Measure Your Health from Home
A basic guide to preventative health and getting the most bang for your buck on smart devices and health tests.
Tracking health metrics has never been more convenient, but with countless options, its hard to know whats most valuable.
This guide will break down the best labs, smart devices, and fitness tests to invest in for continuously monitoring your health and getting the most out of health tracking with Vital.
Why Measure Health on Your Own?
The default preventative health program in America is the basic annual check-up with your doctor. It is important and valuable but not frequent or thorough enough to catch most diseases and conditions before they start affecting your life. By monitoring key biomarkers with smart devices and preventative testing, you can catch many warning signs much earlier than you will waiting for symptoms to show up.
Health monitoring is essential for preventative health and continuous improvement. Whether you are training to be an elite athlete or an elite mom, tracking your biomarkers will help you measure progress as you maximize performance and quality of life.
Finally, we all love trying new things and are guilty of hopping on the occasional health trend train. The more biomarkers you track with Vital the more you can have peace of mind that the results of your experiments will be measured objectively so you can discover what healthstyle works best for you.
Smart Devices
Best for everyday health monitoring, smart devices offer an affordable way to measure many important biomarkers for vitality related to fitness, heart health, energy, sleep, and stress.
Here are our top recommendations:
#1 - Body Composition Scales
Smart scales use bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to provide body composition metrics like body fat percentage, bone mass, and visceral fat index. They are probably the best overall bang for your buck as you can find them for as low as $30. Although BIA is not the most accurate method of measuring these biomarkers with error margins ranging from 3-8%, they are definitely still accurate enough to be very useful for providing close estimates and analyzing trends.
Key Biomarkers: Body Fat %, Bone Mass, Basal Metabolic Rate, Muscle Mass, Visceral Fat Index.
Price: $20 - $400
#2 - Wearables
Wearables are probably the first thing most people think of when it comes to health tracking. Apple Watches, Aura Rings, Whoop Straps.. anything that you wear that provides health analytics is considered a wearable. Owning a wearable is an essential part of becoming a more measured human as they can track daily fitness levels, heart health, and sleep. When buying a wearable make sure you do some research to find a device that is both accurate and tracks all the data you care about most.
Key Biomarkers: VO2 Max, Heart Rate Variability, Resting Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate, Blood Oxygen, Avg. Sleep Duration, Heart Rate Recovery, Basal Metabolic Rate, Avg. Walking Speed, Max Heart Rate, ECG, Sleep Quality.
Price: $50 - $800
#3 - Blood Pressure Monitors
High blood pressure (hypertension) often has no symptoms, yet it’s a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and kidney problems. Regular monitoring at home helps detect any increases in blood pressure early, allowing for timely lifestyle adjustments or medical intervention. Blood pressure is also an indicator of stress, physical activity, sleep, and diet. Measuring from home enables you to observe trends over time and can be more accurate than for those who experience “white coat hypertension” at the doctor's office.
Key Biomarkers: Systolic Blood Pressure, Diastolic Blood Pressure, Mean Arterial Pressure, Pulse Pressure.
Price: $30 - $150
#4 - Continuous Glucose Monitors
Monitoring your glucose levels helps you understand how food, stress, exercise, and sleep affect your blood sugar. Managing glucose levels can help you maintain consistent energy, mood, and cognitive performance throughout the day. These devices are not cheap, costing around $100 to $300 per month, but are essential for people with diabetes and can help you better understand how nutrition and meal timing affect your vitality.
Key Biomarkers: Blood Sugar Fluctuations, Peak Blood Sugar, Fasting Glucose.
Price: $90 - $500
#5 - Sleep Trackers
Sleep is foundational to excellent health, however, not everyone is comfortable sleeping with a wearable. If you are one of these people, you should consider getting a standalone sleep tracker so your Vital score can be more accurate. There are plenty of interesting options to choose from in this space, from apps that can use your phone’s microphone to temperature-changing mattresses.
Key Biomarkers: Avg. Sleep Duration, Sleep Quality.
Price: $0 - $300
Labs
Smart devices are amazing for tracking day-to-day health and measuring trends, but labs are equally important for getting a holistic picture of your health status. There are many options to consider especially if you have a specific concern. If you don’t know where to start, here are our top recommendations for measuring vitality:
#1 - Comprehensive Blood Panels
There are many companies today that offer a collection of blood tests in a single kit. These typically cover all the essential measurements regarding diseases, organ function, nutrient deficiency, and immune health. We are constantly bombarded with health advice from influencers and experts promoting diets, supplements, and everything else. The advice is essentially useless if you do not know what your nutrient deficiencies are or the state of your organs. Nutritional sufficiency is essential for proper bodily function and comprehensive blood panels are the best way to understand what you need the most and to measure which interventions are working or falling short of what they promise.
Key Biomarkers: Vitamin D, B12, Folate, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, Calcium, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Ferritin, Sodium, Potassium, Chloride, Bicarbonate, Creatnine, BUN/Creatnine Ratio, Total Protein, Albumin, Aspartate Aminotransferase, Alkaline Phosphate, Bilirubin, Blood Urea Nitrogen, Zonulin, Alanine Transaminase, Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase, eGFR, Uric Acid, C-reactive protein, HDL Cholesterol, LDL:HDL Cholesterol Ratio, Triglycerides, ApoB.
Price: $100 - $500
#2 - Hormone Panels
Hormones regulate metabolism, mood, energy, sleep, and other essential functions. Getting a hormone panel done every six months or so can help you discover imbalances causing depression, fatigue, fertility challenges, and weight changes. This is an important lab to get done if you want to maximize your vitality and feel your best every day.
Key Biomarkers: Estrogen, Progesterone, Testosterone, DHEA, Cortisol, Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin, Free Testosterone.
Price: $100 - $400
#3 - Gut Health Tests
Gut health tests provide a comprehensive look at how well your digestive system functions and its impact on your immune system, mental health, and overall wellness. These indicators can reveal underlying issues contributing to systemic inflammation, which is linked to various health problems, from autoimmune conditions to chronic fatigue. Gut health issues like IBS are so common today many think of there daily discomforts as normal, but they are certainly not. You deserve to and can feel great all day and testing your gut health is a great place to start.
Key Biomarkers: Gut Microbiome Diversity, Calprotectin Levels, Zonulin.
Price: $200 - $500
#4 - DNA Tests
These are tests everyone should do at least once. DNA and ancestry-based health tests can provide invaluable insights into genetic predispositions and personal health risks. For many people, these tests determine which biomarkers they need to prioritize to prevent disease, increase healthspan, and maximize vitality. Some DNA tests also measure telomere length and mitochondrial DNA mutations which can determine the biological age of your body and organs.
Key Biomarkers: Genetic Predispositions for Disease, ApoE, Mitochondrial DNA Mutations.
Price: $100 - $300
Fitness Tests
As long as you have access to basic gym equipment these tests come at zero cost. Fitness tests offer a non-intrusive way to measure health as there are many studies correlating ability levels to healthspan and all-cause mortality.
Here are our top recommendations:
#1 - VO2 Max Tests
A VO2 max test measures your body’s maximum oxygen uptake during intense exercise. Research shows that higher VO2 max levels are associated with greater longevity and lower mortality risk. It’s considered one of the best indicators of overall health, as it reflects both physical fitness and the body’s ability to handle stress. Note: some wearables like Apple Watches provide VO2 max estimates and are a fine substitute for VO2 max tests.
Key Biomarkers: VO2 Max, Max Heart Rate
Price: $100 - $250
#2 - Grip Tests
You can test your grip strength either by hanging from a pull-up bar or by using a dynamometer which you can find for as low as $25 online. Grip is strongly correlated with lifespan as its both an indicator of overall strength and important for preventing life-threatening falls with age.
Key Biomarkers: Grip Strength, 1RM Dead Hang.
Price: $25 - $200
#3 - Strength Tests
Physical strength is essential for performing daily activities, enhancing metabolic function, and reducing injury risk. In conjunction with mobility and balance, maintaining strength as you age helps you keep your independence and enjoy the activities you love.
Key Biomarkers: 1RM Squat, 1RM Deadlift, 1RM Bench Press, 1RM Hang, Vertical Jump Height, Pushup Capacity.
Price: $0
#4 - Balance Tests
Balance tests are crucial because they assess your body’s ability to stay stable and coordinated, which is key to overall health and safety. Great balance helps you lower risk of falling, improve athletic performance, and support good posture. Not only does balance improve athletic performance but it can also indicate neurological health. Balance tests like the sit-to-stand test are easy to do and helpful for tracking overall vitality.
Key Biomarkers: Sit-to-Stand Test, Single Leg Balance
Price: $0
So, Which Should I Choose?
We know it’s not realistic to recommend that everybody buy all these devices or do all of these tests right away. When you are deciding what to do first, we suggest thinking about what symptoms you might be experiencing and what will give you the most valuable insights.
If you have no preference, we recommend starting with a DNA test, a comprehensive blood panel, and buying a wearable. This is a great start and will help you identify genetic predispositions to disease, discover any nutrient deficiencies, and provide a way to track important vitality indicators day-to-day.
How Do I Evaluate My Results?
The best way to evaluate health results is to consult with your doctor, reference any information provided with your test or device, and sync your data with Vital to accurately track your Total Vitality and get data-driven insights on improving your well-being.