Three wellness things I recommend: favorite devices
Honest review of Oura ring, Eight Sleep and Hyperice compression boots.
My personal pillars of health are nutrition, sleep, exercise and emotional regulation. The bulk of how I achieve optimal results for each of these categories relies solely on daily habits and consistency. But I love having as much data about my body as possible because it helps me understand patters and come up with experiments to improve the metrics that I struggle with. To that extent, using technology that measures and tracks various external biomarkers has made a big difference in getting me from good to great (or optimal) in some areas of my wellbeing.
Another reason why I find some wellness tools incredibly helpful is that hormonal fluctuations throughout the month influence everything for us women - from sleep quality to recovery after exercise, energy levels and nutrition choices. Uncovering these highly individual patters is the only way to feel more in control and gain a clear sense of which lifestyle factors to adjust.
A note on the devices I will recommend: I have no affiliation with these brands and this post is not sponsored. These are all devices I have purchased and used regularly for over a year, which gives me the confidence to speak to their efficacy.
The Oura ring
I’ve bought my first Oura ring back in 2018 and this has been my most used wellness device. It is by far the most seamless experience I’ve had with a wearable. I prefer the design to any watch or strap (have used both Apple watch and Whoop) and the app UX is super smooth and sleek. This was initially designed as a sleep tracker, but you can do so much more with it. Here’s how I get the most out of mine:
I use it every night to track my deep and REM sleep - this gives me a good idea of how rested I am and I love seeing how different lifestyle factors (the timing of my dinner, alcohol consumption, travel or phase of my menstrual cycle) affect my sleep. You get other sleep measurements too, but these are the most important ones for me.
I wear it all day everyday to track my activity - like most wearables, Oura also overestimates energy expenditure, but what I’m more interested in is trends over time rather than how many calories I burn on any given day. It’s also much easier to wear all day than a bulky watch.
I use it to measure my HRV - this is the one metric I care about the most because it informs cardiovascular fitness and stress resilience. Again, what’s important here is to look at trends over time (I like logging into their web platform for that) and see the correlation between those aforementioned lifestyle factors and HRV. For example, a late dinner or being in the late luteal phase of my menstrual cycle drive my HRV down significantly. Having this data helps me prioritize activities like breathwork to get me that parasympathetic nervous system response.
Finally, I love using Oura for cycle tracking. I think the integration with Natural Cycles is fine, although the Natural Cycles app itself is quite clunky. I find using just the Oura app enough because it shows me exactly where I am in my cycle based on body temperature and this way I can adjust my sleep, exercise and recovery protocols to support my body.
If you’re interested in having more data about your body, I highly recommend getting an Oura ring. When it comes to sleep tracking, I believe it has the best technology of all wearables, the price is better than other devices (Whoop) and the design is infinitely cooler. For the most part, it just looks like you’re waring a ring as opposed to a geeky watch or cheap-looking plastic strap. The only negative feedback I have is that even though you can add lots of “tags” for various activities/ factors (anything from workouts to sauna or travel), they haven’t yet figured a way to show you correlations between those tags and your metrics. Maybe they will come out with a feature that does that, but until then, the Oura ring is still a 10/10 for me.
The Eight Sleep
The Eight sleep pod is the newest addition to my wellness devices. I first bought one around 2017, but back then, the pod used to make noise when heating or cooling which I couldn’t get over because I need my room to be perfectly quiet in order to sleep. The one I purchased earlier this year, however, is a HUGE improvement from that first version in 2017. Not only is it perfectly silent, but they’ve also introduced a bunch of features that make the experience truly incredible. What I like most about the current version of Eight Sleep is that they’ve managed to build the technology inside of a mattress cover so you don’t need to buy an actual mattress. I am very specific about the type of mattress I like, so being able to keep mine and just layer the cover on top is amazing. Here’s what else I love about the pod:
Temperature control is the number one reason to get a pod - being able to adjust your bed temperature for optimal sleep is a game changer. With this newer version, they introduced smarter software named Autopilot that automatically adjusts the temperature based on your own body’s metrics (i.e if it detects that you’re too warm it will cool the mattress and vice versa). This makes a huge difference in sleep quality as both deep and REM sleep are influenced by temperature. Since I got the pod, I definitely noticed an improvement in sleep quality which has a direct impact on my energy levels. The other great thing is that if you sleep with a partner, you can each set your half of the pod to your own preferences and it won’t matter if one of you is a warm or cool sleeper because you can have it both ways. For example, in the second half of my menstrual cycle when body temperature rises, it’s been so nice to be able to have my side of the pod cool so I can sleep better. Conversely, during the first few days of my period when I have terrible back pain, setting my Autopilot to warm the bed before I get in is the most comforting life hack ever.
The other feature I absolutely love with Eight Sleep is the silent alarm. Instead of those horrendous alarm sounds on your phone, imagine being woken up by a gentle vibration (completely silent) and a warm, cozy mattress that uses a gradual thermal change to wake you up. As with everything else, this feature is personalized and you can play with your desired temperature change for the morning alarm.
The sleep and health insights you get in the Eight Sleep app are also incredible and if you don’t want to wear an Oura ring or other wearable to track sleep, you don’t have to. The pod measures everything from deep and REM sleep to your HRV and heart rate and uses this data to make temperature adjustment and sleep routine recommendations. I still believe the Oura algorithm is slightly better, but again, the advantage of the pod is that you don’t need to wear anything on your body.
The Eight sleep pod is expensive - you have to pay for both the pod and the Autopilot subscription. If you can afford it, however, I think it’s totally worth the investment because it can really help improve sleep quality which will have a positive cascading effect on other aspects of your health. The Eight Sleep is also a 10/10 for me.
The Hyperice Normatec legs
I have a number of Hyperice tools - the vibrating foam roller, the massage gun, but my absolute favorite are the Normatec legs. I’ve now been regularly using them for over two years and they’ve been great in helping me with post-workout recovery. The boots use a compression system that enhances blood circulation, reduces muscle soreness, and speeds up recovery time. I initially tried the version that comes with a hip attachment, but I didn’t like it because I found the compression too uncomfortable on my hips.
I use the legs a couple of times a week, usually after my strength training sessions, and I try to sit in them for at least 45 minutes. The trick, I found, is to set the intensity somewhere in the middle because this mimics the affects of a lymphatic drainage treatment which gets the circulation going and can help clear lactic acid build up. I actually find most lymphatic massages completely ineffective and being able to use the Normatec legs at home is so much more convenient and efficacious.
Using them post-travel or in the second half of my menstrual cycle has also been great and because the compression treatment has a restorative effect, I also sleep a bit better if I do it in the evening. Whenever you do it, just make sure to hydrate really well after so you can help flush out lactic acid and boost circulation even more.
The Normatec boots are also expensive, but you get so much wear out of them. In fact, their cost is actually less than that of three massages, and you can use them multiple times a week for years. These are worth the investment and another 10/10 for me.
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