By Vijay Anand
CNBC-TV18.com
Published July 12, 2024
1. Wrist Based Heart Rate: Garmin watches feature a wrist-based heart rate monitor that allows you to conveniently measure your heart rate at any time, providing continuous 24/7 monitoring for accurate insights into your health and fitness levels. Additionally, the watch enables you to set alerts for abnormal heart rate.
2. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Status: Garmin watches record and analyse HRV, which reflects the variation in time between heartbeats and indicates overall health and stress levels. Continuous monitoring during sleep provides insights into nightly trends and average values, with the establishment of a personal HRV baseline for meaningful data interpretation.
3. Sleep and Stress Monitoring: Garmin watches are equipped to enhance overall well-being by monitoring sleep and stress levels. Sleep tracking provides detailed analysis through sleep scores, assessing sleep duration, quality, architecture, stress, and interruptions. Advanced models offer personalised insights into how daily activities impact sleep, fostering positive changes through pattern recognition. Concurrently, stress levels are tracked throughout the day using heart rate and HRV data, providing insights into stress levels (0–100).
4. Hydration Reminders: Hydration is crucial for maintaining good health, as it helps with temperature regulation, joint protection, waste removal, sensitive tissue defense, weight loss, and protection against chronic diseases. Garmin watches assist in staying hydrated by setting a default daily hydration goal based on gender, following recommendations from credible health organisations.
5. Skin Temperature: When wearing your Garmin watch to sleep, monitor how your average skin temperature changes, which can provide insights related to recent activity, sleep environment, potential illness, and more. This feature enhances overall health awareness by detecting deviations from normal patterns.
6. Oxygen Saturation (SpO2) Monitoring: Garmin watches include health features such as Oxygen Saturation (SpO2) monitoring and respiration rate tracking, managed by the autonomic nervous system (ANS). This system also regulates heart rate, leading to respiratory sinus arrhythmia, a normal variation in heartbeat during breathing. Garmin devices also offer breathwork exercises for stress reduction, mental sharpness, and sleep preparation.
7. Body Battery Energy Monitor: The Body Battery feature on Garmin smartwatches can be used to track your energy levels based on physical activity, stress, rest, and sleep. It provides personalised insights to help you make informed decisions about exercise and lifestyle habits. Garmin watches analyze heart rate, variability, and movement to understand what affects your energy levels.
8. Pulse Ox Sensor: Oxygen is essential for every cell in your body. When you breathe in, oxygen enters your bloodstream, carried by your heart and circulatory system. A pulse oximeter on Garmin wearables uses red and infrared lights to estimate the oxygen saturation level (SpO2%) in your blood, typically aiming for levels above 95%. Factors like altitude, activity, and individual health can affect these readings.
9. Women's Health Tracking: Garmin watches offer comprehensive health tracking capabilities specifically designed for women to monitor menstrual cycles. Users can log periods, track symptoms such as mood changes and physical symptoms, facilitating the identification of patterns and informed health decisions.
10. Built-in Sports Apps: Garmin watches track all your movements with numerous preloaded GPS and indoor sports apps including walking, running, cycling, pool swimming, and activities for wheelchair users. These apps cater to diverse needs, ensuring comprehensive activity tracking. Garmin Connect complements this by displaying all your health and fitness data for free.