Advanced Sleep Monitoring in Garmin Connect
Sleep is important. Most adults should try to get 7-9 hours of sleep a night. It can improve your health, your mood and your overall well-being. The new advanced sleep monitoring in Garmin Connect will give you a better idea of how much sleep you’re getting, and how long you spend in light, deep and REM sleep.
You may have noticed that you’ve been getting less “deep sleep” than you were before this update. That’s totally normal, and thanks to our new measurements, it’s a lot more accurate.
The Stages
In a normal night of sleep, you will cycle through the different sleep stages: light sleep, deep sleep and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.
The first stage is light sleep. Your eye movements and muscle activity start to slow down as your body prepares for deep sleep. This stage of sleep helps with relaxation.
The next stage is deep sleep, in which your eye and muscle movements stop completely, and your heart rate and breathing slow down. Your body goes into restoration mode, helping with recovery, building bone and muscle, and boosting your immune system.
Last in the sleep cycle is REM sleep, which cycles from short bursts to longer stretches as you leave deep sleep. This is the dreaming stage, when your brain is almost as active as when you’re awake. REM sleep is important for forming memories and processing information.
The Measurements
In the past, Garmin only used movement to analyze your sleep, and heart rate to make sure you’re wearing your watch. With this update, if you have a compatible watch*, we’re using additional data — such as heart rate variability — to better measure your time awake and time spent in each sleep stage.
Make sure your compatible watch is set as your preferred activity tracker. For the best reading, make sure your watch is on securely — but comfortably — a few hours before bed and the whole time you’re asleep.
*Compatible watches: vívoactive® 3, Forerunner® 645, Forerunner® 935, fēnix® 5 series, vívosport™, vívosmart® 3, vívomove® HR
