I believe there are two types of people: those that always want to keep their phone charged close to 100% and those that are ok with draining it all the way down.
With my phone I practice ABC: “Always Be Charging.”
But my kids (my youngest in particular) seems to show little care in draining his phone battery down to single digits of life and then walking around with a charging cord connected to a battery pack hanging out of his pocket.
Phone charging best practices seem to be like butter and eggs. One day butter is fine for you and the next day it's the worst thing for your health. One day eating eggs will be bring a certain early heart attack and the next day we are ok with it’s rich protein benefits. For phone battery charging it seems like for every phone generation and phone battery evolution best practices change.
Recently when having breakfast with a friend the topic of health data and measurement came up. We talked about Oura rings, Whoop Bands, and Apple Watches. And then the topic of apps came up. It was recommended to me to try out this app called Athlytic.
I downloaded and immediately became incredibly interested in the metric for body battery. Like the battery on your phone it measures how much juice you have left in your current state.
I have recently become motivated to increase my body battery. And it's important to do so. Because while phone battery charging problems can be solved by buying a new one, our bodies only have one battery. And keeping it charged is not only a helpful habit it's a necessary one.
What Exactly Is Body Battery?
As the Athlytic app calculates it: "Battery is a real-time measure of your body's readiness, updating throughout the day as new Heart Rate Variability (HRV) samples are recorded in Apple Health. Unlike Recovery, which provides a static score based on your overnight HRV, Battery fluctuates throughout the day, much like an iPhone battery that charges and drains based on activity."
I love this definition because it captures something essential about energy management.
Your body battery isn't static. It's dynamic.
It's constantly being drained and recharged based on everything you do, think, and experience.
When I first saw my body battery visualized on my phone screen, something clicked. Those mysterious energy fluctuations throughout my day suddenly made sense. That post-lunch crash? There it was in the data. That surge of energy after my morning walk? Captured in real-time.
You Can't Change What You Don't Measure
There's this concept in business that's transformed my approach to personal health: you can only improve what you measure. It's why weight loss programs have you step on a scale. It's why budgeting apps track every dollar. And it's why tracking your body battery can be so revolutionary.
Before I started measuring my energy levels, they were just a vague feeling. Some days I felt good, other days not so much. But without data, I couldn't see patterns. I couldn't connect the dots between yesterday's late night and today's crash. Between that stressful meeting and my afternoon headache. Between skipping a meal and then hitting a wall.
Once I started tracking my body battery, invisible connections became visible. I could see exactly how my choices affected my energy. That (heaping) tablespoon of peanut butter after dinner? A drop in recovery overnight. That meditation I skipped yesterday? A boost on days when I did it.
Measurement creates accountability. When you see your body battery dropping, you can't pretend everything's fine while pushing through. The numbers don't lie. And honestly, sometimes we need that objective reality check.
Running on Empty is a Bad Strategy
Most of us know what happens when we ignore our body's warnings. We push through exhaustion with another coffee. We power through stress by gritting our teeth. We sacrifice sleep for one more episode or email. Or in my case: watching the end fo the Sox game while they’re on a West Coast roadtrip.
In the short term, we feel accomplished. But eventually? Total burnout. And burnout isn't just being tired: it's your body battery completely drained with no quick way to recharge.
Living in the red zone has serious consequences. My immune system takes a hit. My brain gets foggy. My mood is “challenging” to be around.
But the worst part? It steals my joy and presence. When I’m depleted, I can't fully show up for the people and moments that actually matter.
Data-Driven Self-Care
Here's where measuring your body battery gets really powerful. Once you start tracking, you can run personal experiments. What happens if I meditate for 10 minutes before work? What's the impact of a 20-minute walk at lunch? Does reading before bed boost my recovery more than scrolling social media?
Without measurement, these questions are just theories. With measurement, they become a personalized instruction manual for your unique body and mind.
I've discovered things about myself that I never would have noticed otherwise. Like how a 5-minute breathing exercise before a stressful meeting prevents a much bigger energy crash afterward. Or how my recovery is way better when I stop eating three hours before bedtime. These aren't universal rules—they're personal insights that came from paying attention to my own data.
HRV: The Science Behind Your Battery
Remember how Athlytics mentioned that body battery is based on Heart Rate Variability (HRV)? It’s the main data point behind this measurement but I got curious and did more research on it.. HRV is essentially the variation in time between successive heartbeats. When your nervous system is balanced and recovered, your heart rhythm shows more variability which counterintuitively is a good thing.
Low HRV indicates that your body is stressed, fighting inflammation, or otherwise working harder than it should be. High HRV suggests a well-recovered, adaptable system ready to take on challenges.
What's fascinating is that your HRV responds to everything. It’s not just physical exercise. A difficult conversation, a meditation session, even the food you eat all impact your body battery in real-time. This is why mindfulness practices can be such powerful recharging tools.
Mindfulness: Your Personal Charging Station
This is where mindfulness comes in clutch. If tracking your body battery helps you understand your energy levels, mindfulness practices are the charging stations that fill you back up.
Mindfulness creates space between what happens and how you respond. Instead of automatically reacting to every notification, request, or stray thought, you can pause and ask: "Will this drain or charge my battery?"
Even quick mindfulness practices can act like micro-charging sessions throughout your day:
Deep breathing for just three minutes kicks your rest-and-digest system into gear. A brief body scan helps you find tension you didn't even know you were carrying. Five minutes of meditation clears the mental clutter that's secretly draining your resources.
Lately I have been mindful to check my posture while sitting at my desk. Very frequently I realize that my body is contoured in ways that I didn’t realize. Realizing it leads to adjusting it. Little check=ins like this have made a huge impact for me lately.
One Battery for Life
The metaphor of a body battery has one major limitation: while we can replace our phone's battery when it degrades, we get only one body for life. How we treat it determines not just how long it lasts, but the quality of experience we have along the way.
By combining the data-driven insights of body battery tracking with the time-tested wisdom of mindfulness practices, we can create a powerful system for living with greater energy, awareness, and joy. This world is stressful. Learning to protect and replenish our energy isn't just helpful, it's essential self-preservation.
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