Garmin smartwatches: How to pause your training status during illness or injury

We have previously covered various health and fitness metrics across the wearable market, including those within the Garmin ecosystem. In a recent blog post, Garmin revisited these parameters and explained how they are calculated. Meanwhile, a Reddit thread highlighted a feature request that sparked discussion among users: the ability to "call in sick" so the smartwatch refrains from issuing demotivating training alerts.

Many users know the feeling all too well: as useful as smartwatch training insights can be, being reminded of inactivity when you are sick or injured—when rest is medically necessary—can be counterproductive. As noted by Gadgets & Wearables, such a feature already exists. Users can pause their training status or hide it altogether. Garmin explicitly recommends doing so during vacations or recovery periods after an injury, with the setting accessible via the Training Status Glance.

While other methods can reduce notification frequency, the watch will continue calculating your status in the background. Ultimately, it pays to be selective about what you track: if a training status or sleep score isn't improving due to factors beyond your control, hiding the metric altogether may be the better choice—even if poor sleep quality, of course, shouldn't be ignored entirely.