Recovery is Weird – FIT IS A FEMINIST ISSUE

After several months of frustrating exhaustion following valve repair surgery in April, my sleep is getting better. I am waking up to body battery scores that are much closer to normal. Body battery is what Garmin uses to calculate energy levels. It is calculated by analyzing heart rate, heart rate variability and movement data. It is measured out of 100, with 75+ being well rested and prepared for significant exertion. 50-75 indicates plenty of energy for daily routine. 25-50 means you need to pace yourself or do light activity. 0-25 means your body is depleted.

For a couple of months, I lived in the depleted zone, rarely waking up to a score as high as 30, and dropping every day to 5 (the lowest it tracks). Suddenly this week I started getting scores above 50. On Monday, it was 85 out of 100! By far the best ever. I am even getting some periods identified as “rest” while just sitting and resting. And yet, I am feeling sleepy and wanting lots of naps, and the body battery drops quite quickly during the day.

The other weird thing is that my rate of intensive exercise is still showing ridiculously high. I am normally pretty active, so a goal of 400 intensity minutes a week is perfectly reasonable. It will probably be a bit on the low side once I’m back to weekly swimming, ballet and jazz classes in the fall.

However, last week I did nothing but a couple of short swims, a pilates class, walked to the grocery store twice, and rode my bicycle for 10 minutes. There is no way that should have logged as 900 intensity minutes. That is still an improvement over the previous few months, where I usually logged well over 1000 minutes, and sometimes over 1600. Heck, I hit 161 minutes the week I was in surgery and intensive care!

I was beginning to think my watch was seriously borked, but it turns out that I was the one not working properly. Here’s to a continued increase in rest, and reduced exercise intensity. How often do you hear that on a fitness blog?

Related

Published by Diane Harper

Diane Harper is a retired former public servant who lives and swims (and bikes) in Ottawa. In her hobby life, she is Siglinde Harfnerstochter, a 6th C Merovingian housewife from the city of Metz. Her primary interests are cooking, textile arts and bonecarving. Siglinde lives in the canton of Caldrithig, Barony of Skraeling Althing, Kingdom of Ealdormere.
View all posts by Diane Harper