Body Battery Frequently Asked Questions

The Body Battery™ energy gauge found on many Garmin® watches, estimates your energy reserves throughout the day using heart rate variability, stress, and activity levels. It then displays your current energy as a number from 5 to 100.  Refer to your owner's manual by searching for Body Battery to determine if your watch has this feature. 

 

Select a topic below to learn more:

• What Does Charged and Drained Mean?

• Why Is My Body Battery Level Low After Sleeping?

• My Body Battery Level Is Stuck at 5%

• What Happens When I Do Not Wear My Watch?

• Which Watch Models Keep Body Battery Data in Sync?

• What If I Train With Another Garmin Device That Does Not Have Body Battery?

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What Does Charged and Drained Mean?

Your Garmin Connect™ account displays your Body Battery "charged" and "drained" points. "Charged" indicates points recovered, while "drained" shows points used. Ideally, these numbers should be similar by day's end, reflecting a healthy balance between activity and recovery; a significant imbalance is not recommended.

These "charged" and "drained" figures cover a 24-hour period, resetting at midnight. Additionally, Garmin Connect may offer user-specific insights on Body Battery changes since bedtime or waking, providing a snapshot of shorter timeframes rather than a full day's overview.

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Why Is My Body Battery Level Low After Sleeping?

Your perception of how you feel and the cumulative effect of stress and sleep quality may not always be in alignment. This is especially true if you have multiple days in a row that hit the upper or lower limit of the Body Battery. Other factors including but not limited to the ones below during sleep or relaxation can cause higher stress levels and result in a lower score.

• Bright lights

• Consumption of alcohol or other stimulants

• Excessive physical activity

• Exhaustion

• Extreme temperatures

• Loud noises

• Pain

• Sickness

• Tossing and turning or waking up frequently at night

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My Body Battery Appears to Be Stuck at 5%

Your Garmin device needs a learning period to provide accurate Body Battery readings. For new devices or those reset to factory defaults, this typically takes 5-7 days. During this time, your Body Battery might temporarily show 5%. Resetting the watch will restart this learning period. Expect normal Body Battery function after about a week.

Similarly, some Garmin devices occasionally recalibrate Body Battery and all-day stress tracking. If this calibration is lost, your Body Battery may drain to and stay at 5% until enough data is collected to re-establish your physiological baseline. This re-calibration process can also take several days.

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What Happens When I Do Not Wear My Watch?

Your Body Battery will estimate charging or draining even during short periods when your device is off. However, if you don't wear it for several hours or longer, the value will reset based on a model. It will then resume tracking from that point once you put the device back on.

For the most accurate readings, wear your device continuously for a full day. The more consistently you wear it, the more precise your Body Battery estimations will become.

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Which Watch Models Keep Body Battery Data in Sync? 

Body Battery TrueUp keeps your Body Battery data in sync across multiple Garmin products. For example, the Index Sleep Monitor syncs your sleep data with your Garmin Connect account, which then shares this data with your watch. TrueUp utilizes this information to maintain accurate Body Battery readings. See the compatible list below for this feature.

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You can still use a non-listed Garmin watch to update your Body Battery in Garmin Connect, and that data will sync with any compatible watches you own. However, Body Battery data from a compatible watch will not transfer to a non-compatible device.

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What If I Train With Another Garmin Device That Does Not Have Body Battery?

We recommend wearing your watch along with your other Garmin device to ensure continuous Body Battery measurements. Information recorded from a device that doesn't feature Body Battery will not be included in the Body Battery calculation.

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