Zeo Sleep Tracker - these are the days of miracles and wonders

Dave Tallo

I just got a Zeo  ( http://www.myzeo.com&#160 and I AM HOOKED (I haven't had a similar "now this is going to be helpful" response to a gizmo - tri or otherwise - in a long time, so I thought I would post an endorsement).  

Think "Polar HR for your head."    $99 for the ipod /pad / etc version.  (edit: I think around $130 same for the non-ipod, alarm-clock style model)

I might start to monkey with my tracker a bit to enter mood, morning HR and daily CTL and TSS to see if there's further trending and the training / recovery interplay.  For the time being, though, it's pretty clear that I am perpetually deprived of deep and REM sleep, and there's some major work to do. 

I think this thing is going to be a Big Player in my training this year. 

Steven Ford

WOW,  I have been told that my sleep patterns are linked to my high BP and other issues. Does it store the info get stored for a bit so I could use it against my BP readings in morning as well, so I could coorelate them?

Keep us posted.

mgraffeo

Interested to hear more about your impressions when adding all of that data.

[Deleted User]

 Wow, this thing looks pretty awesome. I think my next "big" purchase is going to be something of this sort that helps out with my sleep. I'll admit that my sleeping habits *suck*, and that's probably my biggest limitation in getting in quality morning workouts and proper recovery. This is something that I'm aiming to fix this season...

Here's a nifty tool that I sometimes use to calculate when I should wake up based on my sleep cycles. Basically, it suggests that you sleep for some multiple of 90 min so you don't wake up in a middle of a sleep cycle and feel all crappy and groggy.

http://sleepyti.me/

wareagledusty

I got the Zeo for Christmas and have absolutely loved using it. Once you get past the "dork factor" of wearing a headband, my wife rolls her eyes at me almost every night, it is a really cool too. I am guilty of burning the candle at both ends and the Zeo has forced me to pay attention to sleep quantity and quality. I am making a conscious effort to get my sleep number over 90 every night because I can tell when I don't, it impacts both my workouts and my general feeling of well-being during the day. I can't say enough about the tool and how it has forced me to pay attention to quality sleep and recovery. Check out DC Rainmakers blog post on the Zeo.

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/12/zeo-in-depth-product-review.html

coop6

The 'dork factor' regarding the headband concerns me as well.... I endure enough eye rolling from the family as it is I have pretty bad insomnia, and my husband recently gave me the smack down on really addressing the problem so this device interests me. I'm curious though, how do you use this information to get more and better sleep? I don't need a device to tell me I'm not getting enough, I've got that part figured out. How exactly do you get your sleep number over a certain number?

Kevin Walter

It sounds interesting, but I am a bit concerned about the "black box" sort of nature of it all. I wonder about how accurately "brain waves" really reflect sleep and sleep quality. If the science isn't strongly behind this then you could easily find yourself chasing a "sleep number" that doesn't really reflect anything in reality.

mgraffeo

Kevin, I don't have the references at my fingertips (I'll pull a few), but the science on theta/delta brain waves and sleep cycles is pretty solid, as I've had it explained to me by a dude doing his masters' work on the topic. As to how those elements of the sleep cycle interact with recovery from athletic efforts, I think the science gets a little more spotty.

I'd think that a few weeks with a Zeo, and correlating it with how you're feeling in the morning when you wake up, would give a pretty good idea of how an individual is responding.

Side note for those with iPhones, there's an app called Sleep Cycle which claims to be able to use your relative amount of movement (sensed by the accelerometer in the phone) to determine where in the sleep cycle you are, and wake you up when you're sleeping the lightest. Also shows you a graphical output of the sleep you were in the previous night. I've been using it for about 6 months, and find it very, very helpful. Doesn't give you a summary of time spent in each 'zone', but not too difficult to eyeball. For $5, it's worth trying.

[Deleted User]

Well, I jumped the gun and bought one for myself...

I've only used this for two nights, and I'll have to say that this thing is *awesome*. It's really cool having metrics about the hours of the day when you're completely unconscious. I would say that if you're having trouble managing sleep or just curious about your sleeping patterns, give it a shot.

I tend to have really crappy sleeping habits because I'd rather be staying up late wasting time on my computer. Ever since I bought this, I've been actually wanting to sleep just so I could play with my new gadget (you know the feeling of wanting to ride really badly once your PM arrives in the mail, right?)

Coach Patrick

FWIW, I have been using RestWise to track my basic metrics, and while it doesn't tell me the TYPE of sleep I am getting, simply tracking my sleep hours has shown that I wasn't getting enough, so I have adjusted it.