Garmin stress score explained

Stress score is the metric people misunderstand most, because it is not measuring how busy you are. It is measuring what your autonomic nervous system is doing, inferred from the variation between your heartbeats while you are still.

Less variability means higher stress. More variability means lower stress. That is why a hard workday with no movement at all can push the number as high as a tempo run.

What it actually measures

While you are inactive, your watch analyses heart rate variability to estimate your stress on a 0–100 scale. Training, physical activity, sleep, nutrition and general life stress all influence it. Garmin recommends wearing the watch while sleeping for the most reliable results.

Value bands

Garmin’s own bands: 0–25 resting, 26–50 low stress, 51–75 medium stress, 76–100 high stress.

How to improve it — three steps

1. Wear it overnight — Garmin is explicit: for best results, wear the watch while sleeping. Daytime stress is judged against the night that preceded it.
2. Count all-day stress as training load — It drains Body Battery exactly like a run does. If your average stress is high, easy weeks are not optional — they are the fix.
3. Use the breathing timer when it spikes — A two to five minute breathing session measurably drops the number and is the fastest lever you have during a working day.