Looking for better sleep? Try Sleep Cycle

George Guerin/Fitness Blogger By George Guerin/Fitness Blogger
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on April 11, 2013 at 10:43 AM, updated April 11, 2013 at 11:10 AM
With all of the distractions and stress of everyday life, sleep quality is slipping. Too many people suffer sleep disorders. I recently found a great app that may help: Sleep Cycle. It's available now on iOS and can help you identify factors that are affecting your sleep positively and negatively.

Before you go to bed, set the alarm on the sleep app and place it on your bed where it won't fall off. The app uses the accelerometer that is built in your device that tracks movement while you are sleeping throughout the night. The alarm tracks when you are in your most awake state around that time period the alarm is set and gently wakes you up with a soft alarm. Traditionally, a general night’s sleep occurs in 90 minute cycles and this reflects that theory by showing you when you are in a deep sleep, asleep, and awake based on your movement. So if you are tossing in turning throughout the night, this app can sense that provide feedback.

As part of setting your alarm, the app asked you about your daily activity leading up to bed time. You can check the following items: had a coffee or tea, ate late, worked out, had a stressful day. You can also add your own, such as took a nap.

When you shut the alarm off in the morning, the display shows how long you were in bed, calculates your sleep quality into a percentage based on your movement. After five days of data, the app graphs for you a range of sleep quality statistics such as your sleep quality percentage day-to-day, the sleep notes (such as drank coffee) effects on sleep quality, and other useful facts and figures about how you sleep. The only downfall of the app would be if you share your bed with a partner or pet whose movement which could affect your data.

Although this may not solve everyone’s sleep disorders or improve your night’s sleep at all, the information you provide will make you think about how your daily life affects the way you sleep. The app is definitely worth a shot, plus it’s free!