Apart from calculating the number of daily calorie burn, tracking how far you’ve run, your VO2 max, or the number of strokes you made while swimming, Garmin watches will also keep track of your stress level.
Fortunately, a good number of Garmin watches from Fenix 7 to Forerunner 55 are dedicated to tracking your daily stress. From this article we will learn:
- What Garmin Stress Level means.
- How do Garmin measures stress level.
- How accurate stress level on Garmin.
- How to lower your stress level.
- Why your stress level is high.
- How stress level score is broken down.
- What Garmin stress level is good.
- What to do when Garmin Stress is not working.
Best Garmin For Tracking Stress
Consider the following Garmin watches if you are looking for a wearable that can keep track of your stress throughout the day:
Vivosmart 4
Vivoactive 4
Fenix 7
Forerunner 945
Forerunner 245
What is Stress Level On Garmin?
Stress level is a wellness feature you will find on most Garmin smartwatches. With this feature, Garmin users are able to keep track of their current level of stress with the help of Heart Rate Variability (HRV).
Garmin watches that can track stress make use of the user’s heart rate data to decide what interval is there between each heartbeat.
The time interval between each heartbeat is controlled by the autonomic nervous system in the body.
An increase in variability will mean you have low or less stress while a decrease in variability indicates that your stress score is high.
The best thing you can do when your stress level is high is breathing exercises. Luckily, there are some Garmin watches that will alert you when a high-stress score is recorded.
Also, other Garmin watches will let you monitor your stress day and night hence you get to see your trends 24/7.
How Does Garmin Calculate Stress?
Note: Garmin watches are not verified diagnostic tools. But they can help you identify potential health risks earlier before they get out of hard.
Every Garmin watches that can track stress use Heart Rate Variability (HRV) to determine your level of stress.
Heart rate variability gives the watch the ability to determine the amount of time between each heart pound.
Heart rate variability then checks how this duration changes from time to time. You get short heartbeat intervals when under stress and long heartbeat intervals while at rest.
An algorithm from Firstbeat Analytics is included in Garmin watches to help calculate and analyze the Heart Rate Variability.
What the algorithm does to measure your stress level is, calculate your baseline Heart rate Variability when you aren’t active.
Firstbeat Analytics then compares the current resting value with the resting value to determine when you were relaxed and when you were stressed.
Heart rate variability data while working out is ignored be certain that your Heart rate variability change is a result of stress and not a workout.
Stress Levels on Garmin
After analysis, Garmin assigns a number to your stress score on its stress chart. Stress level Garmin is divided into 3 categories, here is what each category means:
- 0-25 – Resting state
- 26-50 – Low stress
- 51-75 – medium stress
- 76-100 – high stress
Disadvantages of Stress Analysis
The only problem stress analysis has is its metrics only tell you when your body is under stress but doesn’t let you know the cause of stress.
This leaves you with no choice other than to find out what the possible cause of stress is.
Also, inaccuracy might be reported during periods you are intensively into physical activities and that’s because the watch misinterprets the activities at this point as stress.
What is a Good Overall Stress Level on Garmin?
The stress score on Garmin is calculated from 0-100. 0 is the resting state while 100 indicates the stress is optimum.
Garmin divides stress into 4 categories as mentioned above. The average score anyone with a Garmin watch that monitors stress should have is 25 to 50. 25-50 implies that the user is active and dealing with a few challenges.
Immediate stress, like a sudden meeting with your boss, can affect raise your heart rate which definitely causes stress thus making your stress score rise above 50 or 75. That said, a good stress level on Garmin is anything below 25.
Garmin Stress Level Always High
Garmin stress score is one of the best features you can have on a smartwatch. When your Garmin watch indicates your stress level is high, means your body is not operating the way it is supposed to.
You either be overworking yourself, thinking too hard about something, or not feeling well. So what can you do about it?
How can you lower your Stress Score?
Since Garmin does not include a button to bring your stress level back to normal you will have to keep things under control yourself.
If your Garmin watch says you have a high-stress score then the best thing you can do to keep the issue under control is do guided breathing exercises.
These exercises have been seen to soothe the heart to slow down hence getting the heart to state that is much calm.
The other way you can lower your stress score is by regularly exercising. When you exercise often the body learns points when it needs to relax.
In addition, allowing your body enough time e.g. getting to bed in time for recovery from a day full of intense activities can let lower your stress level.
Another way you can lower your stress score is by avoiding alcohol or cutting on it. Alcohol can have an impact on your level of sleep hence increasing your level of stress.
Garmin Stress Level Accuracy
The heart monitor on your watch is the one that determines your stress score. That means, that the more the watch is on the wrist the more accurate the stress score should turn out.
Ensure your Garmin watch is properly worn to make sure the heart rate data being recorded is accurate.
Tighten the bands on the watch enough that the watch doesn’t move but also ensure the Garmin bands don’t into your skin.
Consider sleeping with the watch overnight to have it determine your resting baseline for proper results.
Although Garmin Stress level is accurate it should only be used to manage stress throughout the day never consider it a diagnostic tool.
Garmin Stress Not Working
The reason why the Garmin watch is not reading your stress level is that the heart rate monitor is not activated.
Remember, Garmin watches use heart rate variability when you aren’t active to determine stress scores. If the heart rate monitor is active but the watch doesn’t measure stress consider resetting the watch.
