Fitbit Sleep Analysis: Normal vs. Sensitive?
I wasn't sure what kind of sleep setting I needed to have on my Fitbit. It seemed like having 90%+ sleep efficiency was really high for me, considering I often feel like I toss and turn or am up and down all night. I thought, "Maybe normal is a 'one-size-fits-all' setting and I should try the sensitive." Well, that made it seem like I was doing the merengue all night long and didn't sleep a wink. I was confused about what the 'sensitive' setting really meant, so I emailed the fine folks at Fitbit for their explanation.
We have done experiments with numerous subjects testing our algorithms and comparing them to research found in sleep labs. What we have found is that the vast majority of users seem to move in a very specific pattern when they sleep. A small group of users tend to make dramatically smaller movements throughout their sleep. The same algorithms work on both users, however a smaller movement on these very still sleepers indicates something different than a similar movement on an average sleeper. For most users regular is just fine. If a user writes in that they are staring at an alarm clock for an hour and the Fitbit Tracker shows them as asleep, we have them try the sensitive mode.
Sincerely,
Amy McDonough and the Fitbit Team
So, what I get from that is if you tend to lie very still or make minimal movements when you sleep (I don't, I'm a roller-over-er... is that a word?), try the sensitive setting. If you're an Average Joe, who moves in the usual sleep motions and not lay like broccoli, use the normal setting.
Carry on!
They Said Stuff!
Last night was my first night with it, it clocked I was asleep after 8 minutes when in fact I know I was laying there quite awake for at least a half hour. I think I’m going to try the sensitive and see what THAT says. I think I’m more of a broccoli.
I feel like that’s not all that helpful…Are immobile-sleeper and half-asleep-fidgeter the only options? For something so smart as it sounds like the fitbit is, it seems weird.
Also, I ordered one, so, whatever.
I don’t think it’s meant to be specifically accurate like a sleep study or anything, it’s just meant to give you an overall idea of how you sleep. There’s “normal”, which according to their studies is appropriate for most users and then “sensitive” is for people who lie really still, but still weren’t asleep. It took me a few times to read it for it to make sense and Kathy and both found if we thought about it too much, it got confusing. I just stick with “normal”. It at least lets you know when you’re active in your sleep. If it’s a LOT, then maybe it’s something you’d want to look at. :)
Yay for getting one, though. I’ve found it really has helped me. I’m not always 100% diligent with logging my food, but I’m trying to be better.
I got my fitbit around the middle of June and found it too much of a pain to log food in both places.
Do you use the WW points tracker and the fitbit food tracker?
Are you step counts pretty accurate?
Hi Karen. :) I do use both the WW points tracker and the Fitbit food tracker. But just for now. I don’t know how much longer I’ll keep it up. I’ll eventually choose one or the other, but have found that I prefer the Fitbit one thus far—mostly because it actually lets me see calories in vs. out.
I find my step counts are pretty accurate, albeit lower than I’d like—I work at home at a desk in an 850 sq ft apartment and some days don’t even leave the house, so it’s hard for me to get in 10k a day. It’s not a lot of steps walking around an apartment and even if I go on my walk, I’d have to walk like 5 miles a day to get in that many steps and I’m just not up to that yet. But I’m trying! :)
Unfortunately, I think I have to try harder than someone who works outside of the home or has kids because I don’t have a reason to walk around as much as the average person would and not as far to go. I don’t walk to the mail room or breakroom, I don’t walk to friends’ desks, I don’t walk to meetings, I don’t have kids to chase after, so making sure I move my butt… it’s challenging.
I could see where it would be pretty difficult for somebody who works at home to get to 10k - I figured I walked that much just at work, but when I got a pedometer, I found that I was profoundly mistaken. You should probably have a kid or something just to get to 10k steps…that reminds me of a guy I used to work with who took up smoking to get the smoke breaks (particularly notable given that we work in the health field…).
A pal and I have been typing what we eat and the calories into a google word doc for accountability purposes for a week or two now…I totally can see how I’ve gotten stuck and not been able to lose weight…calories add up so fast (no duh). I’m excited for the fitbit thing to come, whenever it gets here. I’m curious to see what the sleep analysis stuff says for when the weeks when I work nights and sleep during the day. I wish I wasn’t so fascinated with gizmos! I look like an AV club member when I go running.
I totally get the not walking around since you work at home, but you do have advantages to that also. You don’t have to put up with the drama of working with other people and you don’t have people with candy jars that tempt. One advantage to working in an office is having others keep you motivated and walk at a specific time every day. Maybe you could do that electronically with someone. Have them send you a text and walk together (only at different places).
Maybe you can take Lulu for a walk around the neighborhood. (Been a devoted fan from the Muse for.. well since you started it.)
Hey thanks very much. I appreciate the info. I got mine yesterday. I got to track a half day stats of steps. I put it on to track the sleep. I wake up and sync it and nothing happens. So I had to google it and found out I had to do a start and stop for it. I think the packaging or on site needs to better explain that. So far I am loving. I got this one cause I am a Mac and similar ones don’t run on Mac. So far I am liking this fitbit. I cannot wait to see how much I walk at work because that is pretty much what I do all day with my job involved a lot of walking around a lot of times inside so GPS sport trackers don’t work inside a building.
btw a friend who has it says ...
If you forget, you can go back in and enter the start and stop times of your sleep on your fitbit page and it will retroactively analyze it (as long as you wore it).
Why the hate? I sleep softly, my arms around you, cuddling, spooning with you all night long…I’m broccoli?
It’s important to remember that the fitbit is only a pedometer that collects samples over time. I wish for a mesh-up that would allow me to enter my pulse, make it easier to put my food info in.
I’m mostly interested in the sleep side of things and the fitbit is pretty much a toy compared to the analysis that I had in a sleep clinic. But I’m wearing the fitbit on my ankle at night because I know that my sleep apnea is linked to kicking. I actually got more interesting data from the iphone app “sleep cycle”, which doesn’t link up to a nice interface.
Do You Have Something to Declare?