I wear mine on training runs and when I race. Other than that never.

I love playing the "spot the triathlete" game at the pool. Always stopping to look at their watches and click the buttons.

I have a used Fenix 5, so I don’t think it has all the cool stuff, but plenty for me to look at. I wear it all the time except pool swimming (FORM goggles), charging, and sex. Sometimes I wish I could see HR data from the latter.

In general I use the data to help figure out how I’m feeling/ why and to make adjustments.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

I wear mine 24/7 except when I swim because swimming will even kill its sensors (Fenix 5) and I have form goggles to track my swims.

I like it for tracking my overnight HR which is typically 41/42 and has been recorded in the low 30s which causes me to not recover well. When my cardiologist recommended I get a pacemaker because of an AV block she also noted it would keep me paced better at night and help me feel less tired during the day. The 24/7 hr tracking of my watch helped push me to agree with her and convinced me to move forward with the pacemaker. I had noted that since 2016 my resting HR had dropped from an overnight of 48 average.

I am currently also using it to note during workouts where the pacer max hr settings should be so that the surgeon doesn’t set it to low.

Once I have the pacemaker I will continue to wear my watch to see what difference it makes in my recorded metrics.

Set to 1-second recording? lol

I should add I do not wear it in the pool. I have Form googles and have had at least 2 Garmin watches have their altimeter wrecked by chlorine build up.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

I Have been wearing my 735XT very consistently for the past 5+ years. I have always worn a watch and feel weird without it. Overall I have been impressed with the quality. My original died 2.5 yrs ago and I got a good deal on a refurbished one. I want to upgrade, but if the watch still works....

I wore my 920xt all the time, same with my 935 and now my 945 LTE.... so yes. Only take them off to charge them.

My wife takes hers off a lot and never sleeps with it on. She wears it for workouts and when we go out... Fenix 7S for her.

I like the sleep data and other data it gives you from wearing it all the time. The 965 also definitely looks a bit more professional although I did get a few 'cool watch' comments in my 920 days. I thought it looked terrible as compared to watches generally worn in professional settings.

Lol - insert obligatory “upgrading models for longer battery life” joke

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

I wear my Epix pretty much 24/7. I like having the data and picking through it - as others have said, I find the sleep, RHR and HRV data interesting and I like to see how lifestyle changes impact that stuff. I don't find the training status/readiness info particularly useful.

I have several nice non-sports watches but I rarely wear any of them anymore. Not only because of the data collection, but I've also become dependent on the smart watch features. It's convenient to get call info, text messages, calendar reminders, etc. on my watch during the work day.

This echoes my dad's experience just a couple weeks ago. His Apple Watch alerted him to tachycardia. He had no clue but for the smart watch alert. We are sold on the other benefits of 24/7 health data collection.

Forerunner 955 here (from 945) & full-time wear-er. I think it's fascinating that if spend the night drinking, the watch will "know" this in it's "your sleep was crappy" morning report. Don't think anyone's mentioned the watch's ability to measure HRV status which is all the rave in health tracking nowadays. Anyway, nerdy as may be, I like the data. And yea, fabric strap... that might be a game-changer.

I'm a near full time wearer. 955xt for the past 2 years. Polar Vantage M before that.
It's off my wrist only for charging, and the occasions where I'm doing some manual work and it could get damaged (like lifting paving slabs, or spannering on the car, etc).

In line with what Trail wrote -
I find the sleep and HRV stats etc interesting- I think those simply put numbers against what I'm feeling anyway. (For years I could tell (knew) I was run down andheading towards illness and the resting HR wod show it had increased. (A week of overseas work and the inevitable lack of proper sleep, and the resting HR would be up by 6 or 7 BPM). HRV just does that measure better.

My first Garmin was the 310XT. That thing was huge. I only would wear it for training. I used it from 2010 to 2022. I got a Fitbit around 2018 that I wore all the time. I tracked steps each day, HR all day and night, sleep quality, etc. it was really designed for 24/7 use. I got a 735XT in 2022. The reviews I saw on it said it didn’t have the battery that lasted long enough for an Ironman so I expecting a 6 hour battery life. It however was more like a 6 day battery and it’s small with lots of the features of the Fitbit so it replaced the Fitbit as my all the time watch.