But the app takes into account the length of sleep so if you doze off on the sofa after a long run or ride on a Sunday afternoon, and you only nap for one hour, it won't pick it up, despite the physiological signs the watch should be spotting. There’s plenty of research to show the benefits of napping and it’s something elite athletes are encouraged to do, so it’s a very important part of the sleep picture. What’s also interesting here is that Garmin Advance Sleep doesn’t track naps. Other things that might affect the accuracy include stress, sleepwalking or if you’ve drunk alcohol, where your heart rate is raised and you’re potentially moving a lot. Based on your HRV this becomes more accurate the longer you wear the watch. Your ‘sleep clock’ is triggered to start when you get into bed and your heart rate drops to the levels the watch knows you sleep at. Changes in heart rate variability a rise in HRV can indicate your body is in a stressful situation even when you’re asleep.Changes in heart rate your heart rate data is more erratic in REM sleep and lower in non-REM sleep, for example.In order to assess whether you’re awake reading, asleep or up for a 3am toilet break, and which stage of sleep you’re in while you slumber, Garmin uses a combination of analysis of photoplethysmography (PPG) and actigraphy (ACT) data. In the past, Garmin devices used movement – tracked by motion sensing accelerometers – and heart rate, using the built-in optical heart rate sensor, to analyse your sleep.īut Advanced Sleep Monitoring now also factors in heart rate variability - the time between each heartbeat – to better measure your time awake and time spent in each sleep stage.
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So how does this latest version of Garmin sleep tracking work? And what’s the best way to get the most out of it? Here’s everything you need to know. Watches like the Forerunner 245, Fenix 5 and Vivosmart 4 started to deliver detailed insights into our bedtime habits and offer a more holistic view of our fitness. But in 2018, Garmin launched its Advanced Sleep Monitoring features, and finally made a bid to catch up with the likes of Fitbit.
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For a long time its rudimentary sleep tracking was frankly not worth paying much attention to. It’s no surprise then that in recent years all the major fitness tracker, sports watch and smartwatch makers have ramped up their sleep-tracking credentials in a bid to help us better understand our sleep patterns.Įssential reading: Best Garmin watches to buy nowĪmong them is Garmin.
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It even affects our emotional intelligence and decision making, and can hamper our efforts to make fitness gains. The quantity and quality of the zzz's we get has a huge impact on everything from our stress levels and mental health to body composition and weight. A good night’s sleep is the foundation of health, fitness and wellbeing.