Any ways to improve Body Battery and Stress readings?

I have the same problem on my 10 month old Vivoactive4. It does get above 50 a few times a month, and above 75 maybe 3 or 4. But mostly it's lower and ends up bottoming out, even when it starts the day higher.

Sleep and perceived energy levels upon waking seems to have little effect on the reading. Stress level averages in the 40's but readings are often high even when  inactive reading (on or off screen), watching TV, sitting around puttering,  dozing, even after focused breathing and meditation.

I'm a retired 66yo male, exercise 4-5 times a week to meet a 100+50 min intensity goal,  ~5kg overweight, BP 125/75, maxHR 168 (actual), avg RHR 57, and in generally good health. I tried the things you and others have suggested. In the end I removed the widget from the watch; I'll look at it on Connect (along with the up/down floor count that most often doesn't match) when I want a chuckle.

Body Battery is using Stress to charge and discharge. Stress is measured by HRV (Heart Rate Variability).

Do you take any medication or have any heart issues or other physical issues that can affect the heart?

Having a stress value above 25 while you are awake shouldn't be an issue. What is important to recharge the body battery is to have low stress (below 25) during sleep and that the sleep is long enough. For me I need about 7 hours of sleep to get body battery to 100, but I got below 25 in stress the whole night (usually around 10).

Read this page: Body Battery Frequently Asked Questions

The chart in the end of the page is interesting for understanding what will affect Body battery in a negative way.

Caffeine and other stimulants in the evening could have a negative impact on body battery if it affects the sleep.

How Does Body Battery Interact With Activity and Stress?

The chart below details certain activities, habits, and stresses that affect Body Battery. 

I don't take any medicine or have any heart conditions - my heart was checked in hospital less than a year ago, but I think I have a slightly higher heart rate than most people. My RHR is about 65 according to Garmin, but I would guess it's really about 72 when resting and awake on the sofa.

This is my best reading in the last week, but I kind of cheated by going to sleep for another 2 hours :)

The readings usually have large sections of data missing while sleeping, like it can't measure the stress level most of the time:

Last night I actually have even more missing data, but I slept OK with a sleep score of 81

(for some reason the screenshots I pasted here are disappearing when I click reply)

The missing parts don't seem to affect the recharge much. It continous to recharge. Why you don't recharge much is because the stress level is high even if it is in the low range. You are a lot around 25, but there are parts with 10-15 so you can to get that low.

Maybe the watch is not tight enough or you are sleeping on the arm.

There are gaps in the stress reading, when the HRV is not measurable. It can have a multitude of reasons - for example the wrist band too loose or too tight, too much movement during the sleep, vasoconstriction due to the cold temperature, or due to sleep apnea or snoring, etc., etc.

I have tried different tightness and things, but I think I do normally end up sleeping on that arm - so maybe I need to test it for longer on my right arm to get some more results to compare

I have noticed that the heart rate readings are not as accurate during cold weather, sometimes it takes 15 minutes when I am jogging until the band can read my heart rate correctly. In bed though I am warm :)

I will have to try recording the sound while I sleep to see if I am snoring.

Adam said:

I will have to try recording the sound while I sleep to see if I am snoring.

Also check your SpO₂ levels and the respiratory rates during the sleep. Turn the PulseOx on for the sleep for couple of nights, if it is off. It does not always work perfectly for everyone, but perhaps it can give you some additional clues.

I had forgotten about PulseOx. I turned it off a long time ago because it seemed to drain the battery, and whenever I did a manual reading it usually told me to keep still even though I was and took a long time to get any reading.

I turned it back on again now for sleep tracking only (not all day).

I wish I could get up to 75 :) My highest ever is 57.