How to pick
the right fitness
tracker for you.
Get the most advanced
health tracker on your wrist.
Copyright © 2014 Basis Science
1
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.
1
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.
2
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
3
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, Accelerometerbased 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,
4
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,
5
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,
6
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
7
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.
8
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
9
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
10
2
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.
11
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.
12
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-
13
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.
14
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 weightbearing 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
15
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.
16
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.
17
3
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.
18
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
19
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
20
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.
21
4
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.
22
Thursday Night, 2 JAN
11:55p
8:04a
8 hr 9 min
REM
Light
Deep
Inter.
Toss.
12a
1a
2a
3a
4a
5a
6a
7a
8a
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.
23
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.
24
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.
25
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.
26
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
27
‘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
28
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.
5
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.
29
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!
30
Works Cited
Cleveland Clinic. The Cleveland Clinic Health Information Center
[Internet]. Cleveland (OH): The Clinic; c2013. Stress Management
and Your Heart; 2013 [cited 2013 Sep 21]. Available here.
Cline, J. (2010). The Mystery of Deep Sleep: What is Deep Sleep and
Why is it Important. Sleepless in America. Retrieved here.
Division of Sleep Medicine (2007a). The Characteristics of Sleep.
Retrieved from Harvard Medical School website.
Division of Sleep Medicine (2007b). Natural Patterns of Sleep.
Retrieved from Harvard Medical School website.
Dr. Fred Meunch in: Thompson C. You’re Breathing All Wrong. Men’s
Journal [Internet]. 2009 Jun [cited 2013 Sep 23]; Retrieved from here.
Harvard Heart Letter (2004). Calories burned in 30 minutes for
people of three different weights. Retrieved from Harvard Health
Publications: Harvard Medical School website.
Impellizzeri, F.M. and S.M. Marcora (2007). The physiology of
mountain biking. Sports Medicine Journal. 37(1): 59-71
Koval’zon, V.M. (2011). Central mechanisms of the sleepwakefulness cycle control. Human Physiology. 37(4): 124-134 doi:
10.1134/S0362119711040116
31
Larson-Meyer et al. (2011). Influence of Running and Walking on
Hormonal Regulators of Appetite in Women. Journal of Obesity.
2012(730409): 1-15. Retrieved from here.
Marshall et al. (2006). Boosting slow oscillations during sleep
potentiates memory. Nature. 444(7119): 610-613. Retrieved from
here.
Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
[Internet]. Rochester (MN): Mayo Clinic; c2013. Chronic stress puts
your health at risk; 2013 [cited 2013 Sep 21]; Available here.
Miller, J.F. and B.A. Stamford (1987). Intensity and energy cost
of weighted walking vs. running for men and women. Journal of
Applied Physiology. 62(4): 1497-1501. Retrieved from here.
Morris, J.N. and A.E. Hardman (1997). Walking to Health. Journal of
Sports Medicine. 23(5): 306-332. Retrieved from here.
Murphy et al. (2002). Accumulating brisk walking for fitness,
cardiovascular risk, and psychological health. Medicine & Science in
Sports & Exercise. 34(9):1468-1474 Retrieved from here.
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (US).
Relaxation Techniques for Health: An Introduction [Internet]. Health
Information. Bethesda (MD): National Institutes of Health (US); 2011
Aug [cited 2013 Sept 21]; NIH Pub. No: D461. Retrieved from here.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (n.d.). Brain
Basics: Understanding Sleep. Retrieved from National Institute of
Health website.
32