Fitbit Charge 4 Is Here: What You Need To Know About Our Newest Fitness Tracker

Fitbit’s newest advanced fitness tracker is here! The sleek and swimproof Fitbit Charge 4 has everything you need to keep you on track when it comes to your health and fitness goals. If you can get outdoors for a socially distanced workout, use built-in GPS to see your real-time pace and distance, and check out our new workout intensity map for your walk, run, or ride. Our new Active Zone Minutes feature helps you get your recommended daily dose of heart pumping activity, whether you’re working out indoors or outdoors.

Plus, Charge 4 offers a plethora of features, both new and improved, that you’re sure to love. Those include sleep tracking, Spotify – Connect & Control, 20+ goal-based exercise modes, and more. You asked and Fitbit delivered! Read on to discover everything we’re excited about. 

What’s New?

Active Zone Minutes. Get your heart pumping with Active Zone Minutes, a new personalized feature that uses your heart rate to measure the intensity of your activity, helping you get the most out of every workout. Learn more about AZM here. Available now on Charge 4, and coming soon on Versa 2, Versa, Versa Lite, and Ionic.

Built-in GPS for pace and distance. Use the new built-in GPS feature during runs, hikes, rides, and more to see pace and distance on-wrist—all without your phone. Track anything from your walk around the neighborhood to your paddleboarding route, and see a map of your route afterward in the Fitbit app. 

Workout intensity map. So what exactly is Fitbit’s new in-app workout intensity map? Simply put, after you do a GPS-enabled exercise (like a run, walk, or bike ride) you now see new data on top of your route map, with the option to select either heart rate zones or pace. If you select heart zones, it’ll show you HR zones shaded throughout your route. More curious about pace per mile? You can opt to view that instead.  

20+ goal-based exercise modes. Add exercise shortcuts to your wrist like run, hike, bike, and more to quickly track your workout. Guess what else? You can now use our new outdoor exercise mode for a variety of activities, such as kayaking and cross-country skiing. And, it is GPS-enabled, so you’ll get a map of your workout afterward in the Fitbit app. 

Insights to Know Your Body Better

Sleep Score, plus time in light, deep, and REM stages. There’s more to a good night’s sleep than just clocking in the requisite 8 hours of shuteye. Sleep Score combines multiple factors, looking at your sleeping heart rate data, time asleep, and restlessness throughout the night, every night you wear your Charge 4 (and any Fitbit device with Sleep Score) to bed. 

This gives you a quick, easy way to see how well you’re sleeping, watch your trends over time, and keep yourself accountable to your sleeping goals. (Find out more about Fitbit’s advanced sleep tools here.) 

Fitbit Premium. To support our community and help people stay active at home during today’s difficult times, Fitbit is offering 40 new pieces of Premium content free in the Fitbit app.

In addition, anyone new to Fitbit Premium can get a 90-day free trial of this paid subscription, which includes personalized health insights, guidance, advanced sleep tools, customized programs and 200+ workouts from brands like barre3, Daily Burn, obé fitness, Physique 57, POPSUGAR and Yoga Studio: Mind & Body. If Premium is not available in your region and you have not tried Fitbit Coach yet, we are offering a 90-day free trial so you can stream video workouts on your phone or computer. 

Connect your Charge 4 and Premium account to unlock it all in the Fitbit app!

Female health tracking. Get in tune with your body more easily by using the Fitbit Charge 4 with the Fitbit app, which allows you to track periods, record symptoms, see a predicted ovulation calendar, and more. 

Smart Features to Make Your Life Easier

Spotify – Connect & Control. The right playlist can make or break your workout. Just like you need the right gear and tools to up your workout game, listening to your favorite tunes will undoubtedly get you in the mood to slay that run or virtual class. That’s where the Spotify app on Fitbit comes in: Choose the music output, play, shuffle and skip content, and Like songs. Control your music and podcasts from your wrist and get moving! Spotify Premium subscription required; not available in all countries. Works when your phone is nearby. Volume control is not currently supported.

Call, text, calendar, and app notifications. Receive call, text, calendar, and customizable notifications on-wrist from any smartphone app, so you’re always in the loop but not always distracted. You can choose which notifications to see on-wrist. Works when your phone is nearby.

Helpful apps like weather, time, and stopwatch. Make your day-to-day that much smoother by using regular faves like weather, timer, and stopwatch—all readily available on-wrist. 

Up to 7-day battery life. Yes, you read that right! With up to 7-day battery life, Fitbit Charge 4 frees you up for uninterrupted sleep and activity tracking for almost a week. Plus, your device has got up to five hours of battery life with continuous GPS. Convenient much? Battery life varies with use and other factors.

Tap-to-pay right from your wrist. Tap and pay to make secure purchases from your wrist with Fitbit Pay—at your favorite grocery stores, takeout restaurants, and more. See bank availability here. 

Fitbit Features You Know & Love 

The Fitbit features you know and love aren’t going anywhere. We’re talking the personal on-screen dashboard; customizable clock faces; swimproof capability; step challenges; and more. 

And of course, you can always tap into our passionate community for all the social support you’re accustomed to on Fitbit, whenever you need it. 

Get Your New Fitbit Charge 4 Today 

Pre-order for Charge 4 and Charge 4 Special Edition begins today at Fitbit.com and select retailers online such as Amazon.com, Bestbuy.com, and Walmart.com; available online at all retailer sites worldwide and in stores where they are able to remain open, starting April 13, 2020. Charge 4 is available for $149.95 USD in black, rosewood, and storm blue/black.¹ Charge 4 Special Edition is available for $169.95 USD in an exclusive granite reflective/black woven band, plus a classic black band to easily swap out for workouts or a sportier look.² Charge 4 will also be added later this year to UnitedHealthcare Motion®, a wearable device walking program available to employers.  

Customize Charge 4 with a variety of new accessory bands and colors, including REPREVE® recycled woven reflective bands in midnight and rosewood; breathable silicone sport bands in evergreen and frost white; and premium Horween® hand-crafted leather in black.³ Charge 4 accessories are sold separately in store and online, and are compatible with Fitbit Charge 3 devices, starting at $29.95 USD.

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¹Storm blue/black sold exclusively at Fitbit.com.

²Fitbit Charge 4 Special Edition comes with an additional black classic band.

³Leather accessories made of Horween leather and other leather materials. Accessories sold separately.

The post Fitbit Charge 4 Is Here: What You Need To Know About Our Newest Fitness Tracker appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/fitbit-charge-4/

Get Your Heart Pumping With Fitbit’s New Active Zone Minutes

Did you know that leading health experts say you need to get your heart pumping for at least 150 minutes each week? Based on recommendations from the World Health Organization, American Heart Association, and others, we should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity each week.* These activity targets help support overall health, weight management, and disease prevention. Additionally, regular physical activity provides a variety of other benefits, including helping people sleep better, feel better, and perform daily tasks more easily.*

But, how can you make sure you’re getting enough heart pumping minutes to meet those guidelines? 

Enter Active Zone Minutes, a new and more personalized way to measure your physical activity. Using our 24/7 PurePulse heart rate tracking, we automatically calculate “Active Zones” personalized to you, based on your resting heart rate and age. These Active Zones are targets for your heart rate during exercise, so you’ll know if you’re putting in the effort to reach the activity guidelines. Active Zone Minutes can be earned for any exercise you enjoy, from a HIIT workout in your living room to a spring cleaning dance party. You’ll get more credit for more intense activity, helping you make the most of your limited time. Now let’s get into specifics…

Here’s how Active Zone Minutes work: 

Earn Active Zone Minutes for activities you enjoy. Because Active Zone Minutes are heart rate based, you can earn them throughout your day, doing anything that gets your heart pumping. You can earn minutes for activities from yoga and HIIT to carrying groceries and gardening, as long as you reach your HR zone threshold for earning Active Zone Minutes.

Personalized to you. Your heart rate zones are personalized based on your resting heart rate and age. As your cardiovascular fitness changes, your personalized heart rate zones will adapt with you. Check out your unique beats per minute (bpm) targets for fat burn, cardio, and peak heart rate zones in the Fitbit app.

Get your heart pumping to earn minutes. The three target heart rate zones are fat burn, cardio, and peak, which are now all personalized to your cardiovascular fitness and age in your Fitbit app. 

• To reach the fat burn zone, you can go on a brisk walk, do yoga, or lift weights. 
• To reach the cardio zone you can try running, biking, or a HIIT workout. 
• If you’re advanced, to hit your peak zone, you can try sprinting for a few seconds or biking uphill, but remember to recover after. 

More intensity = more minutes earned. Fitbit will give you 2x Active Zone Minutes for time spent in your cardio or peak heart rate zone. Why? Major health organizations agree that you can get the same health benefits for 75 vigorous intensity minutes/week or 150 moderate intensity minutes/week. Because of that, Fitbit will give you 2x credit for more intense effort, resulting in more efficient workouts for you. So step up your effort during your next workout and be done in less time!

Here’s an example of how it works:

Your 20-minute workout earned you 30 Active Zone Minutes. Is it magic? No, but it is a new, efficient way to view your activity and make every minute count! And don’t worry about the math, we’ll do it for you. 

Real-time motivation: When you get to your active heart rate zones during exercise—fat burn, cardio, or peak—you’ll feel unique on-wrist buzzes, giving you some in-the-moment motivation to keep up the momentum. Those buzzes mean you’re earning Active Zone Minutes toward your weekly goal. So be on the lookout for:

• 1 buzz for fat burn zone
• 2 buzzes for cardio zone
• 3 buzzes for peak zone 

Customize your weekly goal. In the Fitbit app, you can set your AZM goal for the week and follow your progress. You can also see how long you’ve spent in each zone and learn which activities contributed to your totals. Most people aim for 150 minutes per week, but you can try aiming for more for even greater weight management and health benefits.

Set an Active Zone Minutes goal for your workout. Your device has 20+ goal-based exercise modes, plus you can set a goal for time, distance, calories, and now Active Zone Minutes. Track your progress against your goal while you exercise! 

Celebrate your efforts. Get friendly words of encouragement right on your wrist when you squeeze in extra heart-pumping activities throughout your day or week. You’ll also receive celebrations when you hit your weekly Active Zone Minutes goal.

Workout Videos to help you hit your goals. Did you know that the Fitbit app has workout videos that you can do anywhere, and most require minimal equipment? Check out the “Discover” tile in your Fitbit app for a hand-picked group of “heart-pumping workouts” aimed at getting your heart rate up. Join Fitbit Premium for even more workout content and guided programs such as Full Body Strong.  

To redeem your 90-day Premium trial, open the Fitbit app and tap on the “Premium” tab in the lower-right corner. This trial offer is only valid through the Fitbit app and is only available for new Premium users.

If you’re not eligible for a 90-day Premium trial, you may still be able to redeem a 90-day trial of Fitbit Coach—available in English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese. To access Fitbit Coach, download and open the Fitbit Coach app from the App Store or Google Play. From there, you can access 30 free workouts, or can tap any locked workout content to start your free trial.     

Availability: Active Zone Minutes will be available on Fitbit Charge 4 and coming soon to the Fitbit Versa and Fitbit Ionic family of devices. 

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*Suggested daily goal for Active Zone Minutes is based on American Heart Association, US Health Department and World Health Organization recommendations to get 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week, which has been linked to better overall health and well-being, disease prevention and improved quality of life.

The post Get Your Heart Pumping With Fitbit’s New Active Zone Minutes appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/active-zone-minutes/

Revamp Your Sleep Sanctuary

You’ve got your cozy athleisure, a fridge full of healthy food, and even an ergonomic desk setup.

We’re not talking billion-thread-count sheets or perfectly dimmed lighting, though those certainly wouldn’t hurt. Simple tweaks can go a long way toward helping you get more sleep—and making that sleep more rejuvenating. “It’s not just the amount of time you spend in bed that matters, but also the quality of your sleep,” says Holly Phillips, M.D., the author of The Exhaustion Breakthrough. Here’s her advice for making the most of your 40 winks.

Get an alarm clock.

Phillips believes in banishing tech, which emits blue light that messes with your circadian rhythm, from the bedroom. Her solution: An alarm clock (or multiples, if you’re worried you’ll turn it off and go back to sleep) that doesn’t light up. “I do set the alarm on my phone, but for 45 minutes later in case my alarm clocks fail,” says Phillips.

Cover your windows.

Blackout shades or liners are ideal, but even regular drapes will help block out light at night, which can hamper your body’s production of the sleep hormone melatonin. “An eye mask is also a great option, especially for people who have trouble getting rid of all light sources in their room,” says Phillips.

Kick your pet out of bed.

A new study suggests that people slept worse with a dog in their bed but not necessarily in their bedroom. If Fido snoring at your feet doesn’t bother you, let sleeping dogs lie. But if sharing a bed with him is keeping you up at night, get him his own bed and find a spot for it somewhere in your room.

Clear the air.

“If you wake up with a sore throat or blocked sinuses, allergies or sensitivities to mold spores, dust mites, and other indoor allergens could be to blame, and improving your indoor air quality with an air purifier can help,” says Phillips. Dry air can also cause swollen, parched nasal passages and sore throats. Mitigate it with a humidifier.

Stay on track.

If you haven’t already, start using your Fitbit to automatically track your light, deep, and REM sleep. You can also use it to set sleep goals and turn on bedtime reminders to help you stick to them. Having trouble sleeping? Try troubleshooting by logging your workouts—which can help you sleep better—and your sugar and caffeine intake (too much of which may interfere with your sleep).

Check your thermostat.

“A room that’s too hot or cold can disrupt your sleep,” says Phillips. The optimal temp: between 60 and 67 degrees. According to the National Sleep Foundation, wearing socks to bed could also help you catch more ZZZs by causing your blood vessels to dilate, which helps prepare your body for sleep.  

Make some noise.

Phillips uses a white-noise machine to block out honking and barking dogs, but you can also try a fan. Live in a very quiet place? A little noise might actually help. “If your sleep sanctuary is too silent, even the smallest natural sounds will be magnified and disruptive,” she says.

The post Revamp Your Sleep Sanctuary appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/revamp-your-sleep-sanctuary/

Your New Challenge: Exercise For 10 Minutes Every Day

When most people plan out their exercise for the week, they schedule their trips to the gym and stop there. But what if, instead of doing nothing on the days you can’t make it to the gym you vowed to squeeze in at least 10 minutes of dedicated movement at home? And yes, we’re talking every single day. No exceptions. 

“Knowing you have to do something holds you accountable, creates a routine, and forces you to let go of excuses,” says Tracee Badway, an instructor at Studio Three in Chicago. In other words, realizing that you need to get it done forces you to look for the opportunity to get your session in—even on days you can’t fit in one of your longer gym routines, or would much rather hit the snooze button than wake up early. “Everyone has 10 minutes,” Badway says. “Do squats while you’re brushing your teeth and you’re 20 percent done!”

So what counts? Anything that helps get your heart rate up or works your muscles. “Do crunches during commercial breaks, grab the stairs two-at-a-time on your way to work, or do jumping jacks while waiting for the laundry to finish,” says Badway. “And when all else fails, get some fresh air by going for a speedy walk!” 

Prefer to follow a routine? Try one of these 10-minute routines Badway created.

HIIT Morning Wakeup

Do one minute of each exercise, then repeat the entire circuit again for a quick and challenging burn.

·       Squat

·       Squat jumps: Do the standard squat, but as you push up to standing, add in a jump.

·       Push-Ups

·       Forearm plank

·       Burpees

Anytime, Anywhere 

Whether you’re inside or in your backyard, you need a routine you can do anywhere. Perform one minute of each move, then repeat the entire circuit again.

Walking Lunges: Step forward with right leg and lower your left knee down until it taps on the floor, making sure right knee doesn’t go past your toes. Push up and step forward with left leg, lowering down to tap your right knee on the ground. Keep going this way.

Mountain Climbers: Start in a push-up position, then bring one knee into your chest, then the other. Keep alternating knees.

Elevator Plank: Get in a plank position on your forearms. Push up onto your right hand, then your left hand, then go back down to your right forearm, then your left forearm. Keep repeating, alternating which hand you start with.

Triceps Push-Ups: Similar to a normal push-up, this is done with your hands much closer together (your thumbs and pointer fingers should touch and make a diamond shape). And don’t worry, doing these on your knees is fine!

Wall Sit: Stand with your back leaning against a wall, then slide down until your knees bend at a 90-degree angle and hold.

Nighttime Flow

Do two minutes of each for a routine that will get your blood moving but shouldn’t keep you up.

Downward Dogs to Planks: Get in a downward dog position, and as you inhale, flow forward into a plank. As you exhale, push your hips back up into the downward dog. Continue this way, keeping your movements in sync with your breath.

Reverse Table Top to Seated Twists: Sit on the ground with legs straight and hands on the ground by your hips. Push your hips off the ground while pushing down with your hands until your body is in a straight line and hands are under your shoulders. Pause there, then lower back down and twist your torso to one side (you can use your elbow and knee to help). Keep flowing between the two movements, alternating which side you twist to.

Easy Twist in a Low Lunge to a Side Plank: Step forward with your left foot into a low lunge and place your right hand on the ground next to your left foot. Twist to the left, putting your left arm straight above you. From there, put your left hand on the ground and step back into a plank. Rotate the left hand back up to perform a side plank. Return to the plank, then low lunge, and then stand. Repeat on the other side, and continue going back and forth.

Child’s Pose to Upward Dog: Get in a child’s pose with knees wide. Then flow into an upward dog by lying on the ground on your stomach and pushing through your hands to lift your head and chest while keeping legs straight and heels together. Flow back and forth between these two movements.

Want more? We’ve got you covered. Fitbit is offering a 90-day free trial of Premium to help you stay active, sleep well, and manage stress, plus we’ve made 40+ Premium at-home workouts, meditations, sleep tracks and more free for everyone to use. Unlock it all in the Fitbit app. 

*Valid payment method required. Cancel before free trial ends to avoid subscription fees. Offer valid for new Premium users only.

The post Your New Challenge: Exercise For 10 Minutes Every Day appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/10-minute-workouts/

How To Be A Work-From-Home All-Star Without Sacrificing Your Health

During a time when many of us find ourselves working remotely, it’s important to recognize that being at home can result in less physical activity and more couch time. So what can you do to maintain a healthy lifestyle when you work from home? These five tips will help you strike the right balance.

5 Ways To Stay Healthy When Working From Home

Set up reminders to move. One simple way to stay active is to set up Reminders to Move on your Fitbit device. Bonus: Every time your movement reminder goes off, challenge yourself to walk to the kitchen and drink a glass of cold water.

Get dressed. Working in pajamas sounds ideal, but it might prevent you from doing any extra activity. Get dressed as soon as you wake up to help your mind adjust from sleep-mode to a work mentality.

Eat elsewhere. Just like beds are meant for sleeping, our desks are meant for working—not eating. Instead, consider eating your lunch in your backyard to get some fresh air and a change of scenery.

Schedule work breaks. It can be tempting to stay glued to your computer to show your teammates you’re online, but don’t be afraid to take breaks. Consider organizing your workday to knock out the most important tasks first. Or try the Pomodoro Technique, a time-management tactic that breaks work into 25-minute intervals. During your break, take Fido for a walk, stretch, or squeeze in a quick workout. Bonus: Taking breaks from your screen may even boost productivity.

Close the computer. When working remotely, it may feel too easy to ignore the separation between professional and personal time, resulting in extra-long work days. Remember, your home “office” is also your personal space—a place for relaxation and a break from the outside world. It’s important to maintain a good work-life balance, so walk away from your computer after a solid eight-or-so-hour day.

Looking to step it up? Learn how Fitbit Health Solutions can help your company develop a successful wellness program, boost employee health and happiness, and improve the bottom line.

The post How To Be A Work-From-Home All-Star Without Sacrificing Your Health appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/work-from-home/

New Study To Determine If Wearable Data Can Provide Early Indication Of Viral Illness

Fitbit is proud of our long-standing partnership with The Scripps Research Translational Institute, collaborating on such projects as the All of Us research program and resting heart rate variability studies. Scripps is a nonprofit research facility that focuses on the biomedical sciences, and in 2017, was ranked the #1 most influential research institution in the world.  Aggregated and anonymized Fitbit user activity and heart rate data has been helping to open new avenues of scientific discovery and unlocking new insights along the way.

Most recently, Scripps published a study in Lancet Digital Health entitled “Harnessing wearable device data to improve state-level real-time surveillance of influenza-like illness in the USA: a population-based study”, which showed that data from Fitbit wearables significantly improved the prediction of the present, the very near future, and the very recent past, of influenza-like illness.

The study showed that using resting heart rate data and other key health indicators from wearables have the potential to improve real-time influenza observation and analysis, which in turn could help public health officials respond more rapidly to outbreaks.

Building on the flu study results, Scripps has developed an app-based research study that allows US adults to choose to consent to share their wearable data to help leading scientists at the Scripps Research Translational Institute learn more about the emergence and spread of viral illness. The new DETECT study connects with wearables, including Fitbit devices, to determine if tracking changes in heart rate, activity, and sleep, at the individual level, can provide an early indication of a viral illness. The study is run through the free MyDataHelps mobile app.

Participating in the DETECT study means that by wearing your Fitbit device with heart rate tracking and choosing to share your data, you and thousands of other people may be able to help scientists better detect and respond to viral illness outbreaks. “In light of the ongoing flu season and the global pandemic of COVID-19, we see enormous opportunity to improve disease tracking for improved population health,” says Jennifer Radin, PhD, an epidemiologist at the Scripps Research Translational Institute who is leading the study. 

As a member of the Fitbit community, please consider joining DETECT. Participation is easy and secure: simply download the MyDataHelps app—found in Google Play or the App Store—and enroll in DETECT through the app. The study is designed to be as passive and unobtrusive as possible and provides you with a summary of your data every month. You may choose to leave the study at any time.

For more information about the study and how to enroll, visit https://detectstudy.org/

The post New Study To Determine If Wearable Data Can Provide Early Indication Of Viral Illness appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/scripps-detect-study/

The Impact Of Coronavirus On Global Activity

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, it’s had a major impact on physical activity levels for our 30 million plus active Fitbit users around the globe. Our mission has always been to help people around the world get healthier, and it’s more important than ever to do so during these challenging times. That’s why we’re sharing our best tips on how to try and stay healthy, keep active, and manage stress while staying indoors. 

But first, we wanted to share the impact of COVID-19 on global physical activity so far based on what we’ve seen in the Fitbit data. As communities adapt to social distancing, it’s no surprise that almost all of the countries we studied experienced a statistically significant decline in average step count compared to the same time last year. See a summary of global activity levels in the map below.

The Impact of Coronavirus on Physical Activity All Over the World

The severity of the decline in steps varied from country to country, with European countries showing a more dramatic change, ranging from a 7% to 38% decline in step counts during the week ending March 22, 2020. 

Fitbit data scientists established a baseline for normal activity levels around step count in each area by analyzing the activity of millions of Fitbit users with similar characteristics during the same week from the previous year.¹ According to this analysis, during the week of March 22, 2020, the United States saw a 12% decline in step count.²

In the graphic below, you can see how step count behavior has changed over time on a country-by-country basis. For example, the deviation from normal activity for this time last year occurred much earlier in the year for countries like China and Hong Kong, which were the first to face COVID-19. There are also reasons for optimism, as you can see that step counts are starting to rise again in China, Japan, and Hong Kong. 

In Europe, the largest reduction in step counts was seen in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Romania, and France in the week ending March 22, 2020.  

In the United States, most major metropolitan areas saw a deeper decline in step counts than the country’s overall average decline of 12% in the week ending March 22, 2020. For the United States metropolitan areas included in the analysis below, the trend of step count declines continued in the week ending March 22, 2020. 

Looking at the chart below, we compared how step counts have changed in major United States cities over the past two weeks, many of which have implemented shelter-in-place mandates or other strict regulations. For example, over the last week, San Francisco and New York City—two cities that are also currently under shelter-in-place orders—had the largest decline in step count. 

Given the current circumstances, we know how hard it is to focus on your health and wellness. We’ve laid out the data—now we want to provide you with some tips to stay healthy and active. After all, staying active, eating nutritious foods, sleeping well, and managing stress are critical to boosting your mood and your immunity.

How Fitbit Can Help

To support you during this time, we’ve pulled together the following tips and offerings to help you keep up healthy habits:

Try a free 90-day trial of Fitbit Premium. To make health more accessible, Fitbit is offering a free 90-day trial of Fitbit Premium to users wherever Premium is available, and offering 40 new pieces of Premium content for free in the Fitbit app. Premium offers access to hundreds of workouts categorized by time, activity, and fitness level—so that you can easily find what’s right for you. 

You can also take advantage of a variety of guided programs, advanced insights, and sleep and mindfulness tools, to help you eat better, get more activity, and enjoy more quality ZZZ’s.  To take advantage of this trial, open the Fitbit app and tap on the “Premium” tab in the lower-right corner (this trial offer is only valid for new Premium users). 

Maintain healthy habits like drinking lots of water and eating nutritious foods. Need some inspiration when it comes to cooking healthy meals at home? Try whipping up a few of our most popular healthy recipes: 

• 7 High-Protein Breakfasts to Power Your Morning
• Healthy Recipe: Easy Veggie Soup with Fresh Pesto
• 5-Ingredient Dinners for Busy Weeknights

Download a fun reminder to wash your hands. Download the Clean Cues clock face for your Fitbit device for an hourly reminder to wash your hands. The clock face features a countdown timer and a gentle buzz every 60 minutes to remind you to wash. When you’re ready to lather up, simply tap “start washing hands” and wash your hands for at least 20 seconds or more. Your watch will buzz to let you know when those 20 seconds have elapsed. (Only available on Fitbit Ionic and Versa Family devices.) 

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Remember to take mental health breaks. Working remotely and can’t seem to turn off? Or maybe you keep refreshing your social media feeds to get the latest intel? Remembering to take regular mental health breaks is crucial. In fact, studies show that taking a few moments to relax each day can reduce blood pressure and lower your risk of cardiovascular disease. The Relax app provides personalized deep breathing sessions that can help you more easily find moments of calm throughout your day. Choose between two-minute or five-minute long sessions. 

Invite friends and family to join you in Fitbit Challenges. Challenges allow you to start a friendly competition and to invite friends and fam to get more steps, support each other, and keep getting your gains virtually. Fitbit Challenges are all about pushing to see who can take the most steps over the course of one day, weekdays, or weekend. Because they are based on the total number of steps achieved—not who reaches a certain step count first—they’re a great option for friends in different timezones.

You can also dive into Fitbit Community to find friends, join groups, share inspiration, and count on the support of a strong network of like-minded people from all over the world.

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¹Some of the year-over-year change in activity may be due to weather or shift in holiday schedules.

²The most recent days of data are subject to some bias toward users who sync their devices more regularly. Some of this risk is mitigated by analyzing weeks instead of days.

The post The Impact Of Coronavirus On Global Activity appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/covid-19-global-activity/

Fitbit’s Guide To Building A Balanced Plate

This easy-to-use guide aims to bring balance to your plate without the need to pull out measuring cups or a scale. The goal is simple: Fill half your plate with vegetables, a quarter with healthy carbohydrate-rich foods, a quarter with lean protein foods, and a small dollop of healthy fats. Throughout the day, snack on a couple of pieces of fruit and sip on mostly water. When you approach each meal with this mindset then no matter your dishware—bowl, plate, lunchbox, 3-course meal—you will be able to build your own healthy, balanced meal. 

Wondering which ingredients fall into which portion of your plate? It’s simple when you understand that foods with similar nutrients like macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals can be grouped together. Let’s take a look at each portion of the plate in a little more detail.

VEGETABLES: Fill ½ of your plate with colorful, non-starchy vegetables

Vegetables are an important source of nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, folate (folic acid), vitamin A, and vitamin C. 

Choose: A variety of colorful fresh, frozen, and canned vegetables, making sure to include a variety of different colors, in particular dark greens, reds, and oranges.

Ideas to try:

Green = Dark leafy greens, cabbage, asparagus, broccoli, cucumber, herbs/spices

Red = Tomatoes, radishes, peppers, beets, rhubarb

Purple = cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, red onion, kale

White = mushrooms, cauliflower, parsnips, turnips, garlic

Yellow = Bell pepper, spaghetti squash, summer squash, turmeric, ginger

HEALTHY CARBS: Fill ¼ of your plate with carbohydrate-rich foods

Ingredients that are rich in healthy carbs include starchy vegetables and whole grains. These foods provide many nutrients, including dietary fiber, several B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and folate), and minerals, like iron, potassium, magnesium, and selenium.

Choose: Mostly whole grains like whole wheat, rolled oats, barley, farro, millet, quinoa, brown rice, or grain products, like 100-percent whole-wheat bread, breakfast cereals, tortillas, and pasta. And starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, potatoes, green peas, sweet corn, and acorn squash.

Limit: Refined grains, like white bread, white rice, pasta, and products made from white flour. 

LEAN PROTEIN: Fill ¼ of your plate with lean protein-rich foods

Foods that provide high levels of protein include animal products like meat, eggs, and dairy, and plant proteins like beans, lentils, and soy. These foods provide not only protein but B vitamins (niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, and B6), vitamin E, iron, zinc, magnesium, and calcium.

Choose: a variety of different animal protein foods, including fish, seafood, eggs, lean meats, poultry, and low-fat dairy. And plant-proteins like beans, lentils, edamame, tofu, tempeh, and soymilk.

Limit: fatty cuts of meat and processed meats, like sausages, hot dogs, salami, and bacon.

HEALTHY FATS: Add a small dollop of healthy fats

Oils derived from plants and fish provide essential fatty acids, mono- and polyunsaturated fats, and vitamin E. 

Choose: healthy plant oils found in avocados, olives, nuts, and seeds. Cook with plant oils that are liquid at room temperature, such as extra-virgin olive oil, avocado oil, and nut and seed oils.

Limit: fats that are solid at room temperature, including lard, butter, shortening, bacon grease, coconut oil, and palm oil—all of which can raise your “bad” LDL cholesterol.  

FRUIT: Eat some fresh, whole fruit

Fruit is packed with a number of essential nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and folate (folic acid). Have a piece of fruit as a part of your healthy carbs, as a snack, or a healthy dessert.

Choose: fresh, canned, or frozen, and eat fruit whole, cut-up, or pureed. 

Limit: your portions of dried fruit and fruit juice—they’re higher in calories, deliver more sugar, and are easy to overconsume.

Ideas to try: 

Green = Kiwi, grapes, apple

Red = Strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, pomegranate

Purple = Blackberries, plums 

White = Bananas, white nectarines, white peaches

Yellow = Cantaloupe, grapefruit, mango, pineapple

WATER: Drink mostly water

Stay hydrated throughout the day with water and low-calorie beverages.

Choose: Tap, sparkling, carbonated, or still water, unsweetened tea, and coffee.

Limit: Sugar-sweetened drinks like soda, energy drinks, sports drinks, sweetened coffee, and tea.

Try one of these healthy recipes to make building a balanced plate easy:

Roasted Salmon with Whipped Celery Root & Crispy Brussels Sprouts

Crispy Chicken with Mashed Sweet Potatoes & Green Beans

Salmon Bowls with Black Rice & Lentils

Lentil Bolognese

Skillet Steak Fajitas with Sweet Peppers & Onions

The post Fitbit’s Guide To Building A Balanced Plate appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/build-a-balanced-plate/

How to Boost Brain Health and Memory

A lot of older adults laugh off the process of aging. They forget where they put their keys and say, “Oh, man, I sure am getting older!” But cognitive decline is not an inevitable process. You can absolutely stay sharp throughout old age, at any age.

In fact, when it comes to memory, it’s not at all inevitable that memory will worsen in time, says Marwan Sabbagh, MD, a board-certified neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. “Age-related changes are mostly tip-of-the-tongue memory and getting names right, but less related to outright forgetfulness,” he says. 

Just like protecting other parts of your body, protecting your brain is critical and essential, he says. “There’s a lot of science around this,” he says. “Really good science, not just me saying, ‘Do this, because I said so.’” In 2017, the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine convened panels of experts to analyze everything we know about brain health. While there’s still a lot of research to be done, scientists have found some big clues to ward off cognitive decline.

In honor of Brain Awareness Week, Sabbagh explains the three core ways researchers have determined you can help keep your brain healthy throughout your life. 

Physical activity. It should come as no surprise that physical activity is as important for the brain as it is for the body. There’s a lot of evidence, for instance, that getting ample exercise or increasing your exercise can be an effective measure in preventing stroke. In fact, Sabbaugh says, “it’s imperative that people are physically active first.”

For adults, the national recommendation is 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week (think brisk walking, swimming, or biking), which is just 30 minutes per day, five times per week. If you’re not getting enough or you’re getting next to no physical activity, increasing your exercise regimen slowly can improve your brain health and overall health.

Blood pressure management. Having high blood pressure (BP) is a huge risk factor for heart disease and stroke. It’s also very likely that having uncontrolled BP may lead to cognitive decline, says Sabbaugh, even Alzheimer’s-related dementia. Especially for those in mid-life, between ages 35 and 65, keeping your blood pressure a healthy 120/80 may slow, prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s, according to the scientists. 

How do you do it? There are tons of proven ways to reduce blood pressure or keep it within the normal range. These include exercise, maintaining a healthy body mass index (BMI), reducing the amount of sodium in your diet, reducing stress, eliminating caffeine, and quitting cigarettes. Make sure to check your BP regularly, and get in to see your doctor if it’s high. Your doctor may prescribe medications that can help.

Cognitive stimulation. No matter where you’re at in your life, it’s important to never stop challenging your brain. “Brain games and brain-stimulating activities are great for this,” says Sabbaugh. He points to his Dad, who is in his late 80s and learning Spanish, just for fun. “That’s a cognitively-stimulating activity. But games, puzzles, sudoku, anything that keeps you actively engaged are the things that qualify.” 

Keep reading. Buy a book of crossword puzzles. Get brain-teaser games for your smartphone. Play trivia with friends. Play Memory with your son or grandson. Learn a language. Do story problems. Just keep challenging yourself, even if you’re not at work everyday or in school—and keep doing them. “Brain games tend to focus on attention, concentration, and processing speed,” says Sabbaugh. “But they help those areas of the brain that are being tested, not everything. And it only lasts while you’re doing it; there’s a decay effect that is rather quick.” 

The key point? Mix up the way you challenge your brain, and try to do something stimulating every single day.

The post How to Boost Brain Health and Memory appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/boost-brain-health/

Helping You Stay Healthy During This Time

Dear Fitbit Users,

Our mission has always been to help people around the world get healthier. As the global situation with COVID-19 continues to evolve, I wanted to take a moment to share what we are doing at Fitbit to support our community during this time. 

First, we’re supporting those on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 by providing research and academic institutions with secure and privacy-aware access to our dataset. We’ve seen how data has potential to help the healthcare community respond faster to outbreaks—most recently, The Scripps Research Translational Institute published a study that showed data from Fitbit wearables significantly improved the prediction of influenza-like illness. We look forward to supporting our colleagues as they pursue this important research.

Given the current circumstances, we know how hard it is to focus on your health and wellness. But staying active, eating nutritious foods, sleeping well, and managing stress are critical to boosting your immunity and your mood. To help support you, we’re offering 40 new pieces of Premium content free in the Fitbit app.

In addition, anyone new to Fitbit Premium can get a 90-day free trial of this paid subscription, which includes personalized health insights, health guidance, advanced sleep tools, customized programs, and 150+ workouts from fitness brands like barre3, Daily Burn, POPSUGAR, and Yoga Studio by Gaiam, to help you stay active at home. If Premium isn’t available in your region, and you haven’t tried Fitbit Coach yet, we’re offering a 90-day free trial, so you can stream video workouts on your phone or computer. To access Premium or Coach,  all you have to do is visit the Fitbit app. We hope this helps to make this difficult time a little bit easier for you. 

For enterprise customers, we are making certain enterprise features, like corporate challenges, available at no cost, so they can help their employees take care of themselves.

Our thoughts are with all whose lives have been affected by the virus so far. We are continually looking at other ways we can support those in our community and those in need, and will keep you updated as things evolve.

James Park, CEO & Co-founder

*Free trial only redeemable in app. Valid payment method required. Cancel before free trial ends to avoid subscription fees.

The post Helping You Stay Healthy During This Time appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/letter-from-ceo/

Foods That Boost Brain Health

Your eating habits don’t just influence your weight and your heart health, they also impact your brain. If you’re eager to keep your mind healthy for the long term, consuming foods linked to better memory, cognition, and overall brain health may help.

“Certain foods, and especially certain dietary patterns, have been linked with fewer memory problems and cognitive impairment as you age,” says Samantha Cassetty, MS, RD, a registered dietitian based in New York City. “While you may not notice the benefit right away, it’s a good idea to eat as if your memory depends on it because it really does.”

In honor of Brain Awareness Week (March 16-22), add these foods to your menu:

Oily fish. Salmon and other types of oily fish are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which is good for brain health. “Studies repeatedly link this type of fat to lower levels of inflammation in the body,” Cassetty says. “You can’t see this type of inflammation, but chronic, body-wide inflammation may promote diseases, like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Our modern, Western diet that’s full of convenience items provides way fewer of these anti-inflammatory fats, compared to other types of fats, but it’s better for your brain health to reverse this ratio and eat more anti-inflammatory fats.”

Experts recommend eating fish twice a week. Bake or broil salmon or trout with lemon or olive oil, or eat canned salmon or sardines over a salad.

Nuts and seeds. Fish is rich in the omega-3 fat known as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Nuts and seeds are also rich in omega-3s—a type known as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). “Research suggests consuming ALA improves memory, retention, and learning,” says Kim Rose, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist based in Sebring, Florida.

Reach for walnuts, chia seeds, flaxseeds, or pumpkin seeds, which are rich in ALA, as well as magnesium, iron, zinc, and copper.

Berries. The antioxidants called flavonoids, which give berries their deep red, blue, and purple hues, make these tiny fruits excellent for your brain. Some research has shown that older women who eat flavonoid-rich blueberries and strawberries have slower rates of cognitive decline.

“Blueberries and other berries [also] contain anthocyanins, which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects and help reduce brain aging,” says Amy Archer, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist based in Saratoga, California. “Try a little with your morning meal or a handful as a sweet snack.”

Leafy greens. A salad a day may protect your memory, according to a recent study which looked at the eating habits of adults aged 58 to 99. “About a serving of leafy green veggies—think kale and spinach—per day was associated with the memory of people 11 years younger, which is an incredibly dramatic benefit,” Cassetty says.

If you’re not the biggest fan of salads, add greens to a smoothie, or mix them into eggs, pasta dishes, or soup. “I love stirring a big fistful of baby spinach into a can of lower sodium lentil soup,” Cassetty says. “It brightens an otherwise brown bowl of food and adds some freshness to a convenience item.”

Turmeric. Turmeric is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory associated with better brain health, although more research is needed. The active ingredient in this colorful spice is curcumin. 

“While there is research regarding the use of curcumin related to brain health in disease states like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, there is no conclusive evidence to indicate specific prophylactic use and dosage,” says Martha Lawder, MS, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist based in Roseville, California. “The turmeric spice can definitely be used in your culinary adventures as part of a well-balanced and healthy diet.”

Eggs. Whether scrambled, hard-boiled, or sunny side up, eggs are brain-friendly. “Eggs are an affordable protein food whose yolk provides choline and lutein, two phytonutrients that are pivotal for early brain development in the first 1,000 days after conceiving,” says Maggie Moon, MS, RD, a Los Angeles-based registered dietitian and author of The MIND Diet: A Scientific Approach to Enhancing Brain Function and Helping Prevent Alzheimer’s and Dementia. “Emerging research suggests lutein is just as important in slowing down age-related cognitive decline.”

Although they contain cholesterol, adults may eat an egg a day as part of a healthy diet, according to the American Heart Association.

Dark chocolate. Milk chocolate doesn’t have brain-health benefits, but dark chocolate is rich in flavonoids, so enjoying a square daily may be good for you.

“The special class of flavonoids in dark chocolate may be especially beneficial to your brain,” Cassetty says. “They’ve recently been shown to improve brain neuroplasticity, which essentially means that they may improve your ability to continue to learn as you age. Cocoa flavonols also increase blood flow to your brain, and they may reduce neuron loss and keep neuron connections healthy. This all translates to memory improvements and a lower risk of memory impairments.”

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source https://blog.fitbit.com/brain-healthy-foods/

Is A Thyroid Problem The Reason For Your Weight Gain?

At this point, you’ve probably heard somewhere that thyroid issues can trigger weight gain or make it nearly impossible to lose weight. If you’ve been struggling to stabilize, it might be time to talk to your doctor about thyroid function—but when? Does your weight gain qualify as thyroid-concerning?

First, before we dive into symptoms, you might be wondering: What is the thyroid, and what exactly does it do? “The thyroid is a gland in the lower part of the neck that produces thyroid hormone,” says Nevin Ajluni, MD, an endocrinologist and diabetes expert at Michigan Medicine. “Thyroid hormone has many functions, but one of its functions does affect metabolism and all other tissues of the body. The thyroid regulates the energy balance in the body.”

There are actually two major forms of thyroid dysfunction, each of which has a separate (almost opposite) set of symptoms. Here’s what to know about each.

Hypothyroidism

An underactive thyroid or hypothyroidism is when your thyroid is not producing enough thyroid hormone to help your body use energy effectively. This can occur due to an autoimmune disease like Hashimoto’s, a condition called thyroiditis that causes inflammation of the thyroid, or radiation treatment, among other causes. 

Weight gain is a common symptom, although Ajluni says it’s usually “modest.” Depending on your size and the severity of the issue, it could be five to 10 pounds or a real struggle to lose weight. Often, this is the result of fluid retention, or swelling in different regions of the body, which can lead to weight gain. “Typically someone with hypothyroidism would have more than weight gain as a symptom,” says Ajluni. 

Other symptoms include “fatigue, cold intolerance, decreased concentration, memory loss, foggy thinking, and constipation,” says Ajluni. She also says it’s common to have brittle nails, dry skin, and hair becoming more coarse. “People also complain about muscle aches and weakness, and sometimes have a depressed mood,” says Ajluni. Physically, you might also actually see enlargement of the thyroid, also known as a goiter. 

Hyperthyroidism

Opposite to that, people with hyperthyroidism would have too much thyroid hormone, thus speeding up the body’s normal metabolic rate. Common causes of hyperthyroidism include autoimmune conditions like Graves’ disease, in which antibodies stimulate hormone production, as well as toxic multinodular goiter, where benign lumps cause the thyroid to grow in size. “People often feel hot or get sweats,” says Ajluni. “They can have more frequent bowel movements, and there can sometimes be hair loss with hyperthyroidism. They may have an increased heart rate or feel more anxious.” It is also common to have “tremors” you can feel if your condition is more severe. 

Weight loss may also happen, since the metabolism is on overdrive, and it may be more noticeable than with hypothyroidism. “You can get significant weight loss if the overactive thyroid severe, and person cannot explain it,” says Ajluni. “They have not been exercising or dieting significantly, for instance. If you have weight changes, combined with other symptoms, it’s a good idea to get checked.”

When to Get Help 

If you notice multiple symptoms of hypo or hyperthyroidism, including weight loss or gain, talk to your doctor. Levels of thyroid hormone are not routinely checked, says Ajluni, so definitely bring it up at your next physical if you have any concerns—or sooner, if you have a strong inkling you need your thyroid checked out, or you have a family history of thyroid issues.

For hypothyroidism, the key is “replacing the missing hormone” by way of a drug called levothyroxine. “We will adjust the dose based on a person’s response to the hormone, and check using blood test—in fact, the same blood test we use to screen for thyroid issues,” says Ajluni. “Treatment for hyperthyroidism is different, and really depends on the underlying cause.”

Some treatments include radioactive iodine to shrink the thyroid gland, and antithyroid medications, which slow the thyroid’s hormone production. Beta-blockers can also help with symptoms like tremors and rapid heart rate, which might be bothersome. In rare cases, as in pregnancy where other treatments may be more challenging, surgery to remove part of the thyroid can also be discussed with your doctor.  

It’s important to keep in mind: With thyroid, even if you are gaining weight or not able to optimally control your weight, it’s not your fault at all.  “In most cases when there is thyroid dysfunction, it is often autoimmune or a viral illness,” Ajluni says, noting there’s very little you can do to prevent over- or underactive thyroid, other than being mindful of symptoms.

It’s important to maintain a balanced diet for the health of the thyroid, Ajluni says, but avoid trying to treat any suspected problems on your own. “Sometimes we can get into trouble when taking thyroid supplements with high doses or iodine,” she says, warning that it’s not the answer. What is the answer? Calling your doctor if you think your thyroid might be playing a role in uncomfortable symptoms, weight gain, or weight loss.

The post Is A Thyroid Problem The Reason For Your Weight Gain? appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/thyroid-weight-gain/

Start Sizing Up The New Nutrition Label

For years, we’ve had a love-hate relationship with the nutrition facts label. Sure, it provides some helpful nutrition insights. But many people find it confusing, not to mention lacking important information. Added sugars, anyone? 

Now there’s a new nutrition label that promises more current, realistic data. But is it really better? “Perfect it’s not—but it is improved,” says Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, author of Read It Before You Eat It—Taking You From Label To Table. “However, unless you become familiar with how to read the label, old or new, it will still look overwhelming.” 

Here are the biggest changes you’ll find on the new nutrition label. Plus, how to make it work for you:

Calories. Previously, tiny print made calorie info easy to miss—not great if your goal is weight management. Now, calorie counts are front and center with bigger, bolder type. What you won’t find anymore are “calories from fat” since the latest science says the type of fat matters more than the amount.

Servings per container. Say goodbye to small bags of chips or 12-ounce bottles of soda that list two servings per package. Now, anything you’d typically eat or drink in one sitting counts as a single serving. And if it’s ambiguous, like say a 24-ounce bottle of sweet tea, a two-column label will provide stats for one serving and for the whole package.  

Serving size. Like calories, you’ll also find a more prominent type here. Serving sizes are also somewhat more realistic, especially for things like ice cream, cereal, bagels, and soda. But they’re not foolproof. “The serving sizes listed are not necessarily the amounts you might eat,” says Taub-Dix. “For instance, if the serving size for pasta says half a cup but you eat one to one and a half cups, you’ll need to multiply the numbers on the package by three to see what you’ve really consumed.”

Sugar. A much anticipated “added sugars” line reveals how many grams of sugar are incorporated into foods during processing. That’s important, as sugar added to cupcakes or soda is hardly the same thing as naturally-occurring sugars in a nutrient-packed glass of milk or a piece of fruit. How much added sugar is too much?  A good cap is 10 percent of your total daily calories. 

Shortfall nutrients. At the bottom of the label potassium and vitamin D are replacing vitamins A and C. Why? “According to the FDA, this change is supported by evidence that suggests vitamins A and C are no longer required on the label since deficiencies are rare,” says Yanni Papanikolaou, PhDc, MPH, a nutrition science researcher and regulatory affairs scientist in Toronto, Canada. Instead, potassium and vitamin D get top billing as they’re bigger concerns.

Milligrams and micrograms. To help you understand how each nutrient contributes to your daily needs, the new label keeps the % Daily Value figure. But it doesn’t stop there. You can now find the exact amount of shortfall nutrients listed in measures like milligrams and micrograms. But is this information overload? “Milligrams and micrograms can be confusing, especially since people are not always familiar with how many milligrams or micrograms they need to meet daily recommendations,” says Papanikolaou. “The % Daily Value gives a better snapshot of nutrient requirements and helps minimize confusion.”

In the end, the most important thing to know about the new nutrition label could be the most basic. “People need to get into the habit of flipping their packages over,” says Taub-Dix. “Even if it’s just to glance at the label before tossing food into their shopping cart.”

The post Start Sizing Up The New Nutrition Label appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/new-nutrition-label/

Simple Steps To Perfect Your Posture

When was the last time you thought about your posture? Maybe you straighten up a little every morning when you look in the mirror or throw your shoulders back when getting your photo taken, but for most people, posture is just not something that gets much attention. It really should be, though. That’s because not only does standing tall help you look better, it also has some pretty big health benefits.

“Your posture affects so many functions in your body—if you have poor posture, things just don’t work as well,” says Liza Egbogah, chiropractor and posture expert. The big issue that can pop up is muscle pain. When your posture is out of whack, certain muscles have to work harder to keep your body aligned. “This can cause strain, inflammation, and pain,” says Egbogah.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. “Your torso is where all of your vital organs are, so when you compress and collapse that area, it affects the way they function,” says Steven Weiniger, a posture expert and author of Stand Taller, Live Longer. “You can’t breathe as deeply or digest food as well.” 

It makes sense: When you’re slouched over, there’s less room for your food to move through your intestines, leading to gas or constipation. And just try to take a deep breath when you’re slumped down looking at your phone. That matters more than you think it would. “When your lungs don’t fully expand with each breath, you aren’t getting as much oxygen as you should,” says Egbogah. “This can have a physical impact but also a mental one, like leading to anxiety and higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol.”

The tricky thing about improving your posture is that it needs to be mindless. “You can’t be thinking about your posture all day long, so you need to retrain unconscious habits,” says Weiniger. Ready to make proper posture automatic? Try these four moves:

Single leg balance. Good posture is all about your body feeling balanced when you’re standing tall with shoulders back and down, chest broad, and head leveled. That’s why it helps to practice balancing in that position. “Stand with the best posture you can have and lift one leg up so you’re standing on the other,” says Weiniger. “Take five slow breaths while standing tall the entire time, then do on the other side.”

Shoulder squeeze. “If you strengthen and stretch the right muscles, good posture is something you don’t need to think about,” says Egbogah. She recommends imagining you have a pen in between your shoulder blades and squeezing them together hard enough to hold the pen in place. Hold for five seconds and repeat 10 times throughout the day. “This strengthens your back’s stabilizer muscles, which will hold you in good posture all day long,” says Egbogah.

Chest expansion. This move is one Egbogah recommends you do once every time you get up from sitting. When you stand up, take your hands behind your back, interlock your fingers, and squeeze your shoulder blades for five seconds while reaching your hands toward the floor.

Backbend. “When you spend too much time sitting, your hip flexor muscles can shorten and cause your spine to curve forward,” says Egbogah. While standing, take your hands and rest them on the back of your hips, then arch backward over them as far as you can go. Take a deep breath, and as you exhale, try to go a little further, then slowly come back up.

The post Simple Steps To Perfect Your Posture appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/perfect-your-posture/

How To Team Up With Your Partner To Nix A Bad Habit

When you and your partner started dating, he probably didn’t eat Ben & Jerry’s out of the container, and you probably didn’t fall asleep with the TV on. Surely, there was no conscious effort to take on each other’s bad habits, but over time, you simply rubbed off on each other. Luckily, you may be able to rely upon each other to exchange some of your less-than-stellar habits for healthier practices. That’s because there may be safety in numbers: Studies have shown that a partner’s support may be helpful when trying to ingrain new behaviors.

“If you want to improve your behavior, whether it’s quitting smoking, taking up running, or losing weight, buddying up with a friend or family member might help you to improve your chances of success,” says Sarah Jackson, PhD, a senior research fellow in the behavioral science and health research department at University College London.

Here’s how and why it may work for you:

Meeting goals together

When one person makes a healthy lifestyle change—like becoming more physically active, losing weight, or quitting smoking—his or her partner is significantly more likely to adopt the same healthy lifestyle change, according to a study about married and cohabiting couples which was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

People who implemented these healthy lifestyle changes during the study had a more pronounced effect on their partners than people who had always practiced healthy behaviors, such as never smoking or always exercising. “I think that the most likely explanation is that changing together makes the change easier, providing social support, encouragement, the opportunity to share problems and challenges, and maybe even a little bit of competition,” says Jackson, one of the study authors.

When you’re trying to walk more or snack less and your partner has the same goal that you do, cheering on your partner—and helping to ensure his or her success—may make it more likely that you’ll succeed, because your partner may be more likely to return the favor.

Being on the same page

Jackson’s study didn’t determine whether it’s better for couples to decide to make healthy lifestyle changes together or for one to follow the other’s example. But other research has shown that it’s helpful when both people are ready to make changes together.

Researchers at Purdue University found that married couples feel more confident about their own ability to make healthy lifestyle changes—like becoming more physically active, losing weight, or eating a more nutritious diet—when their partners are also ready to adopt the same healthy lifestyle changes.

If you’re thinking about losing weight or increasing your daily step count, have a conversation with your partner before you begin to see if your partner wants to take on the goal with you. The conversation itself may inspire your partner to get on board.

Having a similar body clock

If you’ve been staying up too late and you decide that getting 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night isn’t cutting it anymore, you may be more successful at getting more rest each night if you choose to adopt an earlier bedtime along with your partner. But when you’re trying to establish new sleep habits, make sure that you both share the same chronotype—the internal biological clock which makes some people early birds and others night owls.

“If one partner is an early bird and the other a night owl, even if they are staying up too late, both going to bed earlier and at the same time will probably only be good for the early bird and not the night owl,” says clinical psychologist Michael Breus, PhD, a diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and a fellow of The American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

When two night owls vote for an earlier bedtime together, you’re more likely to encourage each other to go to sleep, instead of one of you enticing the other to continue binge-watching Netflix. 

An identical bedtime isn’t ideal for every couple, even if both are night owls, Breus says. One person may snore loudly, making it harder for the other to fall asleep. One of you may only need 7 hours’ rest while the other needs 8 hours. Even if you don’t get into bed at the same moment, supporting your shared goal for more sleep may help you succeed.

Change takes time

It’s important to realize that you won’t automatically succeed simply because you decide that you want to start eating healthier, walking more, or going to bed earlier. It may take more than two months for a new habit that you’re hoping to adopt to become automatic, according to research published in the European Journal of Social Psychology.

Some people become discouraged and give up before they incorporate a new, desired behavior into their daily routines. But you and your partner may be able to help to keep each other motivated until a new healthy habit becomes second-nature.

It may help if you both spell out exactly what you hope to accomplish, such as being in bed by 11 PM or going for a 30-minute walk together after dinner every night. “Otherwise, the other person will never know the rules,” Breus says.

The post How To Team Up With Your Partner To Nix A Bad Habit appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/team-up-with-your-partner/