Garmin is arguably the premier name infitness tracking, a brand that’s built up a dedicated following thanks to reliable metrics and sensible devices that put useability over bells and whistles. Part of what makesGarmin devicesso impressive is the company’s software, with great ways to understand what your stats actually mean. Foremost among these is Body Battery, a score designed to tell you how much you have in the tank before a workout. Here’s how it works.
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What is Garmin Body Battery?
Body Battery is similar to your training readiness, in that it effectively estimates how much energy you have before you embark on an exercise or activity.
Garmin works out your Body Battery score using your heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), and movement data - all of which you can access at a glance if you have one of the company’s recent devices on your wrist. “The goal of this analysis is to identify meaningful physiological states and to describe the impact they have on your body’s energy levels,” the companystates on its website.
For ease of readability, Garmin breaks down your Body Battery score into one of four bands: low, medium, high and very high reserve energy. All four cover an equally-divided range from 0-100, and let you know broadly how well you’re likely to be able to perform, ensuring that you don’t take on too mountainous a task if your body isn’t ready for it.
Most Garmin devices won’t generate a Body Battery Score until you wear one for at least a week.
How does Body Battery work?
While those three data types are the ones that Body Battery uses, it combines them intelligently with a heavy reliance on continuous data; Body Battery won’t work if you don’t wear your tracker for long periods of time, or you frequently take it off at night.
The feature needs to see the impact of exercise, stress levels, inactivity and sleep on your body over a long period of time to accurately predict what to expect from yourself. In fact, most Garmin devices won’t generate a Body Battery Score until you wear one for at least a week.
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What is Garmin Body Battery for?
As we’ve mentioned, Body Battery is a useful tool for getting a sense of when you should train, and when you’re not in the best place for it.
Your score will go up and down throughout the day as your wearable predicts your energy levels based on past data, although this doesn’t mean that a low score indicates you shouldn’t train.
After all, the only way to get fitter is to exercise, so you’re going to have to train sometime. At its best, Body Battery will give you a better sense of when it’s the best time for you to train.
Which devices support Garmin Body Battery?
Of course, if you want to know what devices support Body Battery or to ensure your wearable includes it, we’ve got a handy list for you to peruse.
Garmin Body Battery devices
How does Body Battery differ from regular sleep tracking?
As it turns out, two of the most important factors in determining if your body is ready to exert itself are the amount and quality of sleep you got the night before. “Body Battery energy monitoring complements Garmin sleep-related insights with a 24-hour perspective that links night and day,” notes the company. Sleep is the way our bodies recover from stress, either positive or negative. The moment a person wakes up, their body’s need for sleep increases with how long they’ve been awake. This is a concept that’s known as “sleep pressure,” and if you don’t get enough rest one night, the effects of sleep pressure can build up and linger until you had more time to sleep.
What happens if I don’t wear my Garmin device consistently?
If you take off your Garmin wearable for short periods of time, the device will estimate your Body Battery score. When you don’t wear your tracker for more than a few hours, the model will reset based on a model. In either case, Garmin notes “the more you wear it, the more accurate it should be.”
“The more you wear it, the more accurate it should be.”
Is a low Body Battery score a cause for concern?
No. It’s normal to feel less energetic some days compared to others. However, it’s important to recognize if a pattern is forming. Do you consistently sleep poorly? Do you often drink before bed? There are many factors that can contribute to a low Body Battery score, and you’re free to decide to push through even if you’re not feeling 100 percent. After all, sometimes a good workout is exactly what someone needs to feel more energetic. That said, it’s worth remembering your body won’t receive the full benefit of a workout
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My Body Battery is consistently stuck at 5 percent. What do I do?
As mentioned above, most Garmin devices require a user to wear their fitness tracker for at least five to seven days before the software can collect enough data to generate a personalized score. If you only recently started using a Garmin wearable or reset your device, you may see your Body Battery score stuck at 5 percent. Give the tracker several days to calibrate.
