How the Energy Recovery Score is calculated

The goal of this calculator is to give you a clean, repeatable number that tracks how “recovered” you are from day to day — without needing a smartwatch. Wearables are great, but most people still make decisions using simple signals: how long they slept, whether the sleep felt good, how stressed they are, and whether their habits helped or sabotaged recovery. This tool turns those signals into a practical score.

The score is built from seven components. Each component is converted into a 0–100 sub-score, then combined using weights. The weights are not medical truth — they’re a “best for usefulness” blend that mirrors what most people feel in real life: sleep quantity and quality matter most, stress is a big multiplier, and small habits (late caffeine, bedtime scrolling) can quietly drag your recovery down.

We compute:
Energy Recovery Score = 25% Sleep Duration + 25% Sleep Quality + 15% Morning Energy + 15% Stress (inverted) + 10% Activity Load + 5% Hydration + 5% Evening Habits

The calculator assumes the “sweet spot” for most adults is around 7–9 hours. Too little sleep reduces recovery quickly. Very long sleep can be fine, but sometimes it indicates sleep debt, illness, or low sleep efficiency — so the score gently tapers after 9 hours. The duration sub-score is calculated with a simple curve:

• < 4 hours: very low score (close to 0–20).
• 4 to 7 hours: climbs steadily as you approach 7.
• 7 to 9 hours: maximum zone (near 100).
• 9 to 10 hours: slight taper (still high).
• > 10 hours: mild taper (still not “bad,” just less optimized).

Why do this? Because a tool that always rewards “more hours” can push people toward unrealistic targets. Most people need consistency more than extremes: getting from 6 → 7.5 hours usually matters more than chasing 9.5 every night.

Sleep quality is your 1–10 rating. It captures things duration alone misses: waking up often, feeling wired at bedtime, overheating, noisy rooms, late alcohol, etc. We convert it directly: Sleep Quality Score = quality × 10. If you rated your sleep 8/10, that sub-score is 80.

This is your “how charged do I feel?” rating from 1–10. This is powerful because it includes everything you didn’t measure: emotional load, nutrition, inflammation, recovery from workouts, or whether your brain is quietly tired from decision overload. We also map it directly: Morning Energy Score = energy × 10.

Stress is a recovery tax. High stress makes the same sleep feel less effective, and it changes how your body responds to training and work. We invert your 1–10 stress level: Stress Score = (11 − stress) × 10. That means stress 1/10 gives you 100 points, while stress 9/10 gives you 20.

Recovery depends on what you’re recovering from. A heavy workout day can reduce recovery even if sleep is decent — not because exercise is bad, but because your body is spending resources. We use a simple mapping:

• Rest day: 95
• Light: 90
• Moderate: 80
• Heavy: 65

If you want to treat this like an athlete, think of “heavy” as a day you’d call taxing: long run, hard intervals, big lifting session, or anything that leaves you sore.

Hydration is a small-but-real lever. We use an easy target of 2.5 liters for most adults. The hydration score scales up toward 100 as you approach the target. Extremely high intake isn’t rewarded more (because more isn’t always better), so it caps at 100 with a small taper at very high values.

Two classic recovery saboteurs are included because they’re common and easy to change: late caffeine and screens right before bed. If you had caffeine after 2pm, we subtract points. If you used screens heavily in the last hour before bed, we subtract points. If you did both, the habit score drops more. The goal is not guilt — it’s awareness. A small habit change can raise your score noticeably.

Finally, we clamp everything to a 0–100 range and show you the result with a short interpretation and concrete “do this next” tips.

How to use this score (without overthinking it)

The best use of an Energy Recovery Score is not to obsess over the exact number — it’s to get feedback loops. If you track it for a week or two, you can answer questions like:

• Do I recover better on nights when I stop scrolling earlier?
• Does caffeine after lunch wreck my next morning?
• Is my “heavy workout” day followed by two low-recovery days?
• Do I feel more recovered when I hit 7.5 hours consistently?

Here’s a simple rhythm that works for most people:

• Morning: Enter last night’s sleep + your stress + your morning energy.
• Midday: If you train, choose your activity load honestly.
• Evening: If you had late caffeine or lots of screens, log it.
• Repeat: Save the result. Compare your “best days” vs “crash days.”

“Good” depends on your life and goals. But as a general guideline:

• 85–100: Do your hardest cognitive work. Train hard if that’s your thing.
• 70–84: Strong day. You can push — but still protect bedtime.
• 50–69: Maintenance day. Focus on essentials and reduce friction.
• 0–49: Recovery day. Sleep earlier, simplify, and don’t negotiate with your nervous system.

A fun mental model: recovery is your daily budget. When your score is high, you can spend it on meetings, workouts, and deep work. When it’s low, spending hard just creates debt — which shows up as irritability, brain fog, cravings, and procrastination. The score helps you spend wisely.

Low scores happen. The trick is to treat a low score as information, not identity. The fastest way to bounce back is usually boring and powerful: hydrate, get sunlight, move lightly, eat simply, and protect bedtime.

Realistic examples (so you can sanity-check your result)

Examples help because recovery is personal. Two people can sleep the same number of hours and feel completely different based on stress, training load, and evening habits. Use these like “rough expectations,” not strict rules.

• Sleep: 7.4 hours
• Sleep quality: 7/10
• Morning energy: 7/10
• Stress: 4/10
• Activity load: Moderate
• Water: 2.3 L
• Caffeine after 2pm: No
• Screens late: Yes

This usually lands around the 70–82 range. Sleep is solid, stress is manageable, and hydration is close. The late screens knock a few points off, but the day is still a “good recovery” day.

• Sleep: 5.5 hours
• Sleep quality: 5/10
• Morning energy: 4/10
• Stress: 8/10
• Activity load: Heavy
• Water: 1.2 L
• Caffeine after 2pm: Yes
• Screens late: Yes

Expect a low score (roughly 25–45). There’s not one single “failure” here — it’s a stack: short sleep, high stress, heavy load, low water, and habits that make recovery harder. The best move is to protect the next night and reduce load.

• Sleep: 8.6 hours
• Sleep quality: 9/10
• Morning energy: 9/10
• Stress: 2/10
• Activity load: Light
• Water: 2.7 L
• Caffeine after 2pm: No
• Screens late: No

This tends to land in the 88–98 range: high sleep quality, low stress, light activity, and supportive habits. These are the days you feel like a different person.

If the number looks off, check your inputs in this order: (1) sleep duration, (2) stress, then (3) morning energy. Those three typically explain most “why do I feel like this?” days.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is this the same as HRV or a wearable recovery score?

  Not exactly. Wearables often use HRV, resting heart rate, sleep staging, and trend data. This calculator is a simple, self-report alternative that’s fast and consistent. It’s best for everyday tracking and habit experiments.

• Why include “morning energy” if sleep already captures recovery?

  Because your body is complex. Morning energy captures everything you didn’t measure — emotional load, inflammation, nutrition, illness, and mental fatigue. It also makes the score feel more “you,” not just a sleep number.

• What if I’m a short sleeper and feel fine on 6 hours?

  Then treat the score as a trend tool. If you consistently feel great and function well, your morning energy and sleep quality inputs will pull the score up. The duration curve is a guideline, not a verdict.

• Can I use this for training planning?

  Yes — lightly. If your recovery is low, do technique, mobility, or a lighter session. If it’s high, you can safely push harder. Just remember: this is not medical or professional coaching advice.

• How can I raise my score quickly?

  The fastest wins are usually: get to bed earlier, avoid caffeine late, reduce screens near bedtime, hydrate, and take a light walk outside. If stress is high, a 10-minute “downshift” routine (breathing, journaling, stretching) helps more than people expect.

• Does a low score mean something is wrong with me?

  No. It means your recovery inputs today are not supportive. One low day is normal. If you’re chronically low for weeks, consider sleep hygiene, workload, stress support, and professional guidance.