Smartwatches

[McSwede]

Yeah, the battery is a bit poo, perhaps a day and a bit in normal mode.

It's fairly pretty but I've just noticed I've got a scratch on the face now, not sure where that came from.

Oh well, all I use it for is notifications and heartbeat monitoring, I don't care too much.

The health and sleep stuff is a great insight into your life! And once you start exercising it's a super way to track what you've been up to. I think they're great things.

[Gavster]

I’ve become fascinated with how the body battery recharges on Garmin, because of a pattern that occurs whenever I drink alcohol.

On dry nights my sleep quality is good and the body battery usually hits 100 well before I wake up.

On nights when I’ve had even the slightest booze, it barely charges and often stays flat.

It’s become so distinct that I really want to understand more about what alcohol is doing and why it’s having such a significantly negative effect on what Garmin measures as healthy rest.

Here’s a dry vs drunk comparison. The orange lines are stress markers and the blue ones are rest.

[McSwede]

Here mine from during my holiday when I had consumed alcohol each day plus a graph from the 1st Jan.

I have had a rotten head cold and cough since day 3 of the trip so have slept quite badly and the booze won't have helped that at all.

[Gavster]

Bro, are you ok? You're on zero half the time!

[McSwede]

Bro, are you ok? You're on zero half the time!

Felt like shit TBH. I have the aforementioned lurgy, some booze and ate something that didn't agree with me as from about 5am I had an upset tummy and barfed a couple of times. Other than that all good

A couple of decent night's sleep in my own bed and I should start getting back to normal.

ETA. Getting back into running and the gym again will be a big boost.

[Gavster]

Bro, are you ok? You're on zero half the time!

Felt like shit TBH. I have the aforementioned lurgy, some booze and ate something that didn't agree with me as from about 5am I had an upset tummy and barfed a couple of times. Other than that all good

A couple of decent night's sleep in my own bed and I should start getting back to normal.

ETA. Getting back into running and the gym again will be a big boost.

That's pretty much everything at once, have you tested for covid recently? Actually, don't do that

Hope you get yourself some good rest and a bit of time off the sauce. At least the body battery measurement is accurate and confirms that you should be feeling like crap.

[McSwede]

Bro, are you ok? You're on zero half the time!

Felt like shit TBH. I have the aforementioned lurgy, some booze and ate something that didn't agree with me as from about 5am I had an upset tummy and barfed a couple of times. Other than that all good

A couple of decent night's sleep in my own bed and I should start getting back to normal.

ETA. Getting back into running and the gym again will be a big boost.

That's pretty much everything at once, have you tested for covid recently? Actually, don't do that

Hope you get yourself some good rest and a bit of time off the sauce. At least the body battery measurement is accurate and confirms that you should be feeling like crap.

I had COVID in end Nov, begining Dec. A few days of good sleep will be good

[Broccers]

I was talking about my super duper new watch (which I only wore for 2 days) nagging me to get up and do some walking - f o.

They are a huge benefit if you are wanting to get fit - its currently new year bank holiday and I want a day off so its on the side.

A major plus tho, a couple of friends got Garmins over Summer. I saw them at a wedding and one had been prescribed beta blockers as the watch went mad telling her there was something very wrong with her heartbeat - turns out it was right. These fads / devices do have a use. Telling me to get up and move around tho I can do without

[mr_jon]

Just turn that option off.

My old garmin doesnt have body battery but rhr non drinking overnight is 45, drinking 70-75. Pretty scary if you believe your heart only has so many beats in it.

Not pulled the trigger yet on new Garmin.

[McSwede]

Bro, are you ok? You're on zero half the time!

A good few hours sleep has made a lot of difference!

[Mito Man]

So how does that body battery thing work? If you’re low can you just stick your knob in a double socket?

[Gavster]

Bro, are you ok? You're on zero half the time!

A good few hours sleep has made a lot of difference!

Awesome

@Mito Man You could do that or alternatively have a bath and a good night's sleep. It measures heart rate and heart rate variability to work out if you're stressed or resting. Garmin are a little bit vague about how it's calculated precisely. However, it does seem to be a fairly good indicator of how well-rested you are.

[JonMad]

Is one of these good for a 24/7 heart rate monitor? I've been very sedentary since working from home and want to have some stats to either confirm how much of a sloth I am or fire me into action. Something where I can see HR as and when, plus look at historic data. Some of this sleep quality / body battery stuff also sounds interesting.

Initial investigations led me to the Polar Pacer as the cheapest option for this. I should also start running again, so something that will track my heart rate/HR zone whilst doing that would be running.

I have a very old Garmin Forerunner 405 but since I've used a Mac I've had no joy getting data out of it using ANT+. Also it uses a HR chest strap which I don't want to wear all day.

Or maybe the Garmin Forerunner 55? Cheaper, with HRM and probably uses the same Garmin Connect account as all my old data. [edit: yes, logged in to the latest Garmin Connect app and my old runs etc are all there]

[McSwede]

Garmin are superb. That'd be my pick as mine is really good and I'd get another

[Gavster]

Is one of these good for a 24/7 heart rate monitor? I've been very sedentary since working from home and want to have some stats to either confirm how much of a sloth I am or fire me into action. Something where I can see HR as and when, plus look at historic data. Some of this sleep quality / body battery stuff also sounds interesting.

Initial investigations led me to the Polar Pacer as the cheapest option for this. I should also start running again, so something that will track my heart rate/HR zone whilst doing that would be running.

I have a very old Garmin Forerunner 405 but since I've used a Mac I've had no joy getting data out of it using ANT+. Also it uses a HR chest strap which I don't want to wear all day.

Or maybe the Garmin Forerunner 55? Cheaper, with HRM and probably uses the same Garmin Connect account as all my old data. [edit: yes, logged in to the latest Garmin Connect app and my old runs etc are all there]

I'd recommend the Garmin if that's the brand you've used before. It will keep all your data in one place and build on the previous info from your 405. It's quite cool that my Garmin Connect account has data going back over three watches and 10+ years. The Garmin 55 also stays permanently connected to your phone via Bluetooth, so you can add the Garmin Connect app on your phone and use it as a supplementary screen to look at your data in more depth.

[JonMad]

Thanks chaps, ordered.

[240PP]

I had a Vivoactive 4 delivered at the weekend. I went out Saturday and had quite a lot to drink. First pic is that nights sleep, second is last nights sober sleep

[Gavster]

I had a Vivoactive 4 delivered at the weekend. I went out Saturday and had quite a lot to drink. First pic is that nights sleep, second is last nights sober sleep

I would love to know more about the measurements Garmin takes and why they identify such massive increases in stress after booze

[Mito Man]

Raises your heart rate a bit doesn’t it. If you’re at rest but your heart beat is 10% faster than baseline then you’re either stressed mentally or your body is as it’s trying to break down some of that sweet poison.

[240PP]

Part of the reasoning behind getting a smartwatch is to monitor my sleep. Sometimes I wake up unable to breathe which could suggest sleep apnea, but it’s not that often.

Last night I had 5.5hrs of ‘light’ sleep, 1.5hrs of REM and zero ‘deep’ sleep. I’m not sure if that’s normal, I’d be interested to see what other people are getting.