How the Recovery Score Calculator works

Think of recovery as your body’s “battery.” Training drains it. Sleep, hydration, nutrition, and stress management charge it back up. The goal of a Recovery Score isn’t to produce a perfect physiological truth — it’s to create a consistent, repeatable decision helper that nudges you toward smarter training choices.

• 0–39 (Low): Multiple fatigue signals. Choose rest or very light movement.
• 40–59 (Moderate): Some recovery debt. Train technique, easy cardio, mobility, or light lifting.
• 60–79 (Good): Strong place. Most workouts are fine; keep intensity controlled.
• 80–100 (High): Highly recovered. Great window for harder sessions or PR attempts.

The calculator converts each input into a sub-score from 0–100, then blends them with weights. The weights are chosen to be “real-life useful”: sleep matters most, while stress, soreness, and training load flag accumulated fatigue. Resting heart rate and optional HRV provide a physiological sanity-check.

Sleep sub-score: Sleep duration is scored against an ideal 7–9 hour range, with a steeper penalty below 6 hours. Sleep quality (1–10) is blended in, because 8 hours of poor sleep doesn’t feel like 8 hours of great sleep.

Stress and soreness: These two numbers are subjective, but extremely useful when tracked consistently. Higher stress lowers performance and increases perceived effort. Higher soreness signals muscle damage or accumulated load.

Training load: Estimated with session-RPE × minutes. This is a common coaching approach because it scales with both duration and intensity.

Resting HR & HRV: If your resting HR is noticeably above baseline, it can indicate strain. If HRV is below baseline, it often correlates with under-recovery. (Devices vary, so HRV only nudges the score.)

Hydration: A small modifier because hydration impacts cardiovascular strain and perceived effort.

• Turns “I guess I’m tired?” into a consistent number you can trend.
• Helps prevent stacking hard days until you crash.
• Encourages the behaviors that actually move recovery: sleep, hydration, stress reduction.

Example: 7.5 hours sleep, quality 7/10, soreness 3/10, stress 4/10, RHR 58 vs baseline 55, 45 minutes training at RPE 6, hydration “okay.” You might land in the mid‑60s to low‑70s: a good training day, but not necessarily your best day for an all‑out max.

Recovery Score FAQ

• Is this the same as a Whoop/Oura recovery score?

  It’s similar in spirit (0–100 readiness), but this tool is transparent and input-based. Wearables use proprietary models. Here, you can see which inputs moved your score.

• What if I don’t know my HRV?

  Leave HRV blank. The score still works. HRV is optional because devices and measurement methods vary.

• How do I pick baselines?

  Use a typical week where you feel normal. If you’re new, pick a reasonable estimate and update it after 1–2 weeks of tracking. Baselines should change slowly, not daily.

• How should I train by score?

  80–100: push day. 60–79: normal training. 40–59: easy day. 0–39: rest day. Always override the number if you feel sick, injured, or unusually exhausted.

• What’s the most common reason scores crash?

  Sleep debt. A few short nights can drop readiness quickly even if training stays the same. Your best “recovery hack” is boring: protect sleep and manage stress.

• Can I use this for weight training and cardio?

  Yes — any training that creates fatigue applies. For strength, soreness may matter more. For endurance, resting HR and sleep can be the bigger signals.