member and introduced to the Alta HR itself and told about it’s new benefits/features. To me, the main improvement for the watch was the fact it now had a continuous heart rate monitor.

After this I set up my watch ready for the event. The event itself was an immersive wellness experience with London Fitness Guy and sleep expert, Dr Nerina Ramlakhan. We were taken through a 30 minute HIIT workout with a fitbit trainer (to get our heart rates up – oh boy, did it do just that) and then we were taken through to a tranquil environment with Dr Nerina where we learnt some really interesting facts about sleep and how it can affect our daily activity levels and our heart rate. I actually found this part really fascinating, and helpful too! I always discuss how important sleep is for health and making progress fitness wise and Dr Nerina certainly helped clear that up.

But onto the most important part, the watch…

The new Fitbit Alta HR and new the advances in sleep tracking, gives you actionable insights and guidance in the Fitbit app to make more informed decisions about your health and stay motivated to reach your wellness goals in style.

• It’s the world’s slimmest wrist-based, continuous heart rate tracking device combining the benefits of PurePulse® heart rate technology, automatic exercise recognition, sleep tracking, battery life of up to seven days and smart notifications in a slim, versatile design that is easily customised to fit your style.
• Sleep Stages utilises heart rate variability to estimate the amount of time you spend in light, deep and REM sleep, as well as time awake each night, to better understand your sleep quality.
• Sleep Insights uses the whole of your Fitbit data to provide personalised guidance on how to improve your sleep for better overall health.

  The reason why we were introduced to Dr Nerina after our HIIT workout is becauseFitbit is also introducing two dynamic sleep tools – Sleep Stages and Sleep Insights – that provide deeper insight into your sleep quality and guidance on how to improve, building on its popular sleep features that have empowered millions of people to track their sleep since 2012. Along with diet and exercise, sleep is a key factor in overall health, but most people have very little insight into it. Good sleep plays a critical role in your health and overall wellbeing, from protecting against cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity, to boosting neurocognitive functions, mental health and longevity.

  

  Sleep Stages, powered by PurePulse, uses accelerometer data and heart rate variability (the changes in time between beats), plus Fitbit’s proven algorithms to more accurately estimate how long you spend in light, deep and REM sleep stages, as well as time awake, each night:

  • Light Sleep (including sleep stages N1 and N2) occurs throughout the night and is important for memory, learning and letting your body recover from the day; for most people that’s 50-60% of your night.
  • Deep Sleep (sleep stage N3) promotes a healthy immune system and muscle growth and repair; for most people that’s 10-25% of your night (depending on your age).
  • REM Sleep is when most dreaming occurs and is important for mental recovery and memory formation; for most people that’s 20-25% of your night. Most REM sleep comes at the end of the night, and is often the stage to be cut short when your sleep duration decreases.
  • Awake periods (between 10-30 times) are a normal part of your sleep cycle each night.

  Everyone’s sleep cycle is different, but by better knowing your sleep quality and patterns, and realising the impact they have on your day, you can make lifestyle changes that can help improve your sleep over time – such as diet, exercise, winding down before bed and keeping a consistent sleep schedule. For example, if you wake up feeling exhausted each morning, despite seemingly getting enough sleep, you may not be getting sufficient deep sleep.

  Tracking sleep patterns could also help identify variations that can be indicative of other issues. For example, it has been shown that irregularities in sleep patterns could be a sign of a sleep condition that should be discussed with a doctor.

  Sleep Insights – using Fitbit data gained from over 3 billion nights of logged sleep, which is equivalent to 2.5 million years, Fitbit is uniquely positioned to deliver powerful sleep insights that provide actionable guidance and coaching to help you improve the quality of your sleep and, in turn, your overall health.

  What I love about the watch?

  Despite Fitbit’s ability to track data as accurately as possible (the case for all watches, not just this one) I really love how the Fitbit Alta HR is designed in a way to reflect your personality. Whether your working out or your keeping your watch on throughout the evening, the watch allows you to transform your look with a variety of accessories. My favourite is the Luxe Stainless Steel bracelet which allows a completely different look allowing you to stack it amongst your favourite bracelets and bangles.

  
  
  Do I recommend it?

  I’ve been wearing the watch since the event now and I have to say – I haven’t taken it off! I wear it as well as my Apple Watch (yup, the fitness geek I am) and I love comparing the data between the two. So far, the only difference I can see in terms of data is the step count. Most of the time my Fitbit is roughly under 1,000 steps than my Apple Watch but personally, I think you’ll never find a tracker that will be 100% correct and for me, it’s really not a big deal. Other than that, the other data recorded was similar enough to make me happy.

  I really am a fan of the watch and I would suggest it to those wanting to get more serious about their fitness activity. The only thing I would change is the ‘tapping’ feature on the watch to view the screen. Sometimes I find myself really smashing my finger against the band to wake it up. But other than that, I’m a happy gym-goer.

  

  When and where can you get the new Alta HR?

  It’s available now! You can grab it on Fitbit.com for £129.99 and from 13 March, Alta HR will be available online and in stores, including major retailers such as Amazon.com, Argos, Currys PC World, Shop Direct, John Lewis and Debenhams.

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