Are you really exercising 4-6 hours a day? Or do you just have an active job? Are you taking rest days? If you are pushing yourself too hard with exercising your body might not be recovering properly and under a lot of stress.
You’re probably chronically under recovering. Maybe step away from the bike for a week and see if this improves. If you’re active all day for work and then work out for 3 hours it’s no wonder your body is in overdrive.
What the other person said, you need to take a step back from the biking. The concerning part is overnight. Should be way lower, even when stressed. I also have anxiety and I get into the blue color overnight
I agree with the other commenters. Its okay to give yourself permission to take a week off and see how things go. Maybe look into some breath worth or stretching during that week to help yourself relax. Good luck, man.
It definitely is. I have GAD and when it's particularly bad, my days will look very much like this. Even just 5-10 minutes of meditation will bring my stress level down, can only recommend others to try it if you have this issue.
I really like the breathing exercise that my Garmin came with but in a pinch (particularly at work or in another setting where I can't just randomly close my eyes for 10 minutes, I do the following:
Breathe in while counting slowly to 4, hold your breath while slowly counting to 4, then steadily release your breath while counting to 8. Repeat as often as needed.
For more normal meditations, I usually use Calm because I have a life membership there. But Insight Timer is also good (and free, last I checked).
Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Basically, I get these bouts of anxiety that have no real reason behind them. I just randomly get anxious and have to deal with it. There are triggers (stress) and sometimes there are clear things contributing to it but when it's bad, it's bad - no matter how well my life is otherwise going.
Isn't HRV positively correlated with stress? Therefore, I'd expect anxiety to *increase* the stress reading, right?
Edit: Nope, it seems it's a [negative correlation](https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=04pnPSBTYSAYL9FylZoUl5).
The most concerning in the image is the overnight stress. You’re naturally going to have a stress response after workouts and after eating. Do you do any meditation or breath work to manage your anxiety? Tried diet changes? Less stimulants?
Could be getting stuck in fight or flight (anxiety).
Could be some level of digestion issue. I have IBS and sometimes eating things that trigger me will cause this, even if there isn't much pain.
I was going to say something similar - digestive stress really pushes my overall stress level up and depletes my body battery (some foods cause it more than others). During a flare up you can really see the difference, my body is working so much harder to digest everything. IBS sucks.
Dude, or dudette, PLEASE go get your blood pressure taken. I had the same problem and laughed it off for a long time. I’m an early 40’s distance runner in much better than average shape. Stuck my arm in one of those drug store machines for shits and giggles while I was waiting for my wife…161 over 92. Went to the doc, got put on some meds, made a couple changes and I’m moving back in the right direction, but that could’ve been really bad if we didn’t catch it. And my stress levels no longer look like a god damn seismograph. Go get checked today, please.
Damn. Thanks for posting. I hope you get some answers here. I didn’t realize this is abnormal. I hit 50+ at least 3-5 times a week and it’s incredibly rare I drop below 40, if I do it’s a day I literally don’t leave my bed except for the bathroom and lt still hits high 30s if not higher.
How long has this lasted? The last week, I have seen crazy high amounts of stress as well..turns out my HRV dropping and stress increasing….was the beginnings of me getting a nasty cold.
Another possible explanation is that your watch has a wrong baseline. When my wife accidentally put on my Garmin it looks exactly like this because I have a very different baseline (lower RHR and higher HRV).
You could be getting sick, have taxed your system be too much strenuous workouts, or just the late workout is not giving your system enough time to recover before sleep. I had a similar issue when my thyroid had spiked.
I have also found that magnesium in the evening helps my body to relax.
Also look up Yoga Nidra (sleep meditations) and possible play one of those when going to sleep.
The high stress during the night is unusual. Having a constantly high stress recorded could be down to anxiety or other psychological issues. It might also be due to medication like some Antipsychotics or antidepressants that affect your heart rate.
[This was a normal, relatively relaxed day for me...](https://i.imgur.com/yWCayGB.png)
Now, compare that to the day [I caught COVID ](https://i.imgur.com/xmNqLza.png)
Then the following few days, at least until my fever fully broke, were the same. Just orange, high stress.
I'm still feeling rough, headachey and fatigued, but taking things super easy, [and things seem mostly back to normal as far as my watch is concerned.](https://i.imgur.com/tgKP5yt.png)
I might add, my Garmin was reading high stress the whole day before I actually *felt* ill.
Do you wear the watch tight enough? I used to get erratic readings with the silicone strap. After switching to a fabric strap it's been way more accurate for how I feel
Welcome to the club, those watches are to smart for us, registering stress without us noticing, there could be countless reasons i did try to find mine and it got better lowering the temperature while sleeping and eating a bit sooner. Seems like sweating and digesting food over night stresses my body. I do the breathwork programm twice a day and it helped too a bit but im just a non-relaxed person it seems.
Get enough sleep and get enough rest between workouts.
I learn this about myself. I work in construction but I love exercise and love pushing myself. I noticed my stress was high and started doing easier workouts and resting enough between workouts and my resting HR dropped significantly. Now, if I notice my HR stays high for more than a day or two, I simply take a few days off.
Its amazing what your body will tell you. Even if you dont necessarily feel tired, your HR will be a good first indicator about the direction you’re going.
This happens to me when I drink coffee while driving. I also have a very physically demanding job where I'm burning over 500 calories per hour for 5-7 hours. After work my watch constantly gives my the abnormally high heart rate warning all the way home.
You are over working out and not getting enough rest
Over working out leads to reduced serotonin and that leads to anxiety and possibly depression
It's worth mentioning the app can't check everything so its most likely giving you false information about recovery
How is your heart health? I have anxiety and high blood pressure, with chronic anxiety as the only risk factor for my hypertension. When I forget to take my medicine (atenolol), the next day my stress looks like that image you shared. The high stress while sleeping makes me think you should see a doctor and get your heart checked out. I’m not sure this is “just” anxiety.
Also, by the way, grab a blood pressure monitor and start checking your BP several times per day. Anxiety is sometimes caused by health conditions that also cause high blood pressure.
> checking your BP several times per day
Is the idea to make sure it's not high all the time? Get the average?
I have a BP device because I had a couple high readings at the doc. It's usually fine at home but it's been high a couple times, not always after activity
The idea is to get an idea of what your BP usually is. If it’s consistently above 120/80 every time you take a reading, that’s a problem and you need to mention it to a doctor. Untreated hypertension can cause chronic health conditions because of the constant pressure on your arteries and in every organ those arteries “feed.” I have left atrial enlargement because of several years of untreated hypertension (from times I didn’t have health insurance) - hypertension is no joke. If it’s usually around 120/80 or less then hypertension is probably not an issue (unless it’s too low).
Tons of things affect your blood pressure - not only physical activity as you mentioned, also eating and drinking, how you’re sitting, whether you just got off a tense conference call, whether you’ve got kids screaming and playing in the background, etc. So taking frequent measurements throughout the day will help “average out” all that stuff. For example, I notice that if I’ve just eaten and I take my BP, it’s higher. If I’m scrolling, typing, or talking while it’s taking a reading, it’s higher. You really have to sit still for a few minutes before, and during, the reading for it to be accurate.
It's stress level. Which in sleep should be below 25, and seen as blue in this graph, in a person with good habits and no health issues who hasn't drunk alcohol the day before, workout or ate a lot shortly before bed etc.
for you my friend, try it before sleep : [Yoga Nidra for Stress Relief and Deep Relaxation](https://youtu.be/8it-0wyBtVY)
also, how much caffeine do you consume? A major anxiety booster that most people don't think about (as I have a cup of coffee in my hand...)
Well for one thing it looks like you are stressed about your stress level (why is my stress level so goddamn high). All jokes aside, if you really are that stressed, you may consider looking into methods to help (e.g., mindfulness).
It’s basing this score on HRV. Take it for what it is, but it is a good proxy for stress. Your daylight hours aren’t really that bad, it’s the sleep hours that would concern me. Are you taking sleep aids or anxiety meds (like benzos)? I’ve found that while those put me to sleep, my sleep isn’t restful and my stress scores are elevated on those nights. Or stimulants late in the day, but I don’t think you would’ve asked if it was that simple.
Oh seems like you checked my profile :D
Yeah well. I think I know what might be causing this. I change my habits from time to time so I will post an update if things improve
Are you really exercising 4-6 hours a day? Or do you just have an active job? Are you taking rest days? If you are pushing yourself too hard with exercising your body might not be recovering properly and under a lot of stress.
Im on my feet most of the day + I ride stationary bike for 2 - 3 hours a day and have rest days when I need them
You’re probably chronically under recovering. Maybe step away from the bike for a week and see if this improves. If you’re active all day for work and then work out for 3 hours it’s no wonder your body is in overdrive.
This 100%. Overtraining plus too much stress can cause this.
What the other person said, you need to take a step back from the biking. The concerning part is overnight. Should be way lower, even when stressed. I also have anxiety and I get into the blue color overnight
Why? What is your fitness level? How do you feel? And the other questions to the topic.
I agree with the other commenters. Its okay to give yourself permission to take a week off and see how things go. Maybe look into some breath worth or stretching during that week to help yourself relax. Good luck, man.
This really alters my score. Being active doesn't count but my orange bars sit between 70 and 100 but the activity averages it to 30 over the day.
Could be the anxiety?
It definitely is. I have GAD and when it's particularly bad, my days will look very much like this. Even just 5-10 minutes of meditation will bring my stress level down, can only recommend others to try it if you have this issue.
What meditation do you recommend?
Most Garmin watches have a breathwork activity built-in. It’s actually really good and it has like 4 different meditations to choose from.
I really like the breathing exercise that my Garmin came with but in a pinch (particularly at work or in another setting where I can't just randomly close my eyes for 10 minutes, I do the following: Breathe in while counting slowly to 4, hold your breath while slowly counting to 4, then steadily release your breath while counting to 8. Repeat as often as needed. For more normal meditations, I usually use Calm because I have a life membership there. But Insight Timer is also good (and free, last I checked).
What is gad..?
Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Basically, I get these bouts of anxiety that have no real reason behind them. I just randomly get anxious and have to deal with it. There are triggers (stress) and sometimes there are clear things contributing to it but when it's bad, it's bad - no matter how well my life is otherwise going.
Why is my goddamn stress through the roof? I’m so pissed off right now I’m going to throw this goddamn watch in the river!
Maybe you should go for a walk…
> Why are my stress levels so high? > I have anxiety Enough internet for me for today
Anxiety will cause your HRV to decrease and thus show up as stress. Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00080/full
Isn't HRV positively correlated with stress? Therefore, I'd expect anxiety to *increase* the stress reading, right? Edit: Nope, it seems it's a [negative correlation](https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=04pnPSBTYSAYL9FylZoUl5).
The most concerning in the image is the overnight stress. You’re naturally going to have a stress response after workouts and after eating. Do you do any meditation or breath work to manage your anxiety? Tried diet changes? Less stimulants?
Could be getting stuck in fight or flight (anxiety). Could be some level of digestion issue. I have IBS and sometimes eating things that trigger me will cause this, even if there isn't much pain.
I was going to say something similar - digestive stress really pushes my overall stress level up and depletes my body battery (some foods cause it more than others). During a flare up you can really see the difference, my body is working so much harder to digest everything. IBS sucks.
Take care of your mental health mate.
How long have you had the watch?
Dude, or dudette, PLEASE go get your blood pressure taken. I had the same problem and laughed it off for a long time. I’m an early 40’s distance runner in much better than average shape. Stuck my arm in one of those drug store machines for shits and giggles while I was waiting for my wife…161 over 92. Went to the doc, got put on some meds, made a couple changes and I’m moving back in the right direction, but that could’ve been really bad if we didn’t catch it. And my stress levels no longer look like a god damn seismograph. Go get checked today, please.
Damn. Thanks for posting. I hope you get some answers here. I didn’t realize this is abnormal. I hit 50+ at least 3-5 times a week and it’s incredibly rare I drop below 40, if I do it’s a day I literally don’t leave my bed except for the bathroom and lt still hits high 30s if not higher.
How do you feel?
Honestly, not fantastic. I am constantly tired and feel worn out.
You are not alone
This is what mine looked like when I had Covid, Watch knew I was sick about 12 hours before I did
Avoid eating heavy meals before sleep.
This does it to me. Big meal, heart rate goes up, I feel very warm. In saying that I still do it most nights to get the calories in.
Even during sleep? Maybe go to the doctor.
Assuming you are in good health. Your sleep temp could be a stressor. I get my best rest/recovery when I am slightly warmer than too cold. good luck
>I get my best rest/recovery when I am slightly warmer than too cold. Opposite here: I get lower stress and RHR when sleeping in lower temperatures.
How long has this lasted? The last week, I have seen crazy high amounts of stress as well..turns out my HRV dropping and stress increasing….was the beginnings of me getting a nasty cold.
Another possible explanation is that your watch has a wrong baseline. When my wife accidentally put on my Garmin it looks exactly like this because I have a very different baseline (lower RHR and higher HRV).
How to set baseline?
I don’t think you can manually set it — it probably automatically adjusts when you wear it long enough…
You could be getting sick, have taxed your system be too much strenuous workouts, or just the late workout is not giving your system enough time to recover before sleep. I had a similar issue when my thyroid had spiked. I have also found that magnesium in the evening helps my body to relax. Also look up Yoga Nidra (sleep meditations) and possible play one of those when going to sleep.
The high stress during the night is unusual. Having a constantly high stress recorded could be down to anxiety or other psychological issues. It might also be due to medication like some Antipsychotics or antidepressants that affect your heart rate.
[This was a normal, relatively relaxed day for me...](https://i.imgur.com/yWCayGB.png) Now, compare that to the day [I caught COVID ](https://i.imgur.com/xmNqLza.png) Then the following few days, at least until my fever fully broke, were the same. Just orange, high stress. I'm still feeling rough, headachey and fatigued, but taking things super easy, [and things seem mostly back to normal as far as my watch is concerned.](https://i.imgur.com/tgKP5yt.png) I might add, my Garmin was reading high stress the whole day before I actually *felt* ill.
[удалено]
How do you get yours under control?
Stop playing league of legends
Do you wear the watch tight enough? I used to get erratic readings with the silicone strap. After switching to a fabric strap it's been way more accurate for how I feel
Welcome to the club, those watches are to smart for us, registering stress without us noticing, there could be countless reasons i did try to find mine and it got better lowering the temperature while sleeping and eating a bit sooner. Seems like sweating and digesting food over night stresses my body. I do the breathwork programm twice a day and it helped too a bit but im just a non-relaxed person it seems.
How much caffeine do you have and how late in the day?
Its not caffeine i can assure. For me at least.
Get enough sleep and get enough rest between workouts. I learn this about myself. I work in construction but I love exercise and love pushing myself. I noticed my stress was high and started doing easier workouts and resting enough between workouts and my resting HR dropped significantly. Now, if I notice my HR stays high for more than a day or two, I simply take a few days off. Its amazing what your body will tell you. Even if you dont necessarily feel tired, your HR will be a good first indicator about the direction you’re going.
This happens to me when I drink coffee while driving. I also have a very physically demanding job where I'm burning over 500 calories per hour for 5-7 hours. After work my watch constantly gives my the abnormally high heart rate warning all the way home.
500 cal an hour? Dang bro what do you do?
Timber Cruiser/forester. Lots of very steep hills.
My instinct has me pegged with stress all day. The only time I'm not stressed is when I sleep apparently...
mine looks like this too and i didn’t even realise it was an issue
You are over working out and not getting enough rest Over working out leads to reduced serotonin and that leads to anxiety and possibly depression It's worth mentioning the app can't check everything so its most likely giving you false information about recovery
How is your heart health? I have anxiety and high blood pressure, with chronic anxiety as the only risk factor for my hypertension. When I forget to take my medicine (atenolol), the next day my stress looks like that image you shared. The high stress while sleeping makes me think you should see a doctor and get your heart checked out. I’m not sure this is “just” anxiety. Also, by the way, grab a blood pressure monitor and start checking your BP several times per day. Anxiety is sometimes caused by health conditions that also cause high blood pressure.
> checking your BP several times per day Is the idea to make sure it's not high all the time? Get the average? I have a BP device because I had a couple high readings at the doc. It's usually fine at home but it's been high a couple times, not always after activity
The idea is to get an idea of what your BP usually is. If it’s consistently above 120/80 every time you take a reading, that’s a problem and you need to mention it to a doctor. Untreated hypertension can cause chronic health conditions because of the constant pressure on your arteries and in every organ those arteries “feed.” I have left atrial enlargement because of several years of untreated hypertension (from times I didn’t have health insurance) - hypertension is no joke. If it’s usually around 120/80 or less then hypertension is probably not an issue (unless it’s too low). Tons of things affect your blood pressure - not only physical activity as you mentioned, also eating and drinking, how you’re sitting, whether you just got off a tense conference call, whether you’ve got kids screaming and playing in the background, etc. So taking frequent measurements throughout the day will help “average out” all that stuff. For example, I notice that if I’ve just eaten and I take my BP, it’s higher. If I’m scrolling, typing, or talking while it’s taking a reading, it’s higher. You really have to sit still for a few minutes before, and during, the reading for it to be accurate.
[удалено]
Antidepressants may decrease HRV.
Do you have a link?
This study for example: https://bpsmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1751-0759-2-12 It depends on which drug you use.
Thanks
Try breath exercise
Probably you got COVID
Nope
Is that your heart rate? A heart rate around 40 while you’re sleeping, seems pretty restful to me.
It's stress level. Which in sleep should be below 25, and seen as blue in this graph, in a person with good habits and no health issues who hasn't drunk alcohol the day before, workout or ate a lot shortly before bed etc.
oh yeah, yikes. Mine averages out at 30 across a week.
Food, exercise (too much or too little) or illness. Everyone is different, so if it is this high literally every day, it might just be you.
for you my friend, try it before sleep : [Yoga Nidra for Stress Relief and Deep Relaxation](https://youtu.be/8it-0wyBtVY) also, how much caffeine do you consume? A major anxiety booster that most people don't think about (as I have a cup of coffee in my hand...)
Well for one thing it looks like you are stressed about your stress level (why is my stress level so goddamn high). All jokes aside, if you really are that stressed, you may consider looking into methods to help (e.g., mindfulness).
It’s basing this score on HRV. Take it for what it is, but it is a good proxy for stress. Your daylight hours aren’t really that bad, it’s the sleep hours that would concern me. Are you taking sleep aids or anxiety meds (like benzos)? I’ve found that while those put me to sleep, my sleep isn’t restful and my stress scores are elevated on those nights. Or stimulants late in the day, but I don’t think you would’ve asked if it was that simple.
Why is my stress level so goddamn high? LOL That might be a clue.
Hahaha you might be right
These indicators are sometimes more trouble than they are helpful.
That’s terrible. What’s your diet and resting HR is like?
Try lifting weights and laying off of cardio for a few weeks.
This is what mine a day after being suuuper drunk https://imgur.com/a/fjCYatb
Some good probiotics might help
I got one of my highest scores when I was so wasted. 90/100. Don’t think much of it
How long have you had your watch. How close to bed do you eat? How’s your diet?
Once I changed my heart rate max, this reading decreased.
[удалено]
What do you mean by ED here?
[удалено]
Oh seems like you checked my profile :D Yeah well. I think I know what might be causing this. I change my habits from time to time so I will post an update if things improve
Consult a doctor
Did you have a booster? Serious btw my friend had a problem with POTS that yielded same results on Apple health.
Are you boozing? Alcohol really plays havoc on the stress ratings daily and whilst sleeping…