Why a single metric misses the picture
HRV alone is noisy. Sleep alone tells you nothing about training stress carried over. Resting heart rate moves slowly. A wearable picking one of these and calling it your "recovery" is making a confident-looking guess off partial data. The athletes who consistently train well combine signals.
How the score is built
You enter six inputs and the calculator weights them like this:
- Sleep duration and quality: 25%
- HRV: 20%
- Resting HR: 15%
- Perceived stress: 15%
- Yesterday's TSS: 15%
- Training load trend: 10%
Each factor is scored against physiological reference ranges, then combined into a 1 to 10 score. 8 to 10 means go hard, 6 to 7 means train as planned, 4 to 5 means easy day, 1 to 3 means rest.
If you don't have a wearable
Enter 60 ms as a baseline HRV. The other five factors carry enough signal for a useful score. The accuracy gap versus Whoop or Oura is mostly automation, not the underlying logic. A 60-second self-check at the same time each morning is more consistent than people expect.
Recovery & Readiness Score
Enter your morning metrics and get a go/no-go recommendation for today's training. This composite score weighs multiple factors. Something no single metric can do alone.
FAQ
What is HRV and why does it matter?
Heart Rate Variability measures the variation in time between heartbeats. Higher HRV generally indicates better recovery and parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) dominance. It's one of the best single biomarkers for recovery status.
I don't have an HRV monitor — what should I enter?
Enter 60ms as a baseline estimate. The calculator weights all six factors, so even without precise HRV data, sleep quality, resting HR, and perceived stress still produce a useful readiness score.
How accurate is this compared to Whoop or Oura?
This uses the same underlying principles (HRV, sleep, training load) but with self-reported data. Wearables provide continuous automated measurement which reduces user error. Think of this as a structured self-check when you don't have a wearable.
Methodology
Weighted composite scoring: Sleep (25%), HRV (20%), Resting HR (15%), Perceived Stress (15%), Yesterday's TSS (15%), Training Load Trend (10%). Each factor is scored 1-10 using physiological reference ranges, then combined. Score 8-10 = go hard, 6-7 = normal, 4-5 = easy, 1-3 = rest.
Want to verify the math?
Explore 170+ reference calculators built by engineer-athlete Thomas Prommer. The technical foundation behind our AI.
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