Garmin Body Battery- What Is It? - How Does Garmin Body Battery Work? A Physical Therapist Explains

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

How do you use your body battery?

[@samanthajenkins2399]

Update body battery normal 100 in the morning was 67 after a 14 hour flight in economy that had a free selection of turbulence experiences.

[@alfromtx245]

I bought the Garmin Forerunner 245 in November and have found the body battery feature to be fascinating. The stress feature is also interesting, as this is closely related to body battery. A few observations: 1. Naps don't help as much as I thought. In fact, they can actually make things worse by not allowing your sleep that night to be as restful. 2. Sleeping later can help a little, but not really that much. 3. Going to bed early does help quite a bit. If your feeling tired during the day, the best thing is to skip the nap and go to bed early. 4. Eating too much close to bedtime will increase your stress level and hurt the quality of your sleep. I don't drink alcohol or caffeine, but I can imagine that they would affect you in the same way, if not more so. Also, I ended up with covid in January. The morning after I started feeling bad, I woke up with my body battery at 28 percent. The first week after quarantine, my stress levels stayed really high. So I was always drained, even though I never actually felt tired. Slowly, things have returned to normal. I'm back to waking up with my body battery in the 80's or 90's most of the time, provided that I go to bed at a decent time.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

It is definitely a fascinating metric to be able to see

[@samanthajenkins2399]

That whole covid analysis is fascinating. I am not motivated to remove my respro breathing mask after 3 years living in China under zero covid, probably low immunity and now travel outside of China.

[@waynekoren828]

Drinking any alcohol will give you stress spikes, and if you go to bed drunk, it will be just stress spikes all night, and your battery will go down instead of up. Breathing exercises that lower your heartrate, then sitting still can increase my battery 8 points in an hour. Also Yoga Nidra or Non Sleep Deep Rest will increase my battery by 10 after a 40 minute session. The real key is to be still and get your heartrate to resting state, then be still. Moving around at all no mater how slow, or how relaxed i feel will decrease my battery.

[@ellehcimeu]

Very cool observations & fantastic comment

[@hudsonr.743]

Im just trying to imagine what my boss would say if I said "can't come into. My body battery is low"

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Haha give it a try 🤣

[@lionden4]

Most likely your boss take the rest of the week to recover😊

[@Beatrichay]

Step one: Everyone chips in to buy the boss a Garmin...

[@1Timatin]

Probably you should gift Garmin to your boss.

[@samanthajenkins2399]

@@Beatrichay Best youtube comment of the day!

[@eRocKzah]

Body battery is one of my favourite stats. I started today on 60 percent. I know not to push today not just in training but in life in general, very helpful feature!

[@GerbenWijnja]

I was out partying last night and came home pretty drunk. Went to bed around 3 AM and woke up at 11. So a good night sleep, you would say. But my stress levels (the orange bars in the body battery graph) were sky high until 6 AM, by which I had already been asleep for 3 hours. I guess my body was processing the alcohol in my blood. During that time, my body battery did not increase at all, it stayed at 5% all the way through 6 AM. Interestingly, the stress level very suddenly drops at that point, from 100% stress all the way down seemingly at once. As if my body said: "ok I'm ready, let's sleep." And from 6 AM it started increasing, although slowly. When I woke up at 11 AM, my battery was still only 23. And I feel like 23% indeed, so that's accurate. 🥴

[@janat6320]

Very helpful video-thanks a million from the Netherlands; its important to listen to the own body!

[@330_Crew]

The biggest surprise for me with Garmin Body Battery is how much alcohol impacts it. You can actually see in real time your HRV increase from the consumption of just one drink.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Yup 100%

[@ranelrimas6523]

So alcohol improves your HRV?

[@330_Crew]

@@ranelrimas6523 no. Makes HRV worse. Measures the stress alcohol places on your body.

[@chadwells7562]

Caffeine also seemingly

[@markuspetersen6072]

Yeah that one got me too. Go to bed with a few beers and you will be stressed almost all night long. Wake with your BB at the 20s.

[@skateata1]

I actually use body battery for comfort. Like, someone else knows how I'm feeling. Mine is 23/100 right now.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

That’s a great use! Love it!

[@ihdandia]

How does it give you comfort?

[@MrSupernova111]

I just got my Garmin watch recently and I'm amazed at all these cool features in the watch. I'm so happy with this purchase and I can easily see myself getting more gadgets to get more accurate and useful data. Thanks!

[@jebby16]

It's very useful for tracking post-Covid chronic fatigue symptoms. Since early May I bottom out to 5 daily. 😞

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Yes very helpful! We have a lot of patients who use it for that

[@nrcarl00]

@@Feldmanphysicaltherapy how are you doing now? Do you go down to 5 each day?

[@NSApple]

I am used to bottoming out, but so far since Covid (about 2 weeks) I cannot recharge above 50 after 8 hours sleep. Pre-Covid I was able to obtain 90-100 nightly even on 6-7 hours sleep

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

That is what we are seeing post COVID, keep getting that sleep and it will come back

[@AMi-sn8yu]

@@NSApple I suffer from ME/CFS since 10 years, have my Garmin since Dec 1st for my pacing. Was lucky today because my BB was at 42 in the morning! Sometimes its only 5-25 after more than 9 hrs of sleep. (last 2 weeks).

[@TheGripsession]

I got drunk Friday.. I've always felt I got shit rest during sleep if I went to bed after drinking too much.. I was able to see I recharged only 10 points!! I usually charge up into the 70s to 80s! I was shocked but not at the same time.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Yeah alcohol really affects your HRV

[@sukd2669]

Thanks so much for this very detailed video. You made my watch come to life.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Glad we can help

[@Dufus57]

A really useful, well explained video. I have learned from this. Thanks

[@EXA054]

Great video! I arrived here cause I was feeling very tired after a short run. I got to bed with 14 and woke up with 23, feeling only some recovery with the sleep :/

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

take it easy and trust your data

[@nicodoorn5958]

How do differentiate (in terms of decision-making) between body battery and training readiness? I just use training readiness and tend to ignore body battery because it seems like training readiness will be more accurate because it factors in recovery time from recent training.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

they serve different purposes, the training readiness is more for training specific things, body battery is more a general health consideration

[@pritulkhan1395]

I'm a new dad, so the constant waking up throughout the nights does no favour for my body battery haha. Coupled with going to the gym to get some exercise in, I haven't been over 75 body battery in months.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Keep focusing on what you can control and don’t sweat the stuff you can’t

[@zara2513]

Thanks for explaining great detailed report

[@Dctrue76]

Thanks for this great explanation!

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@Abhinand-10]

OK the body battery is innovative and useful, but I'd take the comments on the immune system with a pinch of salt!

[@decodingcrypto]

So useful

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Glad to hear that

[@samanthajenkins2399]

My body battery is usually 100. This morning 6:36 sleep and body battery 98. Perhaps I am lazy with my exercise. I don't drink, eat refined sugar, honey etc and do OMAD first thing in the morning.

[@AmzMusic11]

Excellent video thank you!

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Thanks for watching?

[@marnyschlopy2427]

For further explanation on the + and -.... For instance one day I had a + 72 then a -64? What does that mean?

[@nealchambers2306]

That was a great video. Thank you 🙏

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Thanks for watching

[@julipuli0929]

Hi! Thanks for the video! I’d like to know a little bit more about the two Numbers that are before and after the body battery score. How can I interpret them? What can I do with that info? Thanks!!

[@orismj]

Thanks for sharing! Great explanation.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Of course! Glad you found it helpful

[@shelleyfrow4551]

Please do a video on how to read the body battery. I don't know what 80 over 100 means for example.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Thanks for watching. The score is out of 100, so 80/100 is 80% charged

[@thomyu9281]

Im using 265. Have any tried to use HR monitor strapped around chest while sleeping rather than using the garmin watch?

[@DrJoeJoeHands]

Thank you Doc Stay at home dAd two kids 2.5 & 10 months I Make sure i stay happy to keep the kids happy monitoring my battery

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

That is awesome!

[@financetips]

great video - to the point!

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Thanks!

[@bradgrand79]

Makes a lot of sense, recently got my girlfriend a vio active 4 and she had Lupus. She can’t get her body battery out of the 40s

[@angew78]

Thanks for this video. I like to check how my sleep has charged me up in the morning but have noticed that when I remove the watch for my shower the battery can deplete by 40 units when I put the watch back on… why is this?

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Hmm I’m not sure I don’t see that when I remove mine

[@tvt8716]

Are you wearing an Enduro? What is your wrist circumference? Mine is just 16cm and I am not sure if Enduro would look good on my wrist because the watch diameter is quite big.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

I am, it is a big watch, not sure my wrist size

[@Lefuciy]

Thank you!❤

[@robertmorano2372]

Really good explanation. Is there a way to kind of keep track of this (besides feel) without the watches? I've had my eye on a few, but currently do not have one. I've been trying to up my weekly mileage from 25-ish, to 30-35-ish over time. I do a lot of trail miles and keep on schedule for my training, but with life, work, kids, etc. I will push myself to train when I need to according to my schedule, but I almost guarantee I'm over doing it at times and over training. I can just feel sometimes my body does not want to cooperate. In addition, I run kitchens for a living, so I am moving all day long. I can see how it would be super useful to have the body battery tool, but are there any things I can look for in my training until I get one? I'm currently training 25-30-ish miles a week for a couple weeks, then dropping one week back down to 20-ish. Then up the volume. I always feel refreshed coming off of the 20 mile weeks.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

You can definitely try to listen to your body. If you find that you can't sleep, or are more fatigued than you should be. You can also tell when you are overtraining is you find that things feel harder than they should

[@hengpatrick63]

I have the vivosmart 4. Most days my body battery just dips, how do you raise the battery charge or recharge oneself? Thanks alot.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

As you go through the day everyone will find unique things to them that helps with mid day recharge. Generally they are things that remove stress from your system. Sometimes that can be breathing exercises, sometimes just drinking more water, for me a mid day walk is always helpful

[@ihdandia]

@@Feldmanphysicaltherapy can you consistency increase your bb with those activities? Which other ones actually raise it for you? How long do you do them for? I've never been able to get mine to increase during the day, except in a long deep sleep during the day. Even a short nap doesn't seem to increase it.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Yeah usually I can, some days it may slow the decrease

[@ihdandia]

@@Feldmanphysicaltherapy What does it mean if those activities can't increase the bb for someone, and only slow the decrease?

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Nothing, everyone is different

[@essaalansari9508]

Hey good one here, i have seen a deep analysis from other reviewer that he said in order to get the most accurate reading for the stress level is you have to have the chest strap and take the stress test (its a feature on the watch) so you have to take it atleast twice or 3 time a week in order to do that you have to stand still for 3 minutes in a quiet place and try to breath normally when plus considering your water consumption in the test day !!!! (This is the very perfect way to creat a base to let the watch system to continue building correct and giving the write info reading to the athlete) any thoughts?

[@tikym29]

Unfortunately lily doesn’t connect to the straps

[@ihdandia]

Where is the stress test? The vo2max? This affects stress readings?

[@24macuser]

Tell your boss youre not coming in because your watch is telling you your body battery is low :)

[@mongezixakushe5140]

How to read and understand this body battery ?

[@Vazhakattu]

Great!

[@Tha-King-Arthur]

I woke up with 97% body battery and then drank two cups of coffee and my body battery went from 97% to 70% in half an hour. Stress indicated on your body battery is not normal stress but body stress. This increases when your stomach is digesting food or drink. The heavier and unhealthier you eat, the more stress the body battery will indicate. Compare it with the other stress app on the Garmin watch. Then you will see that your stress level is low and normal but that the body battery indicates that your stress level is high. This really has to do with alcohol, medicines, smoking, drugs, coffee and food.

[@TuronProspekta]

If Ive had a couple of wines (3 or 4) my BB will plummet to 5 and stay there for nearly a day. Alcohol is worse than I thought ...

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Yup it really affects it

[@shadowlight4711]

I didn’t understand how Body Battery work, thanks for this video!! Mine is always low! At the moment it’s at 2!! 😭😭😂😂😂 It’s always low!! I’m gonna try not working out when it’s low

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Glad we could help, but the lowest it will go is 5

[@alicecook3859]

I like to imagine your Garmin knows you are playing with your doggo and that it’s counting it as recharging your emotional battery hehehe

[@BRAINFONOFgaRenataCardoso]

How can I export the HRV data?

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

I don’t believe you can

[@jorgeeltoritoperez7238]

I have enduro 2 and epix 2 and they give me different numbers I don’t know 🤷‍♂️ wish one is right

[@kasimurphy2297]

Would love to know what the +/- actually means. I understand the main number well enough, but the charged/drained doesn’t make much sense. Thanks!

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Sure, the + is how much your battery has charged since mid-night and the - is how much it has drained since midnight.

[@kasimurphy2297]

@@Feldmanphysicaltherapy Thanks!

[@thecaamano14]

I have a new vivoactive 4s. Worn about 2 days now. My body battery is consistently at about 4-10. Realllllly low. But I’m not very fatigued. Does this improve with wear? It seems so low.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

It does improve as you use it

[@nextlevelcaulking7597]

Im not sure how accurate i only slept 4 hours it say 100 percent. Only 1 hour deep sleep .heart rate was 38 not sure if it meen if u keep the hard rate low for certain amount of time or not but i still feel tiered 😅

[@hexchad765]

Nobody has a 38 heart rate unless having a medical issue

[@onepoeticromancer]

My body battery starts in the morning around 10 to 20. I am consistent at 5 most of the afternoon and evening. Am I dead?

[@Carnivorefitness2024]

Same here wtf!

[@christianmillhollon4481]

So if my battery is at empty but I can perform just as much, then what does this mean

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Might be a personal accuracy issue, or something coming on you don’t feel yet

[@mikeDeSales943]

My body battery won't go up above 75 usually.

[@BBsheepy]

Same I think it is because I don't wear the watch going to bed tho, is it for you as well?

[@2spoons]

I use my Body Battery to deside your far I run.... 8 or 13 miles.... say I caught a but over the week end and my Body Battery dropped to 15 LOW up oh!!!

[@keenanking1090]

Can someone help me. I have a fenix 5 but don’t seem to have body battery. How do I install it?

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

It should be in the app, if not make sure your model has it, depending which 5 series you have it may not be there

[@D6onGPS]

Fenix5 models don’t have it

[@SuperAmazingAnt]

Garmin really was not pro at that but they bought Finnish company like two years ago.

[@bobsuruncle6762]

Going in to work with a 21😢

[@jaspreet162]

My battery is mostly under 15 everyday, how can i recharge better, this is the case even after 9 hours of sleep

[@jumbleross]

My wife is the same we have not yet worked out why her battery never recharges. We swapped watches to make sure it wasn’t a faulty device

[@DavidStatham]

Get on with it mate!! It’s over 1 minute and you still haven’t started

[@tomsweeney9424]

The idea of giving me a bottom line number of overall stress doesn't help me at all. What do I work on? It would be like having a heart doctor giving a heart health number, taking into account blood pressure, cholesterol levels, stress levels,. etc, and say you are 56. 56 what? what do I work on? Tell me my blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol levels etc etc. I don't know you, but if I went in for a physical evaluation, I doubt if you'd tell me you took in account my flexibility, posture, muscle tone, etc and my physical fitness number is 37. I need to know what to work on, what my weaknesses and strengths are, to know what to work on. Garmin says they track HRV but they won't display the number. It is one of the many contributors to stress, and important one, but I have no idea is mine is good, bad or mediocre. Not much help.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

That’s not really how HRV works, it is all relative to your own norms. You can’t compare your HRV to mine

[@jrmayberry3536]

@@Feldmanphysicaltherapy I don't think this is really true. Because my stress level is basically always 100% and my battery is always below 40%. So it doesn't seem that Garmin has adjusted to the fact that I have a chronically low HRV. You would think it would adust to my personal HRV levels.

[@kevjohn811]

You never said what the numbers meant

[@AZTLANSOLDIER13]

Must be nice to not have a physical job and choose to have a restful day.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

Well even with a physical job one can chose to not add unnecessary extra stress or load on their system with hard exercise

[@ihdandia]

@@Feldmanphysicaltherapy as a physical therapist, what's your take on the above comment, do people who have physical jobs, or people who sit all day 'resting' have worse health and issues over their lives?

[@derrickmurray3782]

How can you trust the HRV number to PRV. OHR is meaningless for HRV unless measured with a proper chest strap Garmin even tell you that

[@marnyschlopy2427]

I still am not clear on the + and -? Is the _ the worst on that day and the + the best on that day.

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

+ is how much you recharged through the day and - is how much your “battery” has drained

[@christianmillhollon4481]

So orange juice can boost my battery

[@jujujijijaja]

Do you guys sleep with your watch on? Or do you take it off? I guess if you sleep with it the data will be better, but it’s uncomfortable

[@Feldmanphysicaltherapy]

We always sleep with it, that’s how you get the most accurate data

[@jujujijijaja]

@@Feldmanphysicaltherapy thanks!

[@lionden4]

Wear 24/7

[@LanceWinslow]

Yah, but if you don't wear it while sleeping, the damn thing (body battery data) is pretty useless

[@IntegralTriangle]

Snake oil

[@scottmescudi3423]

Jeez this dude need a haircut. Badly.

[@Liamsk_art]

I am a bit confused I just got back from work (which is like a 4h workout lol) but I felt pretty fit and wanted to take a short walk since it's pretty nice outside, but my battery shows me "5" 🥲 even tho I feel pretty great 😅