Fitness has evolved and expanded beyond mere physical strength. Today, many people are far more eager to understand their wellness holistically, versus how many burpees they can do in a minute or comparing how much weight they can bench press.
Sure, being physically strong is one depiction of strength, but this past year in particular has taught me that they need to be strong in other areas as well. Taking care of ourselves means knowing when to push ourselves to go to the next level, while also having the strength to know when to rest.
With this in mind, they will soon be launching several new features and tools in Fitbit Premium, along with the advanced insights and personalized, actionable guidance they already receive as a member, to help them reach their holistic health goals. When paired with any Fitbit device, including the new Charge 5, they will get a deeper analysis of their data to help them work out smarter, manage stress, sleep better and eat well.
Coming soon to Premium is the new Daily Readiness Score, which will use insights from users’ bodies via the Fitbit device, including their activity, heart rate variability (HRV) and recent sleep, to help them assess when they’re ready to push themselves physically — in other words, if people should workout or prioritize recovery.
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By wearing the Fitbit device daily (including while sleeping), they’ll receive a personalized score each morning along with details on what impacted it, with suggestions like a recommended activity level and Premium content to help them make the best decisions for the body and make workouts more efficient.
Daily Readiness is built on research that proves taking time to recover can generate stronger results in the long run versus pushing themselves all the time. People pushing themselves too hard could lead to overtraining or injury and can impact your mood, sleep, appetite and weight.
Over time, the guidance you will get can help you build a smarter routine that is more in tune with your body. Daily Readiness will be available in the Fitbit app for Premium members with Fitbit Sense, Versa 3, Versa 2, Charge 5, Luxe and Inspire 2 devices.
These three components are measured against baseline, and will continue to adapt and become more personalized over time as the fitness level changes:
Activity (fitness-fatigue):
By tracking heart rate 24/7 from the wrist, Fitbit measure the impact of daily activity on your body. Every effort counts – from running a 10K to chasing after your kids. Depending on how hard people pushed you recently, your activity level will fluctuate and personalize your score based on your normal exertion levels.
An intense boot camp session might be a challenge for you, but a relatively easy outing for someone else. To make the most of the experience, it is important to get at least 30 minutes of Active Zone Minutes (AZM) with activities that get the heart rate up, three times a week.
HRV:
Calculated during deep sleep, HRV is a great measure of recovery. A higher HRV is better, meaning the body can easily transition from rest to activity, and back. Sometimes stress, overexertion or onset of an illness can lower the HRV and impact readiness to exercise.
Sleep:
Poor sleep over a few nights can make people feel fatigued today since sleep has a cumulative effect on the body. That is why sleep is factored in your sleep over the past several nights, not just the previous night.
A high score means the body is ready for action, while a low score indicates people should prioritize recovery. Fitbit optimizes its algorithm to promote fitness improvement while minimizing fatigue. The score is also accompanied by suggestions and associated Premium content — all in one place, delivered at the start of each day.
On days when people get a high Daily Readiness Score, Fitbit helps motivate people to seize the day with a personalized AZM target paired with suggested Premium workouts. Currently, 25 new high-energy workouts are being added from premier global fitness brand LES MILLS to the library to provide even more options for these days.
Popularized in more than 21,000 gyms around the globe, LES MILLS is synonymous with high-energy and science-backed programmes that can help people maximize results, presented by some of the world’s leading instructors. Workouts like BODYPUMP, BODYATTACK, BODYCOMBAT and more will transport customers into a group workout and can help them get their heart pumping to meet the daily target.
But it’s not just about being physically fit: Mental strength is a major component of overall health.
There is more to gain from the Stress Management Score by seeing a breakdown of how their responsiveness, exertion balance and sleep patterns impact their physiological stress and overall health, along with more than 300 mindfulness sessions from wellness experts Aaptiv, Aura, Breethe, Mindful Method by Deepak Chopra and Ten Percent Happier to help them take control of their emotional and physical health.
To further support wellness and mental health, Fitbit is also partnering with Calm, the #1 App for Sleep, Meditation and Relaxation, which will soon provide Premium members with access to 30 pieces of Calm content in seven languages.
Charge 5 and Sense users can start an EDA Scan on-wrist simultaneously when completing a mindfulness session in the Fitbit app to see how their heart rate and electrodermal activity change and impacted their stress responses. Plus, Calm and any mindfulness session completed in the Fitbit app will count towards your weekly mindfulness goal.
All of this content can help support users on days when they have a low Daily Readiness Score. It will guide them to rest and rejuvenate with dynamic recommendations, ranging from active recovery sessions like yoga or stretching, to rest and relaxation ideas like meditation or mindfulness from their expansive Premium content library.
Premium members are able to use Daily Readiness along with their Stress Management and Sleep scores for a holistic look at their health and wellness each day.
Daily Readiness will serve as a powerful complement, for fitness enthusiasts looking to optimize their workouts, or if they need a little extra motivation to push harder and achieve their best. By taking the time to recover instead of working out hard all the time, they can enhance fitness while reducing the risk of injury over time.
To help people understand their bodies’ signs of stress, the Stress Management Score will help gauge if people can better handle stress and take on more challenges, or if they should take it easy and recharge. Meanwhile, the Sleep Score can help better understand sleep quality and how it might improve.
Premium up levels the Fitbit experience by helping people better understand their readiness to exercise, how the body responds to stress, and the sleep patterns, all with additional guidance and insights to help them achieve their health, fitness and wellness goals.
Daily Readiness will be available soon in 18 languages to Premium members globally with compatible devices in the Fitbit app. LES MILLS workouts are available today to all Premium users, with Calm content becoming available next month.
