A Sleep Lab Wrapped Around Your Finger: The Oura Ring Guide for Men Over 50

For Men over 50, we grew up thinking sleep was for the weak.

“Suck it up, cupcake, you can sleep on the weekend” is something I’m pretty sure I heard someone tell me back in 1987 when we were working 12+ hours a day on an out of town job.

Note: I’m Level 58 so stories tend to get embellished with the passage of time but the core of the memory is true.

That line of thinking may still exist in some circles but every biohacking expert and wannabe on the internet is telling us about the importance of sleep.

And most of the advice I see (while mostly recycled) is usually spot on.

Sleep plays a vital role in our overall well-being, especially as we age. As men over 50, it becomes even more crucial to prioritize sleep, optimize readiness, and maintain healthy activity levels.

Today we'll explore the power of the Oura Ring, a cutting-edge wearable device that can revolutionize your sleep quality and help you achieve peak performance.

We'll also tap into the wisdom of renowned biohacking and health experts, Ben Greenfield, Dr. Rhonda Patrick, and Dr. Matthew Walker, who have valuable insights to share.

I’ll also share some of my personal experiences as a satisfied Oura ring user (since 2020).

Understanding the Oura Ring

The Oura Ring is a sleek, lightweight wearable device that seamlessly tracks your sleep, readiness, and activity levels. It employs advanced sensors to monitor your body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, and movement, providing valuable data insights.

The ring connects to a companion mobile app, which displays the collected data in an easy-to-understand format and provides detailed insights and recommendations based on your sleep and activity patterns.

The Oura ring starts at $299 and has a monthly membership fee of $5.99.

Optimizing Sleep Quality

One of the primary focuses of the Oura Ring is improving sleep quality. Dr. Matthew Walker, a renowned sleep scientist and author of "Why We Sleep," emphasizes the importance of achieving deep, restorative sleep. The Oura Ring precisely tracks your sleep stages, helping you understand the quality and duration of your slumber. By identifying patterns and making adjustments, you can optimize your sleep environment, bedtime routine, and overall sleep hygiene.

Below is one of my recent sleep scores. A great night for me is when REM and Deep sleep combined are greater than 50%. Scores in red indicate an area that needs improvement. If you tap on any of the contributors, an explanation is provided along with tips to improve.

Paying Attention to Sleep Latency

Sleep latency refers to the time it takes for you to fall asleep after getting into bed. A prolonged sleep latency can affect sleep quality and overall restfulness. According to biohacking expert Ben Greenfield, using the Oura Ring to measure sleep latency can help you identify potential issues, such as caffeine consumption, evening exposure to blue light, or excessive mental stimulation before bed.

According to Oura, falling asleep in less than 5 minutes may be a sign that you’re overtired and not getting enough sleep relative to your needs.

Monitoring Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

Heart Rate Variability is a powerful indicator of overall health and readiness. Dr. Rhonda Patrick, a leading expert in nutritional health and longevity, suggests that tracking HRV can help you gauge your body's ability to handle stress. The Oura Ring's HRV measurements provide insights into your autonomic nervous system, enabling you to make informed decisions about recovery strategies, stress management, and exercise intensity.

Discovering Optimal Bedtime Window

Did you know that your sleep quality can be influenced by the timing of your sleep? The Oura Ring analyzes your circadian rhythm and identifies your optimal bedtime window. By aligning your sleep with natural body rhythms, you can achieve more restful and rejuvenating slumber.

Analyzing Readiness Score

Your readiness score is a comprehensive measure of your physical and mental state. It takes into account factors such as sleep quality, recovery, and previous day's activity levels. Monitoring this score empowers you to make informed decisions about training intensity, work commitments, and overall daily priorities.

Side note: my readiness score (shown below) has increased from 76 to nearly 90 since I started Whole30 and eliminated alcohol and caffeine. I’ve also noticed increases in strength in the gym. Coincidence or causation?

Utilizing Napping Wisely

Napping can be a powerful tool for enhancing cognitive performance and combating fatigue. However, the timing and duration of your naps are crucial.

According to Dr. Matthew Walker, shorter power naps taken earlier in the day can improve alertness and prevent interfering with nighttime sleep.

A 30-minute nap around mid-afternoon has been shown to improve night-time sleep quality for older adults.

The Oura Ring's sleep tracking feature can help you experiment with different nap durations and timings to find what works best for you.

Exploring Activity Tracking

The Oura Ring goes beyond sleep monitoring, also tracking your daily activity levels.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick advises that combining sleep tracking with activity data allows for a more comprehensive understanding of how your lifestyle choices affect your sleep quality. The ring provides valuable insights on your steps, calories burned, and sedentary behavior, encouraging you to make healthier choices and maintain an active lifestyle.

The Oura ring will remind you if you have been sedentary too long. Aim for no more than 8 - 9 hours of inactivity per day (less is better but not easy). If your inactive time exceeds 10 hours, it’s a good idea to take action.

Promoting Consistency and Routine

Both Dr. Matthew Walker and Ben Greenfield highlight the importance of maintaining a consistent sleep routine. The Oura Ring's insights can help you establish healthy habits by tracking your bedtime regularity, wake-up times, and sleep efficiency. Consistency is key to optimizing sleep quality and overall well-being.

My weekday and weekend bedtimes and wake-up times are usually within 10 minutes of each other. It’s a big part of how I improved my average sleep score from 78 in 2020 to 88 in 2023.

The Triple Crown

When you score 85 or higher in readiness, sleep or activity Oura awards you a crown. Achieving 85 or higher in all three areas earns you a Triple Crown.

The Triple Crown took on increased significance since Oura added Circles, a private group you create to share high level data, offer support and create community.

Circles also adds a level of accountability via community. Knowing a group of friends are going to be seeing my scores helps me make better choices.

One of our guys in the Argent Alpha Circles group wants to have a challenge to see who can collect the most Triple Crowns. Some may laugh at the idea of “competitive sleeping” but if it helps improve your outcomes, why not?

Oura does a good job of gamifying sleep and the Crown and Circles features support that.

But if the idea of sharing data isn’t appealing or creates stress, Circles is optional. You can keep all of your data completely private.

Personalizing Your Journey

Each individual's sleep needs and responses to lifestyle factors vary. The Oura Ring, with its continuous tracking and personalized insights, enables you to discover what works best for you. It empowers you to fine-tune your sleep habits, stress management techniques, and activity levels based on data-driven recommendations.

Conclusion

The Oura Ring is a game-changer for men over 50 seeking to improve their sleep, readiness, and activity levels.

By utilizing its advanced features and heeding the advice of biohacking experts like Ben Greenfield, Dr. Rhonda Patrick, and Dr. Matthew Walker, you can embark on a journey of optimized sleep and overall well-being.

Take control of your health, embrace the power of the Oura Ring, and unlock your true potential for a vibrant and fulfilling life!

If you are a Man over 50 with a growth mindset, I would like you to take the next step and make an investment in your most valuable asset: YOU.

Our process, community, accountability and focus on results works for successful Men. But you have to believe in yourself. You need to be willing to bet on yourself. That’s why having a growth mindset is so important.

Go to our website and apply now. You’ll hear back from me personally within 24 hours.

Jag