Flat body battery

[Mormor1]

HI vrbs, my question is, how much does anyone check, or run, by their body battery? I ask because before I had a garmin I obviously wouldn't have had a clue what such a concept was, and still ran.....now I'm the owner of one for the last 9 months and I'm checking how I'm doing daily! Often it's low, between 20/50, often in teens...question.... Should I run whatever or wait till the rare occasions when it goes into 70s?... I run in the morning... Any thoughts or experience would be helpful 😀

[HeavyFoot Graduate10]

I must admit that I ignore that information: so often I have a rotten sleepless night and it tells me I’ve slept well and have a full body battery.

So Garmin used only for time, distance, pace, distance and step length.

[Mormor1 Graduate10 in reply to HeavyFoot]

I usually only use it for time and distance... And step counting...

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10]

I usually look at it at the end of the day when it tells me things like 'don't exercise too close to bedtime' or 'make sure you get a good night's sleep'. I stopped looking at it in the morning as I'd get demoralised if it was low.So, short answer, go by how you feel not by what the numbers say

[Mormor1 Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

I suspect you are right and that I should let it's information wash lightly over me!

[Cmoi Graduate10]

Hi Mormor1 , I got a Garmin around the same time as you, and your post has prompted me to look at Body Battery for the first time ever. Out of curiosity I've blithely activated it (I think...) and will doubtless be informed I'm dead 👻 next time I remember to look at it. This is because I only wear my Garmin for running and sometimes walking, and even then not all the time.

If you find the data from Garmin helpful, by all means use it. Otherwise, ignore it!

[Mormor1 Graduate10 in reply to Cmoi]

It never goes below 5! Bad news if it does! I'd be interested to know what yours reads... I'm a bad sleeper so mine is seldom high and I'm usually tired...but I'm generally on the go all day...

[Cmoi Graduate10 in reply to Mormor1]

If I actually remember to look at it I'll happily let you know!

[Hidden in reply to Cmoi]

Oh you do make me laugh Cmoi

[nowster Graduate10]

Mine (vivoactive3) doesn't have Body Battery. I do look at the Stress value, and that's often shown indications of me fighting an illness several hours before the symptoms have made themselves known.

[Mormor1 Graduate10 in reply to nowster]

That's interesting.... Warning you of pending illness. Do you then respond to it by resting or something?

[nowster Graduate10 in reply to Mormor1]

No. By the time I've noticed, I'm usually already suffering whatever lurgy I've caught.

[Beatlesforever Graduate10 in reply to nowster]

I have the same Garmin as you (vivoactive3) so I guess that's why I hadn't even heard of body battery! It's interesting what you mention about the stress value and fighting illness. It's not something I ever check because I'm not sure what the value indicates or how it's calculated even after reading the description on the watch 🤷🏻

[Doris8 Graduate10]

I have forerunner 35 no body battery and stress on it. Maybe just as well would get paranoid checking, it’s bad enough looking at heart rate after I’ve run, not now, and even walking.

[Instructor57 Graduate10]

I ignore mine .I don't need my watch to tell me if I'm tired 🤔

[Reggit Graduate10]

I’m a stat junkie and look at body battery and stress daily. I do ignore it though if it’s low and I need/want to go for a run. It’s very good at forecasting when you’re going to get a cold and when it’s starting to lift - before you feel it.

My BB is generally low due to non sleeping child (therefore me) however it’s starting to increase as child is getting better at sleeping…

It’s interesting data, but don’t run your life by it.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate10]

So interesting... and the replies... I have never used the Garmin facilities of heart rate, body battery etc, etc.I use my body itself, it tells me everything I need to know I hope, even if I sometimes , very stupidly, ignore the message x

[Hidden]

I find the body battery does reflect my energy level or how I feel physically rather well. The latest weeks / months I don't sleep well and my body battery reflects this. When I get up in the morning and my body battery is around 50, then I also feel drained and tired. And when I get up and my body battery is around 80, I feel normal to good. I have NEVER had 100% by the way. But then again I also am not 100% healthy either (rheumatic arthritis which appears to make me perpetually tired).

That said I honestly don't pay attention to my body battery in regards to what I do. High battery or low battery, I run. If I were to balance my actions on my body battery, I would often not be able to do anything and just rest.

[Mormor1 Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

I am far too healthy and it's still low normally. Having said that today it was 93 so I ran 7k!

[Hidden in reply to Mormor1]

93? Wow... can only dream about that!

[Mormor1 Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

I know, it's only happened a couple of times in 9 months of watch ownership. true, I didn't listen to the radio all night last night, must have helped. Now it's a more realistic 49....

[Hidden in reply to Mormor1]

I always find it weird how quickly it lowers. With me, it lowers already about 10 points by just washing myself at the sink and getting dressed!

[Mormor1 Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Eeek 😞

[ethreeguy]

Hi Mormor1

I'm not a Garmin watch owner, I have an Apple Watch.

In all honesty, I'd ignore that information and go on how you feel. So how are you feeling that day when you go running? Tired? Worn out? Fed up? Bored?

Whatever the emotion negative or positive lace up and go run.

[Mormor1 Graduate10 in reply to ethreeguy]

I usually ignore it but it sometimes works in my favour!

[Hidden]

Hi Mormor,

I always look at my body battery and stress readings every day out of habit. Generally I will start a day at 100 and end it around 30. I find that it is surprisingly realistic. If I'm feeling tired then my score is always low. The other side of the coin is that I know when I'm tired so don't need a watch to tell me 😆

Based on that I would just run when you feel good and ready.

Just to echo thoughts offered by a few other people. I agree that the stress level reading is a great indicator of whether you are coming down with; fighting; recovering from infection. My covid graphs were off the scale. Very scary.

I also often wonder what happens when I reach zero battery. I tried it once but when I got down to about eight I panicked and ran upstairs quickly to go to sleep. 🤣🤣🤣

It always knows when I drink alcohol too. My stress levels are high during the night and my body battery rarely charges properly. Grrrrr! 😁

[Mormor1 Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Gosh, amazing starting most days at 100, envious! Maybe it's the red wine I consume.... It won't go below 5.... You don't want flatlining!

[Hidden in reply to Mormor1]

Sorry Mormor, that made me chuckle. No, I don't want it flatlining 😉.

I'm not sure exactly how low I have managed to get it although I can recall being extremely tired.

Great to know it won't go past 5 though. Phew ! 😁

[Mormor1 Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Yeah, that was a relief for me too....

[GailXrunning]

I keep an eye on it out of curiosity. It’s closely tallied to stress, alongside HRV and sleep. My BB details can reveal a stress chart at the same time, and they do closely correlate. Stresses cause steeper declines in BB; resting can steady or reverse it. Hardly a surprise, but interesting to see it quantified on a chart. I find it helpful not so much for my running but for managing work and my approach to my job. (I’m waiting for the day when I can say ‘sorry, no, I can’t take on that additional task due to my BB’!)

My BB info often tells me that activity helps strengthen the battery longer term. Apart from the advice not to run immediately before bedtime, therefore, it’s certainly not telling me to avoid going for a run; the conclusion is the contrary. A particular run (any activity) will plunge the BB curve. However, over the longer term, your runs should help the battery build more resilience. I haven’t yet got as far as the longer term, so I can’t comment how accurate this is. At least that’s how I understand the function.

[Hidden in reply to GailXrunning]

The great news GailXrunning is that I can now justify an afternoon nap and then demonstrate that it was necessary to recharge my battery 😁. Whoop whoop! 😜😜

[GailXrunning in reply to Hidden]

😂😂 And, you know, it really will!

[Hidden in reply to GailXrunning]

I know, it really works. I've tried it many times now 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[GailXrunning in reply to Hidden]

🤣😂🤣😂🤣 You’re so quick, Hidden ! That’s had me rolling with laughter. Nice way to start the day!😁

[Hidden in reply to GailXrunning]

🤣🤣🤣😁

[Mormor1 Graduate10 in reply to GailXrunning]

Friends look at me perplexed when I check my watch and tell them my bb is very low!

[GailXrunning in reply to Mormor1]

Lets’s hope that’s all the bamboozled boss can summon in response!!