Firstbeat Life Helped Saija Sunnari Identify Moments of Recovery During Work, Training and Family Life

Physiotherapist, fitness coach and long-time fitness professional Saija Sunnari is accustomed to looking at the human body from both a coach’s and an athlete’s perspective. Over the years, she has worked with a wide range of sports, from athletics, weightlifting and cheerleading to Finnish baseball and alpine skiing. Most recently, she concluded an eight-year period as the fitness coach of the Finnish women’s national ice hockey team.  

Saija also has a strong sport background of her own. Originally from Kainuu and now based in Jyväskylä, Finland, Saija has competed successfully in weightlifting, winning several Finnish Championship medals over the years. 

“I’ve always been interested in the human body. I’ve worked in fitness training and coaching for a long time, and my own sports background is strongly rooted in strength events.” 

Travel, Coaching and Family Life

Saija’s everyday life is anything but a steady nine-to-five routine. Her work with the Finnish women’s national ice hockey team involved a lot of travel and coaching often takes place in the evenings and on weekends. At home, she has a partner and a child of primary school age. 

“There isn’t really a regular daily routine when you travel a lot. Often the workday stretches out until the evening, even if that doesn’t mean working a continuous 12-hour shift.” 

From a recovery perspective, the biggest challenge is that work has no clear boundaries. As a coach, she is available to her athletes most of the day. On the other hand, the irregular work schedule also offers flexibility: she can fit in her own workout in the middle of the day if she is able—and willing—to make room for it. 

“I’ve had to remind myself that if I have a moment for myself, I try to make use of it. The same applies to recovery. If an opportunity to rest and recover comes up, it’s worth taking!” 

In the Lift & Lead Group, Firstbeat Measurements Became a Shared Learning Experience 

Saija was familiar with the previous version of Firstbeat measurements that she completed years ago. The biggest change is the ability to now monitor the body’s responses through the app already during the measurement. 

“It’s a huge improvement that you can monitor your recovery in real time. When you understand the subject to some extent yourself, you can react: If my stress levels are really high today, what could I change tomorrow to make room for recovery during the day?” 

This time, Saija took part in Firstbeat measurements as part of the Lift & Lead group. Originally formed around CrossFit, the group has grown into a close-knit community that shares thoughts and experiences about parenthood, work, exercise, and wellbeing. 

Reviewing the results as a group added a sense of peer support to the experience. They discussed the results with each other, sometimes comparing them playfully and learning from one another. 

“We had a little internal ‘competition’, even though we weren’t competing over points. We have such different everyday lives and work schedules that the results can’t really be compared directly. But it was interesting to reflect on our results together and compare what caused stress or boosted recovery for different people.” 

Saija found her discussion with Firstbeat’s Tiina Hoffman particularly valuable. 

“Even as a professional myself, it was interesting to discuss my own results with a Firstbeat coach to understand them better. Data doesn’t always speak for itself, even when the result is clear. It helps when someone puts the result into the context of everyday life. That gives them meaning.” 

Image 1: Saija’s work is irregular and her days sometimes stretch well into the evening. She has learned to make use of free moments between work for her own training or recovery.

The Data Confirmed What She Was Already Feeling

Saija’s recovery has also been affected by hereditary structural sleep apnoea. Before her diagnosis, her nights were “all red” from a Firstbeat measurement perspective—and that was exactly how they felt. Once the sleep apnoea was diagnosed and she started using a mandibular advancement device, her sleep quality began to improve significantly. The change is now also visible in her Firstbeat Life measurements. 

“I’m a light sleeper, but overall, my nights are better nowadays. It’s been nice to see from the measurements that I’m starting to find the right balance with my treatment.” 

Although Saija knows her body well, Firstbeat measurements have provided valuable insights. Once in a while, the data has shown delayed recovery on a night that felt good, but often, the measurements have confirmed something she had already sensed in her body. 

“When I feel that I’m recovering, I often also reach the green zone in the measurement. But sometimes the measurement helps me consciously identify moments of recovery that I can replicate in my everyday life. One such observation was related to late workouts.” 

“I’ve never liked training late in the evening, and the measurements showed me that a late workout delays my recovery during sleep. Maybe that natural feeling I had was right.” 

The data also brought some positive surprises. On backcountry skiing days, when getting up the mountain involves strenuous uphill skiing and being active for several hours, Saija expected her sleep to suffer from the heavy physical load. The measurements told a different story. 

“It was great to see that even though I was physically active for five to eight hours, the night wasn’t that bad in terms of sleep. Maybe my fitness has improved, or perhaps it was the kind of physical load that suited my body.” 

Travel, Coaching and Family Life

As a coach, Saija has always believed in listening to the body and structuring training appropriately. Firstbeat reinforced this way of thinking even further. 

During CrossFit training, she deliberately has an easier week approximately every fourth week. The load from the rest of her life also influences the type of training she chooses. 

“If I know I have a demanding week at work, I don’t do too many hard workouts. I deliberately choose lighter sessions to make the week easier. It’s important to take the overall load into account.” 

Saija emphasizes that performance doesn’t come from hard training alone. There needs to be room for variation, and moments of recovery need to be deliberately built into the day. 

“In elite sports, you need to be able to push hard, but you can’t separate that from listening to your body. It’s about how much you value each signal that your body is giving you.” 

“If I know I’m going to be coaching in the evening, I try to prioritize a moment of recovery for myself earlier in the day. These are the kinds of changes I’ve started making since using Firstbeat measurements.” 

Saija is happy that her sleep has improved. Next, she would like to further improve her aerobic fitness. While strength and speed sports are familiar territory for her, the importance of aerobic fitness for coping with everyday life has become increasingly clear. Firstbeat’s Fitness Level test, based on 30 mins of walking, gave her a concrete way to measure this, and Saija has managed to raise her result to an excellent level. 

”Small changes made a difference. I wanted to improve my result to make sure my aerobic fitness is good enough also from the perspective of everyday life.”

“Cars Are Inspected Regularly—So Why Not Us?” 

According to Saija, the measurement is particularly valuable when you want to make changes in your everyday life or gain a better understanding of your current situation. In her view, Firstbeat helps you see everyday life as a whole, by showing how sleep, work, training, family, and everything else in life combine to create the overall load. 

“At least you know where you stand. Cars are inspected regularly—so why shouldn’t we be?” 

“If you want to make changes in your life or work towards a goal, it helps to have some data. The goal doesn’t have to be athletic; it can simply be about having more energy to cope at work.” 

For active women, entrepreneurs, and people leading busy lives, Saija has a clear message: recovery shouldn’t be postponed until later. 

“We often think, ‘I’ll have time to recover later.’ But taking care of your energy and wellbeing is the most important thing. Everything starts from there.” 

 “There are times when you need to push hard, but that needs to be followed by a pause. The better your everyday life supports you, the more energy you have on a holiday to do things that you like to do. I now have confidence that my sleep is in a better place, and I know to make time for recovery. Variation in your days is a good way to take care of your energy and wellbeing.” 

Ultimately, Saija’s most important insight from her Firstbeat Life experience is the same principle she emphasizes to others as a coach: the body tells you a lot, but you need to pause and listen to what it is saying.