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Garmin Sleep-Time Stress

What is Garmin Sleep-Time Stress?

Garmin Sleep-Time Stress Chart
This is the Garmin Sleep-Time Stress Chart. There’s not much information about it, but I think it could provide yet another clue about how to identify problems with your sleep, and how to address those issues. Let’s find out.

I just stumbled across a new chart on Garmin Connect, and I’m curious to know more about it. It’s the “Garmin Sleep-Time Stress” Chart, and I THINK it’s a metric that works with overnight HRV Status, to provide another window into sleep quality. If you own a Garmin watch with a NIRS and optical heart rate sensor, it provides another window into sleep. There’s very little information about it in Garmin’s own Forum or Wiki, and questions asked have not been answered by anyone at Garmin HQ in Kansas.

That said, I think there’s something to this metric. Here are my initial thoughts…

Garmin Sleep-Time Stress – Where to Find This Metric?

First, you need to have one of the more advanced Garmin watches, and you need to have heart monitoring turned on for overnight measurements. Then, using the online website account for connect.garmin.com, follow these pages:

Health Stats Menu Garmin Connect
In Garmin Connect, Open the ‘Health Stats’ drop-down menu….

 

Health Stats Submenu Sleep Garmin Connect
Then click on ‘Sleep’.

A new page will pop up. Click on ‘Sleep Score’, and then ‘Stress’.

Garmin Connect Sleep Score and Stress Submenus
This chart is not easy to find, but get to ‘Sleep Score’, then ‘Stress’, and click on the box.

And finally…

Garmin Connect Sleep-Time Stress Graph and Tips
…You get this chart, with several paragraphs that sort-of explain it, and how to improve your sleep. Honestly, though, I think we need more ‘Do This, Don’t Do That’ effort put in. I’d also like to see temperature or tossing and turning, to see how that affects sleep.

Several Garmin Sleep-Stress Charts for Comparison’s Sake

Here are a couple of charts of mine from this year. Looking at these charts for myself and my clients, two things stand out: Overnight stress usually declines as the night goes on, and it takes a special kind of night or individual to hit this ‘ideal’ (more like ‘mythical’) figure of ’15’.

Garmin Connect Sleep-Time Score 23 Average Sleep
This is what most of my nights, and most of my mid-50s male clients Sleep-Time Stress Charts resemble. Medium Stress, with declines over the progress of the night, followed by intermittent medium stress (waking) moments. Cracking the Sleep Code is going to be the absolute hardest thing I think I’ve ever done in my 30-year history as a cycling coach.

 

Garmin Connect Sleep-Time Score 17 Average Sleep
This was last night’s Sleep-Time Stress chart. I’m almost completely off of alcohol, but we had a stressful day yesterday, and I took a Sominex. So this is what a good night’s rest looks like on drugs. I also went to bed before 9pm. The result? Today I had a 15 watt breakthrough on my Threshold, and year-high 20-minute Mean Max Power……. Sleep Score was an 83, which is high for me.

 

Garmin Connect Sleep-Time Score 29 Average Sleep
This was one of the worst looking charts that I had recently, and yet it offers a completely different perspective from the Sleep Stages chart, which would have me believe that this had been a decent night’s sleep. However, I scored a ’52’ on the Garmin Sleep Score.

 

Garmin Connect Sleep-Time Score 29 Sleep Stages Comparison
Here’s the corresponding Sleep Stages Graph. It does show that I awoke twice in the early sleep period, but I was hoping that the ‘Deep’ sleep would win out. Hmm. It seems like the REM sleep that traditionally hits me right before I wake up, is the period when I’m least-stressed. I’m also starting to see the point behind 7-8 hours of sleep every night. It just helps get that extra time in LOW STRESS SLEEP.

 

Once Again – Sleep Is A Critical Part of Training and Recovery

Garmin just recently peeled back the window on their collection of Meta-Data in the Garmin Connect Ecosystem. For those who may be upset about this, a couple of things; ALL of the platforms are doing this, and have been for a while. Furthermore, it’s more information than you can even think. Garmin though, honestly, I don’t think they have a handle on just what they’re presenting to the population. The stuff in Garmin Connect is GOLD, but I really think I’m one of the few people in the world who are actually using it and sharing this information. I’m the interpreter, and while I may be a Mad Scientist, I am definitely not a Real Scientist. That said, it’s all there.

I’m going to just stick my neck out and say it; if I could find a way to get consistent, deep, restorative sleep on a consistent basis, including medication, I would do it. I understand why a certain Pop Star might have felt desperate enough to employ an Anesthesiologist to ILLEGALLY aid him in sleep (which led to his death….) You’ve read the story about my Lunesta Sleepwalking episodes and how completely wrecked I was physically, after taking these meds. But I’ve done it all; I quit drinking, quit caffeine after 3pm, we have blackout shades, white noise, pink noise, a Muse S EEG forehead reader, fans on my body, cold rooms, weighted blankets, scheduled intimacy….. all of it. The results have been modest.

The few things I see that we can all do to get better sleep, and hence, better overall health and results from our exercise as cyclists and triathletes are these:

                                      • Drink more water.
                                      • Abstain from Alcohol beyond 1 drink.
                                      • Go to bed early.
                                      • Regular intimacy before bed. Yes, I said that. Hump.
                                      • Cold Rooms.
                                      • Noise abatement.
                                      • Blackout curtains or shades.
                                      • White or pink noise.
                                      • No distractions. No TV, late night ball games, etc.

Garmin Sleep-Time Stress; let’s keep watching.

Most of my clients are now on Garmin Watches as well as Garmin Head Units. We’ll be looking at the data in private and together, to help glean just what is working, what isn’t working, and why. I’m not going to go all Puritan, but I’m going to watch that Sleep-Time Stress Chart and see where the balance point is, for myself, my clients, and you, my readers. I will also going to take a look at the ‘Breathwork‘ meditation app in the Garmin Fenix watch lineup, to see if that helps. I’m not a huge fan of meditation, but then again, it may be worth the effort.

Thanks for reading, and ENJOY THE RIDE!

 

Garmin Connect Fitness Metrics – 2 Weeks In

The Garmin Connect Fitness Metrics Provide More Information and Guidance

I’m now about 2 weeks in with my study of the metrics that are provided by Garmin Connect. The consistency with which I have been measuring HRV Stress in the morning, and Performance Condition during a workout, is yielding some informative results. I’ve also started to study HRV Status (an overnight reading of heart rate variability), and sleep score. I’ll report about those metrics now and in more detail in future posts.

What Goes Into My Thought Process Via Garmin Connect Data?

My thought process for the Garmin Connect interpretations is as such:

  1. Wear the Fenix 6 as much as possible, to measure HRV Status overnight, get Sleep Score, and track Hydration.
  2. Once I’ve awakened, I study the HRV Status to determine whether it is trending up, down, or within an acceptable range.
  3. Look at Sleep Score and specifically look at Deep Sleep. I need to break 52 minutes of deep sleep, and I REALLY want to get more than 6 hours of consistent sleep, but honestly, that’s a real challenge for me at this time.
  4. Take an HRV Stress test after coffee and a bathroom break. I’m sort of skipping breakfast so I can exercise mostly fasted (I use cream in my coffee).
  5. After the ride begins, if my “Performance Condition” comes out highly positive, I’ll ride for time and volume. If it’s neutral, I’ll ride for base. If it drops quickly over the first 20-30 minutes, I usually focus on LOW intensity base cycling, and try to achieve an EPOC of about 100-150 at the most right now, and then an Aerobic TE of 3.0-3.5, with no Anaerobic TE.
Garmin COnnect Training Status Reports
The Garmin Connect Training Status Report area is perhaps my favorite section of Garmin Connect. That said, I WISH I could expand these charts to get a little more detail than what it shows in this summary page.

Most of my rides have been indoors, due to weather, time commitments at the house, and a general lack of knowledge about routes and group rides in the area, since I’m new to town. This has been the wettest winter in decades, and I want to show up for any group rides prepared fitness-wise. I also want to study this stuff, so we can all use it more effectively.

 

The results have been pretty good so far.

Garmin Acute Training Load Chart 1040
This chart is available in the ‘Training Status’ page in Garmin Connect, but I thought I’d show it from the Garmin 1040, because, honestly, it’s sharper. It shows decent growth in volume, and it provides a general ‘Ceiling’ and ‘Floor’ of EPOC over a rolling 7-day accumulated average. At least I think that’s what it’s telling me.

 

My overnight HRV Status, after some initial disruptions due to outside stress factors, has largely stabilized.

Garmin HRV Status Report
When overnight HRV Status is stable or within a known range, Garmin/FirstBeat is implying that I’m okay to exercise and probably increase my volume and intensity. That’s something I would like to do, so I’ll be using the above EPOC measurement chart (see previous graph) to continue getting more overall volume, but within the limits set by Garmin Connect’s algorithm.

 

Garmin Connect Sleep Score 4 Weeks
The Garmin Connect Sleep Score is not my idea of the perfect measuring stick, but it is what it is, and it’s inside the Connect Ecosystem, so that’s what I’m using. I would LOVE to talk with someone about pulling the EEG data from a Muse S app, and sticking it into Connect, which is something that apparently can be done with an API or SDK. I think the EEG is more accurate.

 

Garmin Connect HRV Stress morning test Report
When you don’t always know where your next meal may come from, you tend to have a little higher stress some mornings. Today’s HRV Stress was at a 45, so I did a shorter, but harder workout just to get some of that stress OUT of my life! 😉

 

Garmin Connect Performance Condition With Heart Rate Overlay -4
This was today’s “Performance Condition” chart. It started off at a neutral value, and declined over the course of 45 minutes. The HRV Stress was in the mid-40’s, the Sleep Score was pathetic, even though my impression of my sleep quality was high.

 

Garmin Connect 7-Day HRV Status overnight Averages LOW
Here’s the final piece of the puzzle; my overnight average of HRV values. I THINK this is the tell-tale heart value, right here. HRV overnight was ‘low’, meaning slightly more stress, and even though in my perception, I slept well, the data just doesn’t show it. Ergo, my Performance Condition was Middlin’ at best, and then it just declined over the 45 minutes or so that I rode. Any attempt at real intensity was not to my advantage.

CONCLUSION

Looking back at several of the factors, like Sleep Score, HRV Stress, HRV Status, and the initial HRV Performance Condition value, it was evident that there was not much I could accomplish today on the bike, other than a moderate ride. Instead of attempting any intervals or even an FTP test (I keep playing with that feature on the 1040 and will accomplish it some day for a blog post), I should have gone easy.

The Garmin Connect ecosystem is teaching me, but I’m not always listening. I’ll continue to look at this guide, and share my results with you as we go along.

Thanks for reading, and ENJOY THE RIDE!

 

I Still Can’t Figure Out Sleep

Trying to Decipher the Roots of Insomnia

Stress is a major factor in a restless night’s sleep. I have a tax bill and a car payment coming through in the next few days. Maybe that’s my issue. My Brother-In-Law has moved in with us; I have experienced homelessness and we welcomed him and his dog with open arms, both this summer and again now. His depression may be spreading; I don’t agree with his treatments. My wife got treated poorly at a doctor’s visit to determine the extent of an injury or repair. Winter is here, with reduced daylight and opportunities to ride outside or experience the landscape.

Maybe it’s the bed itself – the mattress is stiff, and my radiculopathy does lead to waking up with radiating pain down my left leg at times, and at other times, the leg is numb, the toes tingly.

I’ve been a cycling coach for almost 30 years. I moved to Northern Nevada to escape the stresses and broken dreams of a large Metroplex. Sure, there are always ups and downs with life and living, but for the life of me, I can’t seem to shake this low plateau. Maybe it’s Covid and the lack of friends in the region. I pride myself in having friends from around the world and on different continents and time zones. But DAMN if I can’t find a way to get some relaxing sleep without the use of meds or drugs. I’m not going to take CBD. So don’t bring that up.

I have a suspicion that it’s related to Testosterone levels, but I’m not going to take augmented sources unless doctors truly recommend and prescribe it. That would invalidate my ability to compete, and it would also be kicking the can down the road, since levels drop anyway, over time.

Anyway – here’s today’s Pre-Ride Video: I WILL ride; I’m committed to the physiology and results. I want to lose the weight, and get the power up. I want to show you all how training works, and how TRIMPS (TRaining IMPulSe) works, acutely and chronically. I’ll keep doing this as long as there’s an audience.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for watching. ENJOY THE RIDE!