Weekly Feature – The OURA Ring [Smart Ring and Sleep Tracker]

The OURA activity and sleep tracking ring is designed to be the first wearable that you will never have to take off. Its design is durable, stylish and comfortable, allowing you to go about your everyday activities.

The ceramic zirconia is waterproof up to 50m and it comes in 3 colors. Arctic White, Mirror Black and Stealth Black.

The Oura ring allows you to monitor and track sleep and activity data such as the time you spent moving and sitting down each day, as well as recording your sleep cycle.

OURA Video

Many people find that wrist wearables are actually a nuisance to wear all day and some even complain that the straps rub against their skin when they perform certain exercises. This is where OURA thrives. Its ergonomic design feels natural on your finger and you will even forget you are wearing it.

So what specific data are you presented with?

Sleep analytics

The ring will track your light, deep and REM sleep. Your deep sleep is an imperative stage in the cycle, in order for body processes such as muscle growth and repair to occur. So aiming for an adequate amount of deep sleep is vital if you are in training.

It will also track your sleep latency. This tells you how quickly you actually fall asleep once you hit the hay. If this is too fast, it may be a sign of sleep deprivation and so it should be monitored closely. The average time to fall asleep is anywhere from 10-20 minutes.

ŌURA measures how disturbed you were during sleep. Disturbances can be caused by stress or noise from the outdoors and it will also give you an overall sleep score rating.

It is important not just to track this information but to act on it. If you are getting less than adequate sleep you should look at adjusting your pre-bedtime routine.

Summary Of Sleep Features

• Total Amount Of Sleep
• Deep Sleep
• REM Sleep (Sleep stage associated with dreaming and creativity, aim for 1.5-2 hours)
• Sleep Latency
• Sleep Efficiency (Will track how much time you are actually asleep and when you briefly wake up)
• Disturbances
• Sleep Timing (Measures whether the middle point of your sleep falls between midnight and 3 AM)

Activity Tracking

The OURA activity score is a number that summarizes the combination of the following factors:

OURA will record how well you have managed to avoid long sedentary periods. It will also indicate how frequently you have gotten to a medium or high intensity of activity in the past seven days.

OURA advises you to take an easy, 1-2 rest days out of 10, to help boost recovery time.

Activity Tracking Feature Summary

• How Long You Were Active and Inactive For
• How Well You Avoided Long Periods Of Inactivity
• Daily Target Based On Your Readiness Level
• How Frequently You Got To Medium Or High-Intensity Activity
• How Many Times You Reached High Or Medium Activity Levels In Past 7 Days
• Recovery Time

Readiness Level

Your Readiness Level is affected by how well you slept the previous night, your skin temperature and whether it fluctuates outside normal levels during the night and your resting heart rate.

Your resting heart rate illustrates how well you have recovered from the day’s activity. If you have worked out hard prior to bed or eaten a large meal, this could elevate your heart rate resulting in a lower readiness score.

Readiness Tracking Summary

• Takes Into Account Sleep Quality
• Sleep History
• It considers Your Balance Of Rest Time & Activity
• Resting Heart Rate Measurements
• Body Temperature Recording
• Recovery Index

What are your thoughts on the OURA ring, could it be the functional fashion statement you are after?

More fit tech gadgets and apps

Want to read more about new fitness tech gadgets and apps that we recommend? See another tech feature of the week: the Rise Nutrition App.

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