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Jeff Sutherland

Twice the Energy with Half the Stress

Scrum in Healthcare: Body Battery and Intensity Minutes

In Scrum we learn to deliver twice the value at half the cost. That means for all aspects of healthcare we want to radically increase positive health outcomes while radically reducing costs. And we want real data in real time showing that we are actually doing this and data that we can show our physicians and our friends that shatters their skepticism and allows them to look at real science.

As discussed previously, the Garmin Watch is one of the best tools for real time measurement of physical health parameters. We have shown that the ROM machine 4 minute workout can deliver all the exercise you need for a day and the nitric oxide dump exercise can deliver a 150 minute workout in the gym in 3 minutes. This is the kind of performance we want to see in Scrum.

The Body Battery metric on the Garmin Watch shows energy level throughout the day and Intensity Minutes is the metric used for amount of exercise. So we want to maximize the Intensity Minutes per unit of loss of Body Battery. This is the Scrum Way.

This morning I chose an elliptical machine workout (takes a lot longer than the ROM machine), the nitric oxide dump, and then jumped in a sauna at 130 degrees for 20 minutes followed by a shower. The sauna and shower are incredibly effective at generating Intensity Minutes for almost no work. I stay in the sauna until the Garmin Watch says abnormally high pulse rate (119 bpm in this case) and then get out.

The graph below shows the cost in Body Battery points. It says I spend 35 points and charge up 8 points. Actually I spent about 7 points getting up and eating breakfast, then did the nitric oxide dump and 19 minutes on the elliptical machine which cost me about 20 points. After being down these 27 points I lost another 8 points by 20 minutes in the sauna, doing the laundry, installing a new shower head, and taking a shower. So the cost of the elliptical workout plus the sauna and shower cost me about 28 points. This was followed by work in my lab at the computer which is creatively organized so I gained 8 Body Battery points as I am writing. I love getting more energy by working. This is the Scrum Way.

The chart below shows Intensity Minutes generated. The Garmin Watch only recommended 200 points a week for me but today I have almost 600 points and the week is not over. The elliptical workout gave me a sharp jump in Intensity Points but the sauna and the shower gave me a much bigger jump. I have 75 Intensity Minutes for the day so far and only 11 points came from the elliptical workout and 64 points came from the sauna and the shower. To me, the sauna and the shower are like doing nothing for 64 points.

So at the end of the day I gained 75 Intensity Points at the cost of 28 Body Battery points. Getting almost 3 times as many workout points per energy point is incredibly efficient. I challenge anyone to do better and report it in the comments using your Garmin Watch data!

As I finished this blog item I have gained 15 energy points while writing (just looked at the latest real time watch data). So work cost me no energy points. I just get more energy so I can be more active, more focused, more productive and have more fun. This is the Scrum Way.