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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!