Peak body battery- when I feel like sh*t -

As it is something which effects half the population i wonder if there a way of measuring and compensating for that?

Or are other devices doing it and its just garmin?

Like my sleep is deeper during these periods i think and that is why it takes it as 100 even for body battery - even if i feel sleepy and tired because of other things.

I get that a tracker is not a medical device and we can't rely on it due to this... but periods is something which is recurring and effects everything?

Just got myself a Garmin titanium band. Damn this thing is so comfortable.
Don’t even feel the difference in the weight of the watch.
Finally I have a dress up Garmin setup 🙌🏼

PS: have 6 links available if anyone needs any.

Just picked up a Fenix 8 Sapphire Solar (47mm) and paired it with a blue UltraFit nylon strap. Really liking the combination so far!
My wrist measures 160mm (6.3 inches) and is relatively flat.

There’s just something about the MIP display, titanium bezel, and lightweight nylon strap that makes this watch look and feel great.

How do you increase your VO2 max?

I've had my Fenix ​​8 for a little over a year now, and recently I got a Cirqa. My VO2 max was 54 at the beginning and has been declining ever since, even though I train the same way.

Currently, I'm at 47 at 26 years old. I mainly cycle and run, and I also do freediving once or twice a week and a little padel when my friends invite me, but it's still quite rare compared to before, so I can't really count it.

The advice provided by Garmin Connect is:

- that I should lower my BMI, which isn't necessarily that bad since I'm 174cm tall and weigh 71kg

- that I should do more sustained interval training because, even though I'm often in zone 3/4 during my workouts, they're considered low aerobic and sometimes high aerobic…

I've also changed jobs, which have become more sedentary, but I make sure to stay active throughout the day with fairly regular breaks.

I await your recommendations

My sleep scores are abruptly awful. I’ve always had decent sleep scores ranging between 70-90. The last week I’m struggling to get over 50. My body battery starts the day around 30 and is usually at 5 by the end of the day. But I wake up feeling fine and I feel fine throughout the day. My training readiness is also bouncing between detraining and strained depending on whether I have worked out or not. It just doesn’t make any sense.

My sleep scores, body battery, and trading readiness before this week reflected how I felt pretty accurately. I did download an update recently so I’m wondering if something has changed in the tracking? Or do I need to reach out to Garmin support?

I don’t need advice on improving the scores. My overall self care is great. I don’t feel they are accurate at all.

Edit: y’all are way too quick to trust technology over yourself. It’s just a device. Validate then treat.

I’ve noticed if I’m up and moving for short distances like cleaning the house or cooking my garmin will still send me move reminders, even though I’m up and moving around. It also does not count any of those steps. In addition, it will tell me I’m experiencing high stress during those activities. I think it’s doing this because it’s clocking my HR but not the movement. Any fixes????

I can't get it to turn back on until I get it plugged in to charge. It shows that it has a good charge. I keep it updated and connected to my phone. I've tried normal reboots and still no success. Thoughts?

On Friday I (M49) ran 4x4 and I believe i was close to my maxHR when towards the end I reached 195bpm. On Sunday morning my Garmin adjust my maxHR from 196 to 194, although it saw my 195 two days ago. How is this possible?

I have a 965. Set to run. Ended run and chose save but it’s not there. I haven’t been able to run in 9 months due to illness so it’s very important for me to track :/ it clearly is “working” and tracking an activity. It also did it to me months ago when I needed to finish a “run” to get a credit for NYC marathon. I am not sure what is wrong. My previous garmin never had an issue.

Easy to set up, already purchased Essential plan and have successfully sent messages but won't pair with my iphone. It has been hours and it still says CONNECTING. Too many contacts to sync? Probably should have said no to SYNC ALL CONTACTS? Any ideas why it won't finish pairing? Thanks in advance.

Bought in 2022, auto upgrade been disabled since. Battery runs like new.

Now, I want the latest firmware 29 to try those new watch faces.

Connect App says "no updates available"; Express (PC) recognize nothing after USB connection.

Is this machine just obsolete, stick with current 12 and die one day like this?

After maybe ~5 years of continuous use, my watch's battery life has very suddenly dropped from ~2 week lifetime from full charge to only 1.5 days. Note: I never connected it to a phone, and 1.5 day discharge is just from it being on without any activity.

Perhaps this is the natural lifespan of a rechargeable battery. Has any of you also experienced a similar decay? Is repairing it feasible?

Finally bought my first Garmin! Vivoactive 5 in India. Got a really good deal 15900 INr on Amazon using a card offer. Want to mainly use it for gym, step count and overall tracking calories when playing pickleball/ badminton.

Anyone using Vivoactive 5 for creating gym workouts?

Tips, tricks and suggestions???

I got Rogue Echo Bike V3 with M2 Monitor Upgrade.

I guess they recommend the Indoor Bike activity for this?

This isn’t accurate though right due to the Rogue Echo Bike difficulty scaling up when you push harder? So is this bad for measuring Cycling V02 Max because the Indoor Bike is assuming your bike does not scale up difficulty like a regular indoor bike?

This my v02 max will drop due to Garmin activity not taking dynamic difficulty scaling of Rogue Echo Bike?

Higher heart rate detection, but lower power output. Also not taking into consideration arm movement too…

Hi all, I have an etrex 20X - second one I've had - been using them for years - awesome bit of kit.

Back in 2023, my Birdseye Imagery subscription ended, and there was no option to renew.

After some dialogue with Garmin, was told they were no longer supporting it.

I hadn't used the Garmin for a few years, as I hadn't been hiking (had a kid), and finally dusted it off to do some adventuring, only to find Birdseye is working again.

Basecamp now says (when I go to download from the Birdseye Menu at the top):

Subscription: Active Expiration Date: Jan 2038

And it's working fine.

Anyone else finding this?

48F, 800m.
What happened at 1:45?
Acidosis? Bonked?
What training will address it?
Want to run like this for longer than 1:45 🤪

Bought the watch for metrics for objective data on improvement of health and to regain fitness. Ie insight. Bu I don’t get it. Can someone explain.

For context, could run 3min/km for 5-6kms in my 20’s-30’s.

Returned to sports 3years ago, mostly old lady hockey, walking and 5km jogs etc. Have had significant steady improvements and now pushing for return to peak fitness, just takes a little longer to warm up and stretch out. Starting pace is usually 7-8min/km but can hit 5:30 pace for last 3km. Finding that longer distances tend to exacerbate things, so thought I’d try shorter track distances 5km or less (not done since high school)

Anywho, had a go at 800m this week. Started out feeling pretty good, stretched out nicely wasn’t “pushing hard” and didn’t feel like I was “sprinting”. Felt like I was driving the Ferrari 🚘 from my 20’s again. Around the 1:45 mark felt like the drive line disengaged and the engine died. Finished it at my warm up jog pace. Not puffed, didn’t hit my max heart rate (didn’t even get out of zone 3!). Felt like bingo waved her magic feather and said “heavy” and everything went numb and heavy and prickly.

VO2 max is 38-40, but my BMI is always on high end of healthy (24). Was able to do an easy 32min Parkrun yesterday with no issues.

I’m thinking I was completely mistaken for being able to maintain that pace for that distance.

How do you interpret these metrics?
And any prep/training advice? I want to be able to do that for longer than 1:45 🤪

Recently bought the forerunner 165. Yesterday I was sitting in the car for around 3 hours when I noticed that it recorded steps (more than 10k steps) when I was just sitting in the car. I also got a lot of notifications that I had gone up the stairs (like 50 in total).

Is anyone experiencing this? How to fix it?

When my time finally came to purchase Garmin after being super broke, my favourite one has gone out of stock. It has been weeks of tracking it places to places for availability. I am looking for the OG -
Garmin forerunner 570 42mm slate black band. Did my research and I want just this and no other option. My question is does anyone has slightest idea on when is it going to be back? I am dying for it to be back. Whoever responsible for it, begging you to bring it back in the Indian market. Please, please, please.

Hi all, how important is the country of residence thing? I see you can't change it anymore. I've just bought my first Garmin Forerunner and I started making a Garmin Connect account but stopped when it asked for country of residence. I'm British and currently living in Thailand on a three year contract so technically Thailand is my country of residence but I don't want my region to be stuck on Thailand forever if I eventually move. Should I just choose the UK instead? Or choose Thailand and worry about changing it in the future?

Hi, yesterday I wanted to earn the Garmin Kansas City Marathon 2026 badge—it became available on October 17, 2026. I ran 10 km on a treadmill but didn’t receive it. Worried that indoor activities don’t count toward these events, I went for a regular 10 km run outside. However, I still didn’t receive the badge. Did I do something wrong? Both activities were tracked by my Garmin Instinct 2X Solar watch

Hey everyone!

I’ve been a longtime Garmin user, currently wearing a Tactix Delta, and I’ve been dealing with recurring small red spots directly underneath the optical heart rate sensor.

The spots are completely flat, don’t itch, burn, or hurt, and usually fade after removing the watch. Sometimes, though, the redness can take several days to disappear.

I believe I experienced something similar with my previous Tactix 7, but interestingly, I never had this issue with my Apple Watch.

I’ve recently started cleaning the back of my Garmin daily and after workouts, making sure everything is dry, and alternating wrists to give my skin a break.

I’m considering upgrading to a Tactix 8 or Fenix 9 Pro, but I’m hesitant because I don’t know whether the newer sensor designs or materials would make a difference.

For anyone who’s experienced something similar:

1. Did regularly cleaning your watch solve the problem?

2. Did adjusting the fit or alternating wrists help?

3. Has anyone found that upgrading to a newer Garmin with an updated heart rate sensor or titanium back eliminated the irritation? I know Apple uses a ceramic back, which I suspect may be better for sensitive skin. I’ve been an Apple guy since 2006, but I genuinely love Garmin and would prefer to stick with it if I can find a solution.

4. Has anyone figured out whether it’s caused by pressure, trapped moisture, or sensitivity to the sensor materials?

I really prefer Garmin over Apple and would hate to switch back over something like this.

I’d appreciate hearing what actually worked for you!

I’ll attach a picture showing the redness for reference. FYI, the picture is about a day or so after the watch. It’s typically a much more pronounced looking spot than this, but this is leftover.

Thank you in advance!

I hardly ever share a WF. Don‘t change a lot because I feel there‘s a lot of overpaid designs not worth a penny. This one is, imo different. Take a look. Dominus XSquare.

32 F, you can see according to Garmin my VO2 max is "excellent".

I was almost not moving for 4 months due to thyroid issues which cause extreme anxiety related to heart rate. I tried to keep my heart rate daily below 100 for 4 months, because I was scared by higher values, so I was staying in bed, slow walks to the shop nearby, but that's all.

Now I am coming back, as my lab results are ok and I started seeing those SCARY results on my Garmin, my pulse being 170+ (yesterday it was cycling), sometimes 180 (during mountain hiking). I have no issues, just sweating. Before my rates were max 160.

Is it normal? Of course I am going to see cardiologist. My pulse falls down quickly when I slow down or stop, but still, those values seems super scary.

Hi everyone!

I’m here to share an app I developed (for ANDROID only) that started as a simple proof of concept to see how far I could take things with vibe coding.

How did the idea come about? The idea was born this past winter when I went on a diet and started using three separate tools:

• A sports watch (Garmin): to track my sleep and daily activity.
• A nutrition app (Fitia): where I logged all my meals to make sure I was sticking to my dietitian's guidelines.
• A bioimpedance scale: to track my physical progress.

I thought it would be really interesting to bring all that information together into a single app and connect it to an AI capable of analyzing the data and recommending personalized nutrition and training plans. With that idea in mind, a lot of curiosity about vibe coding, and plenty of hours acting as an "orchestra conductor" with an AI (which sometimes blows your mind and other times drives you crazy 😅), I ended up shaping the app, which is now available on Google Play (as mentioned, it's Android-only).

Main features of the app:

• Multi-brand compatibility: I’ve mainly tested it with Garmin, but it’s also compatible with Suunto and Coros, in addition to syncing via Health Connect.
• 100% local privacy: The app downloads all your activity and tracking data directly to your phone. Your data stays local; it is only sent to the AI that you set up on your own (if you choose to use a remote one).
• Smart training plans: Based on the collected data and the goals you set, the AI generates a tailored training plan that you can send directly to your watch.
• Daily and historical dashboard: Displays a summary of your daily metrics along with trend charts to analyze your progress over different timeframes.
• Calendar and traffic-light evaluation: View your past activities alongside the ones scheduled in your plan. It includes a visual scoring system (green, yellow, red) where the app evaluates whether your activity and nutrition met the AI's plan.
• World activity map: An interactive map where you can see all your GPX-tracked activities at a glance, categorized by sport type. You can apply filters and check a table showing your accumulated and total distance, elevation gain, and calories (check out the video to see how great it turned out!).
• Interactive AI chat: As a bonus, it includes a built-in assistant you can ask specific questions about your metrics or your plan, ask to modify proposed workouts, or even have it generate a brand-new GPX route to follow on your watch.

Here is a YouTube video where I walk through the app in detail for anyone interested, along with the link to the app:

https://youtu.be/EX9wz4zQzgs

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.local.fitnesscoach

The app is paid and costs about the same as a specialty coffee. Given all the time I've poured into it, I think it’s a very fair price—especially since it’s a one-time payment, completely ad-free, and I truly believe it’s worth it.

Any feedback, questions, or suggestions are more than welcome!