How to pick the right fitness tracker for you.

Copyright © 2014 Basis Science

Get the most advanced health tracker on your wrist.

What are you looking for in a fitness tracker?

It’s safe to say that fitness trackers, one of the hottest

segments in “wearables” in 2013, have risen to the

forefront of the market over the past year and continue

to grow in popularity. And for good reason – personal

health awareness has grown across the country, and

people are starting to take more accountability for their

wellness. However, just like any hot product, there soon

become lots of options to choose from, which can make

your decision difficult. Consider your options… you’ve got

the Fitbit, Jawbone UP, Jawbone UP24, Withings Pulse,

BodyMedia FIT, Nike+ FuelBand, Alpha Mio and finally,

Basis.

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Overwhelmed? Yes, that is quite the list to choose

from. Basis hears you and that’s why we want to help

you make the buying decision easier by giving you all

the information upfront. Basis makes the world’s most

advanced health tracker. We don’t call it a “fitness”

tracker, because it does so much more. We’re confident

we can help you maximize your health, whether your

goals are related to fitness, sleep, stress reduction, or a

combination of the above. The first question you have to

ask yourself is, “What am I looking for in a tracker?”.

Some variables to consider are:

• One sensor or multiple sensors?

• Tracking Heart Rate (for stress or fitness)

• Pedometer

• Calorie detection

• Sleep monitor

BASIS and Basis Body IQ™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Basis

Science, Inc. in the US and other countries. All other marks contained herein

are the property of their respective owners.

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Tracker with the Best...

Sensors?

Your tracker is only going to be as good as the data its

sensors collect. Most trackers will have one, sometimes

two sensors to collect data about your body. They use

these sensors to estimate metrics like calories burned or

steps walked. They also shape the types of things your

tracker can tell you. Does it detect things automatically

versus forcing you to punch in data? Does it give you

access to unique insights and metrics such as sleep and

stress?

The most common sensor within fitness trackers is an

accelerometer which tracks motion along the x-y-z axes.

Most trackers have just this sensor which does a good

job of estimating simple, motion-based metrics like Steps

Walked. Unfortunately, these trackers are also limited in

terms of what they can tell you about your body because

they rely purely on motion, instead of looking at motion

and actual physiological signs from your body, such

as heart rate. Because they just have one sensor, these

trackers can’t give you added the added insight into your

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health that you really expect from a health tracker. For

example, stress indication through continuous heart rate

measurement, or advanced sleep detection and analysis.

And because they rely on just one sensor, Accelerometer-

based trackers get easily confused. Many such trackers

continue calculating steps walked and calories burned

even if you’re completely still.

Unlike single-sensor fitness trackers, Basis paints a more

comprehensive picture of your health using multiple

sensors that track heart rate, temperature, perspiration,

motion, and more. These sensors provide a solid

foundation for knowing how, and what, your body is really

doing. Our proprietary Body IQ™ technology turns rich

data into simple, relevant insights that take the hassle out

of tracking, are deeper than single-sensor trackers, and

are personalized just for you. Body IQ™ automatically

recognizes and displays your favorite activities, like

walking, running, and biking, as well as sleep. It ensures

you get credit for those activities in real-time, including

your caloric burn, with no need to push buttons, switch

modes, or tag activities. Even better, Basis gets Body IQ™

upgrades regularly which means you you’ll always have

the latest and greatest. And you’ll continue to see new,

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market-leading features - only with Basis.

Heart Rate Monitor?

If you’re looking to monitor your heart rate for activity, you

really only have two, maybe three, options. You’ve got the

traditional, chest-strap based heart rate monitors, you’ve

got the Withings Pulse, and you’ve got the Basis band.

Chest strap-based, heart rate monitors for sports and

workouts have been around for a while, and they are a

pretty reliable, one-trick pony. These typically read the

time of day, monitor your heart rate during exercise, and

track your calorie burn. However, heart rate monitors

only work when you tell them to – you have to turn on

the “heart rate mode” for monitoring to begin, and they

require you to wear a strap around your chest. Clearly,

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traditional heart rate monitors were designed to be a

workout-based accessory, not a continuous monitor of

your heart that fits into your life, at least not comfortably.

Who wants to go to bed wearing a chest strap?

But monitoring heart rate is a really important part

of understanding your health, not only during formal

exercise, but also throughout your daily life, and Basis

understands that. Your heart rate can tell you when you

are stressed, excited, or overly tired… it can give you

clues about how your body reacts to different medicines

and foods… and you can use this information to better

understand when you’re at peak performance in your

life. The Basis band offers a continuous heart rate sensor

– something no other fitness tracker with a 3-4 day

battery life can provide – no chest strap necessary. The

Withings Pulse is a small device with heart rate measuring

capabilities, but in order to get a heart rate reading,

you have to manually press your finger to the back of

the device. This means you can only get punctuated

measurements in time, not continuous monitoring.

With the Basis band, for the first time you can easily and

comfortably monitor what your heart is doing when

you’re not exercising – like when you’re eating, sleeping,

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and just living – which can tell you a great deal more

about your stress levels, sleep quality, and overall health.

As for your 1-hour of daily exercise, we do recommend

that you still use your traditional heart rate monitor

alongside your Basis band. The Basis band is designed

to be a lifestyle health tracker, and is most accurate at

monitoring heart rate during the 23 hours you aren’t

working out. If nothing else, the continuous heart rate

monitor technology makes the Basis band soar above its

peers, but keep reading, because there is so much more

that Basis can do.

Calorie Burn Credit?

Caloric burn detection is another feature that most fitness

trackers offer – after all, isn’t this what most people care

about? Other trackers just use accelerometer technology

alone to estimate calorie burn, usually through simple

approximations. Most don’t differentiate between calories

burned during between activities, e.g. calories burned

when you take steps to run are very different from

calories burned when you take steps to walk or bike.

Basis does more than that: Basis uses multiple sensors

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and Body IQ™ technology to automatically detect your

favorite fitness activities like running, biking and walking.

This gives you the most accurate caloric burn possible.

You worked hard to burn those calories so don’t miss out

by picking a single-sensor tracker that shortchanges you.

Get the calorie burn credit you deserve with Basis.

Sleep Monitor?

Sleep is very important for your overall health, and

monitoring your sleep quality is definitely something you

should expect from your fitness tracker if you’re looking

to become the healthiest version of yourself. But before

committing to a product, understand that as of yet,

fitness trackers have only guessed at your sleep quality

based on motion. That is, until Basis stepped in.

Basis approaches sleep tracking like we approach all

other parts of your wellness: with the most advanced

technology and the highest level of intelligence. Because

Basis has multiple sensors that have a true picture of

your health, its analysis is built on data that other trackers

simply don’t have.

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Our Advanced Sleep Analysis covers all bases:

•Monitors movement during sleep, such as REM, Light

Sleep, Deep Sleep, Toss and Turn, as well as giving you a

personalized Sleep Score

•Tracks your sleep automatically. You don’t have to do a

thing, except sleep.

No other tracker or phone app can offer this level of

sleep assessment. Not to mention that the Basis band is

doing this on top of everything else it offers.

In Summary

We hope we’ve helped you think about some of the

variables in picking the right health tracker for you. Basis

is not a replacement for a chest strap-based workout

monitor or an entry-level pedometer / tracker. It is

designed to be the most advanced health tracker in the

world to help you get fit, sleep better and stress less.

The best part? You don’t have to sit around waiting for the

“next best and latest” product to come out – because it’s

already here. Basis offers everything you can expect from

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a health tracker, and as Basis improves and advances,

you’ll upload the free upgrades right from your computer

to your band… so you’ll never miss out. And don’t worry –

Basis is incredibly simple to use (intelligent does not equal

complex), so all you’ll need to do is charge it up and wear

it. Basis takes care of the rest. Plus, once you sync it to

your smartphone or computer, you’ll get perspective from

your data, and Basis will work with you to form healthy

habits to see your results improve.

In the next few chapters, we will explore how Basis helps

with:

•Fitness Tracking

•Advanced Sleep Analysis

•Stress detection through Continuous Heart Rate

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Fitness: How Basis Can Help You

Like most fitness trackers, Basis also gives you standard

measurements of calories and steps. Unlike them, Basis

has Body IQ™ which automatically identifies when you

are walking, running, or biking on the road – no buttons

to push or modes to set. This gives you a true picture of

how much activity you pack into each day whether for

exercise or just finding moments in your day to lead a

more active life.

Why biking, running or walking?

All three exercises – running, biking, and walking – are

great forms of exercise for your heart, lungs, and

metabolism. You really can’t go wrong. In fact, pretty

much every study out there shows that the cardiovascular

benefits of walking, running, and biking are the same.

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This means that regardless of whether you choose to

run, bike, or walk, you will benefit by decreasing your

risk of heart attack, high blood pressure (hypertension),

diabetes, and cholesterol. Still, depending on the person,

and depending on what you are trying to accomplish in

your fitness routine, some forms of exercise may be better

than others. Rest assured, whatever you choose, Basis will

be right there tracking your progress no matter what.

Biking

What it’s good for: Biking is an excellent cardiovascular

exercise – it aids in strengthening your heart so that you

can pump more blood at a lower heart rate. More than

that, biking is also a great choice if weight-loss is your

goal. Biking at a moderate, 12-14mph pace burns about

596 calories in a 155lb person, and the nature of biking

actually increases fat burning, which is something running

doesn’t necessarily accomplish. Moreover, biking is an

endurance exercise that increases stamina, while at the

same time builds the large muscle of the lower body –

your hamstrings, glutes, quads, and calves. These muscles

are powerhouses for energy, and the stronger they

become, the more oxygen they require, and the more

oxygen they use, the more calories you burn.

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Biking is also one of the only high-intensity activities that

is also easy on the body. Most other forms of exercise

that offer the same caloric burn are quite jarring on your

joints and muscles; but with biking, you are in a seated

position, which makes it low impact and isolates the lower

muscle groups.

What it’s not so great for: Biking builds muscle, so if

you are looking to lose overall mass, including muscle

mass, biking would not be the best way to accomplish

this. Biking, particularly mountain biking, uses a fair

amount of fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are the type

of muscle fibers that responsible for muscle bulk. These

types of muscle fibers are required to bike uphill, and

this contributes to muscle strength and growth. The

other trade-off with biking is that you aren’t getting a full-

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body workout. Even though you are burning calories and

increasing your endurance, you will want to incorporate

some upper body and core training into your routine.

After all, who wants strong legs but flabby arms and abs?

Running

What it’s good for: If pure weight loss is your goal,

running is the best form of exercise. Running burns the

most calories in the shortest amount of time, giving

you the most efficient aerobic workout. A 155lb person

will burn 818 calories in one hour when running

9-minute miles, and this number increases as your mile

time decreases. Several studies have also shown that

runners are more likely to control their weight and waist

circumference overtime, and that running increases

appetite-suppression hormones in your blood, causing

you to eat less after a workout. Running is also a full body

workout. While running, you are engaging your legs, your

core, and your arms, and because it is a weight-bearing

activity, running also increases bone growth and strength.

Not to mention that running improves circulation, which

reduces your risk for high blood pressure and stroke, and

helps build a stronger immune system.

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What it’s not so great for: Before you hang up your helmet

and put away your walking shoes for good, realize that

running also has its limitations. First of all, running is

quite stressful on your body, particularly your weight-

bearing joints (like your knees and hips). In fact, your

knees support 7x your body weight while running, which

can cause any existing arthritis to progress. Both biking

and walking have lower incidences of injury, and may be

better options for many people.

Also, long distance running will not build muscle. If you

are looking to decrease your weight, including your

muscle mass, running will accomplish this best. But, also

realize that with muscle breakdown comes metabolism

decrease. We’ve all heard that “muscle burns more

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calories than fat,” and what this means is that when you

have more muscle on your body, your body has to work

really hard to maintain it. The more muscle you have,

the more calories you will burn at rest. Therefore, while

running may shed some serious poundage, you should

definitely supplement your runs with weight-training at

least 2 times a week to keep your results improving.

Walking

What it’s good for: Compared directly to running and

biking, it is hard to imagine that walking could even be on

par in terms of a legitimate, aerobic workout. However, this

could not be further from the truth! Walking is an excellent

cardiovascular exercise, offering the same benefits as

running and biking, and in some cases, even more. So, if

walking is your only option for exercise, don’t feel like you’ll

fall behind. Walking is a dynamic and aerobic exercise for

your muscles, and has minimal adverse effects and risks

of injury. It is inherently safe, low impact, and strengthens

the legs, pelvis, and bones, while preserving joint flexibility.

Most importantly, studies have shown that regular walking

at a brisk pace improves aerobic fitness, regardless of

whether the duration is in short or long intervals.

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What it’s not so great for: Walking does not burn as many

calories as running or biking. A 155lb person will burn 298

calories in 1 hour when walking 3.5mph (about 17 minutes

per mile). That’s better than nothing, but if walking is your

only option, it may not seem like enough to give you the

workout you need. Solution? Try weighted walking. Several

studies have shown that walking with hand and ankle

weights at 4mph burns more calories than running at

5mph without weights. Weighted walking effectively gets

your heart rate into the “training zone,” allowing you to

burn more calories and improve and sustain your physical

fitness and endurance.

It’s All Good

Which exercise you pick really depends on your goals.

Biking, running and walking are all great cardiovascular

exercises, and perhaps the greatest success would come

from participating in a variety of all three, if possible.

Variability is an important part of fitness, because

regardless of the exercise you choose, if you do it over

and over, you’re going to see fewer results. So change

up the ways in which you get more active and feel good

knowing that Basis is right there with you.

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Stress: How Basis can help you

The body responds to stress, worry, and anxiety in the

same ways that it responds to fear and excitement –

by activating the fight or flight system. At a chemical

level, your body releases a series of hormones, such

as adrenaline and cortisol, that make you hyper-alert,

focused, and energized, and this chemical cascade

causes heart rate, respiratory rate, and perspiration to

increase. Consider the archetypal story of the man being

chased by the bear. In the face of danger, he all of a

sudden becomes hyper-aware of his surroundings and

is able to forget everything – including injury, hunger,

or thirst –to evade his predator. He suddenly becomes

empowered with energy and strength and can do

anything to escape. This is the essence of the evolved

sympathetic nervous system, and from an evolutionary

standpoint, this was needed for survival.

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Why is stress a bad thing?

Under normal circumstances, your sympathetic nervous

system is in balance with your parasympathetic nervous

system, which can be thought of as your rest and digest

system. This system is in place to bring you back down

to normal after a stressful event. The issue today is

that, because the body handles “escaping danger” the

same way as “stressing about a deadline,” most of us

are overworking our fight or flight system, and this rest

and digest system isn’t taking over, which has lasting

consequences on our health. Consider this: cortisol,

adrenaline, and other stress-related hormones are very

useful when you need them, but in excess, can cause

increased cholesterol, so called “spare-tire” weight gain,

and high blood pressure. Not to mention negative effects

on your libido and hairline. Excess stress certainly will not

help you perform at your peak.

Because increased heart rate is an easy indicator of

stress, we can combat our stress at a chemical level by

recognizing when our heart rate is elevated, and then

working to lower it. How? One effect of an increased

heart rate is an increased breathing rate, and depending

on how you breathe, you can cause stressful situations

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to get better or worse. However, with the help of Basis

continuously monitoring your heart rate, you can use

your breath to control your heart rate, and your stress.

Controlled breathing exercises will decrease your heart

rate and stress levels by stabilizing CO2 levels in your

blood, maximizing oxygen levels in your blood, and

lowering your blood pressure, all of which will lower

the concentration of stress hormones in your body and

activate your rest and digest system.

What can you do?

Next time you’re sitting at your desk, stressed with a

deadline or otherwise, check out your heart rate. Is it

elevated? Controlling your breathing will not only lower

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your heart rate, but it will also actively decrease your

stress. Look at your heart rate on your Basis band, and

if it’s elevated, check out this Basis video to see Deepak

Chopra, M.D. demonstrate how to use your Basis band

with a breathing exercise to help reduce your stress.

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Sleep: How Basis can help you

Many people grade their sleep quality on how much they

toss and turn, or how many hours of sleep they get in

a given night – but there is actually so much more to a

good night’s rest. Lucky for you, there’s Basis.

Leveraging our Body IQ™ technology, Basis is the only

health tracker that comprehensively captures every

aspect of your sleep: REM Sleep, Deep Sleep, Light Sleep,

Toss-and-Turn, Interruptions and Duration. To help you

understand and improve your sleep quality, Basis provides

a personalized sleep dashboard with a summary of

these metrics, an easy-to-understand Sleep Score, your

benchmark for sleep quality, and rolling averages for key

metrics so you see your progress over time.

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Our online and mobile apps help you visualize your sleep

data: REM Sleep, Deep Sleep and Light Sleep - as well as

Interruptions and Toss-and-Turns.

Most Comprehensive Picture of Your Sleep

Basis automatically detects every phase of sleep that

is critical for maximizing your mental and physical

performance. Based on cutting-edge sleep science,

your sleep chart or hypnogram shows the frequency

and duration of each phase of your sleep - REM Sleep,

Deep Sleep and Light Sleep - as well as Toss-and-Turn,

Interruptions and Duration.

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REM

11:55p 8:04a

Light

Deep

Inter.

Toss.

8a7a6a5a4a3a2a1a12a

Thursday Night, 2 JAN

8 hr 9 min

REM Sleep, or Rapid Eye Movement sleep, primarily

renews the mind by playing a key role in learning and

memory. The more REM sleep you get, the more likely

you will wake feeling refreshed and ready to be the best

version of yourself throughout the day.

Deep Sleep is how the body repairs itself and build up

energy for the day ahead. Deep Sleep plays a major

role in maintaining your health, stimulating growth and

development, repairing muscles and tissues, and boosting

your immune system.

Light Sleep is typically what constitutes the majority of

your sleep and allows your body to transition into REM or

Deep Sleep.

Toss and Turn and Interruptions are good indicators of

your restlessness or restfulness. Some people toss and

turn more while others turn less. Interruptions, significant

breaks in your sleep, can be caused by many factors - a

snoring partner, a late night bathroom trip or just an

inability to stay asleep.

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Basis provides a breakdown of each phase of sleep - what

it means and how much you should be getting.

Personalized Sleep Analysis

Basis provides you with the tools to easily understand your

quality of sleep, make changes and see your progress

over time.

Sleep Score: To help you easily evaluate your sleep

quality, Basis provides a personal daily Sleep Score built

around your individual data.

Benchmarking: The Basis dashboard displays a rolling

average of key metrics - your Sleep Score, Toss and Turn

and Interruptions - to help you benchmark your progress.

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Your personalized sleep benchmarks let you track your

progress over time.

Weekly Sleep Report: To help you chart your progress

on a weekly basis, Basis sends you a Sleep Analysis Report

that includes Duration, Toss and Turn, and Interruptions.

Healthy Habits for Sleep: Our unique Healthy Habits

system enables you to take small actions like sticking to

a consistent bedtime to improve your sleep quality over

time.

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World Class Research

In developing our Advanced Sleep Analysis, the Basis

Science team partnered with researchers at the University

of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco VA

Medical Center and the Northern California Institute of

Research and Education (NCIRE). Basis was benchmarked

against consumer devices as well as medical grade

devices to provide the most comprehensive picture of

your sleep among health trackers.

Not getting enough quality sleep?

You’ll know it from your Basis sleep analysis, but you

should also be able to feel it during the day. Lack of sleep,

in particular, is what drives us to feel sleepy during the day.

And accordingly, if you change your sleep habits, you’ll

also be able to feel a difference in a positive direction.

Because Basis automatically tracks various aspects of

your sleep, you’ll quickly become aware of ‘good’ and

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‘bad’ patterns. Some common changes that people make

based on their personal data:

1. Stick to a set bedtime and wake time. This allows your

natural body clock to program your sleeping to match

your needs.

2. Make sure your room is dark and free of visual stimuli.

Turn off your lights, TV, and close the blinds. Darkness

allows a chemical called melatonin to be released, which

is one of the main players in swooning you to slumber.

3. Don’t eat right before bed. Sure, you’ve heard this

advice from your nutritionist in terms of losing weight,

but it’s also important for a good night’s sleep, because

sleep is supposed to be a restorative period for your body.

Eating before bed creates stress on your system, as it is

less able to shut down for recuperation.

Time to wake up!

With the advanced sleep-tracking technology of Basis,

you can now understand and monitor all measures

of your sleep. You don’t need to set a special mode or

anything, just drift off to Dreamland. Basis will take care of

the rest. From there, simply listen to your what your Basis

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tells you about your sleep quality, and let Basis help you

alter your habits to improve one of the simplest and best

therapies for our bodies: sleep.

More Than A Fitness Tracker - The World’s Most Advanced Health Tracker

The bottom line is that the Basis band is the only product

on the market that approaches your health from a holistic,

multi-dimensional angle – Basis doesn’t simply focus on

fitness, caloric burn, and weight loss like the other guys;

rather, Basis incorporates those into the larger picture

of your health to help you form healthy habits to get fit,

stress less, sleep better.

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Managing high-performance work, weekend adventures,

stress, life chores and family time requires superhuman

abilities. We want to help people do it all - supercharge

their life 24/7. That’s why we created the most advanced

health tracking system (most sensors and Body IQ™) to

blend the right balance of work, rest and play into your

schedule.

If knowledge about your body is power, then Basis is all

about giving you super powers.

What are you waiting for? Get Basis today!

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Larson-Meyer et al. (2011). Influence of Running and Walking on

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Applied Physiology. 62(4): 1497-1501. Retrieved from here.

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