How sleep trackers can improve your bedrest
What's the best way to use fitness trackers to get a better night's sleep?


By Matt Evans
Most of today's top fitness trackers and fitness watches offer sleep tracking functionality. Whether you're a Fitbit, Garmin, Apple Watch or Oppo Watch person, you'll be able to record how well you've slept over the course of the night.
Most commercial fitness trackers break things down into simple scores, like the ratio of time spent awake, in light sleep and deep sleep. That's all well and good, but how can you actually use this information?
To start with, there's no qualms about accuracy. Commercially-available fitness trackers like those from Garmin are "closer in approximations to self-reported sleep outcomes than a previously sleep research-grade device" according to a study from the University of Nebraska. Which means the tool on your wrist is as good a fitness tracker, or better, as the ones used by actual scientists to monitor sleep in clinical studies.
So, one of the best ways to look at your sleeping patterns is to keep a food diary for a week and compare the results with your sleep tracker. Did you have a large pizza and a few beers on a Friday?
You might have slept worse because of it: alcohol not only interferes with our sleep, but it also acts as a diuretic, which can drive us to need a wee in the middle of the night. Likewise for stimulants like coffee and soft drinks: in the evening, we often forget drinks like cola contain caffeine.
On the other hand, if you ate a healthy dinner and a glass of water, or drank a herbal tea before going to bed, your fitness tracker might show you slept better. By identifying potential cause-and-effect relationships in your diet, you can begin to "hack" your diet to produce better sleep.
The same applies to your exercise schedule. Does your fitness tracker report more, or less sleep if you exercise in the evening compared to the morning? A report from Harvard University suggests that you can exercise in the evening as long as you avoid vigorous activity for at least one hour before bedtime.
You can begin to conduct little experiments on yourself with this data, designed to identify the different things interfering with your sleep. Whether it's a late cup of coffee or time spent scrolling on your phone, by recording your habits and comparing them to your sleep tracker's data, you'll be able to identify what's interfering with your bedrest.
Liked this? Check out more Wellness Week content below:
- Trail shoes vs running shoes: what’s the difference, and do you need both?
- How to make sense of the stats on your fitness tracker: the ultimate guide to monitoring your health
Wellness Week on Fit&Well
Wellness Week is brought to you in association with Wiggle. Each day this week, we'll help you accelerate your wellness journey by making improvements across areas including fitness, diet and nutrition, mindfulness and more.
-
-
Fitbit Luxe: Fitbit's all-new stylish fitness tracker has just been announced
Fitness The new Fitbit Luxe is a premium fitness band at an affordable price, all wrapped in a jewellery-inspired design
By Matt Evans •
-
Best heart rate monitors: Keep track of your ticker with these smart devices
Buying Guide We check out the best heart rate monitors on the market, from chest-straps to watches
By Pete Dreyer •
-
Fitbit Luxe: Fitbit's all-new stylish fitness tracker has just been announced
Fitness The new Fitbit Luxe is a premium fitness band at an affordable price, all wrapped in a jewellery-inspired design
By Matt Evans •
-
Best heart rate monitors: Keep track of your ticker with these smart devices
Buying Guide We check out the best heart rate monitors on the market, from chest-straps to watches
By Pete Dreyer •
-
Best running watch: Maximize your runs with these top GPS watches
Buying guide Our pick of the best running watches to track everything from 5k runs to marathons - and beyond
By Jennifer Allen •
-
Best Fitbit: Our picks of the best smartwatches and fitness trackers for you
Buying guide We round up the best Fitbit wearables for day-to-day life, walking, working out, and looking good
By Jennifer Allen •
-
Jaybird Vista vs Beats Powerbeats Pro: Which workout earphones are worth your money?
Versus We compare two top-rated earbuds, the Powerbeats Pro and Jaybird Vista, to see which is most worthy of a spot in your gym bag
By Lee Bell •
-
Fitbit Versa deals: Great offers on Fitbit's top multi-model smartwatch range
Deals Get Fitbit Versa 3, Versa 2 and Versa Lite – the ultimate fitness watch for style and features - at the best price
By Rob Clymo •
-
Best workout earbuds: Top beats to soundtrack your runs & gym sessions
Buying Guide Give your workout a better soundtrack with our best workout earbuds to soundtrack your sweat session
By Lee Bell •
-
Fit&Well Awards: Gymshark and Marcus Rashford are amongst our Headline Award winners!
Awards Plus the results of our exciting nominated-by-the-public Trainer of the Year award...
By Stephanie Wood •