Outlook Spotlight

Jumpstart Your Health Goals This Year With The Right Smartwatch

Better health is a goal we strive for. But it involves a sum of choices, small but crucial changes in habits and lifestyle. Garmin smartwatches and their app offer you a one-stop option to do so.

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Jumpstart Your Health Goals This Year With The Right Smartwatch
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Everyone, almost everyone, seeks an answer to a healthy lifestyle. We try several things – diet, exercise, yoga and meditation, and active life – to attain this Nirvana-like goal. Sadly, the ‘right’ answer doesn’t exist. Health is a sum of choices. It involves conscious and willful efforts. But don’t be disheartened. Garmin offers you a one-stop watch to achieve this seemingly-unachievable objective. Wear Garmin, and discover interconnected ways to stay fit, flexible, nimble, and energetic.

Before you embark on this blissful journey, understand the importance of metabolism, i.e. the rate at which the body burns calories and fat. Everyone has a different metabolism rate. Small changes in daily habits can help you achieve health-related goals. Garmin smartwatches track the calories you burn, or use. This includes ‘resting calories’, or a realistic estimate of energy one uses for non-physical activities, and ‘active calories’, i.e. what you burn when you exercise and run.

Boost heart
What is crucial is that a person’s metabolism rate isn’t fixed. It changes through new habits. Moderate exercises enhance the functioning of the heart, and maintain cardio-pulmonary fitness. When the exercise heart rate is 65-79%of the maximum heart rate, and there is slight shortness of breath while being relaxed and comfortable, exercises improve the efficiency in burning fat. For brisk walking, the rate is 50-60%, and it is higher for light jogging (60-70%) and easy running (70-80%).

VO2 max measure indicates the efficiency of the body to use oxygen, and its endurance level. The higher the figure, the better it is. The American Heart Association and WHO recommend a minimum 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise, or 75 minutes a week of intense activity. Since our physical capabilities are different, the ‘exclusive intensity minutes function’ of Garmin smartwatches automatically records when an individual reaches the moderate exercise level.

Boost oxygen
Oxygen is a crucial input to sustain health. Low levels lead to low amounts of fuel to energise us, and result in dizziness, lethargy, fatigue, allergies, inflammation, obesity and, of course, low metabolism rate. Aerobics and breathing exercises improve oxygen levels. Garmin’s trusted Pulse Ox pulse oximetry technology measures the ability to absorb oxygen, or its saturation concentration, throughout the day. This enables you to monitor a critical component of your overall health.

Build muscles
Higher muscle mass enhances the metabolism rate and, hence, muscle training has a positive impact. Workouts increase muscle mass which, in turn, increase our ability to use proteins. The result: a better state of health. With a Garmin smartwatch, you can access built-in workout modules, which include high intensity interval training and strength training. Download the workouts to the watch through the Garmin Connect App, and follow the training animations.

Better sleep, low stress
Quality sleep is a key ingredient to better health. Poor sleep, or lack of it, affects the metabolism, and leads to weight gain. Monitoring sleep involves an analysis of heart rate, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, and physiological activity data. It requires the tracking of different stages of sleep – light, deep, and REM (rapid eye movement). Garmin detects the quality of sleep, and calculates values to pinpoint sleep quality score. The smartwatch offers suggestions for improvement. A 24x7 monitoring estimates the stress levels, and the ‘Relax Reminders’ encourage the watch wearer to relax during high-stress periods.

Stay fit, stay hydrated
Fitness age is an important measure. Garmin smartwatches estimate whether your body is younger or older than your age through several indicators. The Connect App provides achievable goals and practical tips to lower fitness age. There is no substitute for water intake to improve metabolism. Garmin records the daily water intake, and reminds you to hydrate in a timely manner. Adjust your hydration rate, if you wish to.

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