WRISTGRID BLOG
How a readiness score is calculated
Readiness scores answer the question every athlete asks each morning: "Should I train hard today, or back off?" Behind that single 0–100 number is a blend of several recovery signals. Here's how a modern readiness score is actually built — and why yours is personal to you.
The four signals that matter most
A good readiness score doesn't rely on one number — it blends several recovery signals, because no single metric tells the whole story. The four most common inputs are sleep quality, resting heart rate, stress, and your body's energy reserves.
In WristGrid, these combine into a 0–100 readiness score with clear bands: 70 and above means high readiness (green light to train), 40–69 is moderate (listen to your body), and below 40 is a sign to focus on rest. Each signal contributes a weighted share, and the score renormalizes automatically if one signal is missing that day.
Why resting heart rate is compared to YOUR baseline
Here's the part most people miss: a good readiness score doesn't compare your resting heart rate to a generic population table. It compares today's reading to your own personal baseline — typically your average over the last 30 days.
Why? Because a "normal" resting heart rate varies enormously between people. 52 bpm might be perfectly recovered for one athlete and elevated for another. What matters is the deviation from your normal. A resting heart rate that's 5+ bpm above your personal baseline is one of the most reliable early signs of fatigue, illness, or incomplete recovery — and it pulls your readiness down.
How stress and sleep fit in
Stress counts against readiness because physiological stress — measured through heart-rate variability — means your body is already spending resources coping. That's why stress is inverted in the calculation: lower stress pushes readiness up, higher stress drags it down.
Sleep feeds in through a sleep score (more on that in a separate article). A great night lifts your readiness; a short or fragmented night lowers it. Combined, these signals estimate how recovered your body actually is — not how recovered you feel, which are often different.
Reading readiness without becoming a slave to it
The healthiest way to use a readiness score is as one input among several, not an order. A low score on a day you feel great is worth a second look — sometimes the body knows something you don't yet. A high score on a day you feel flat might just mean you need caffeine and a warm-up.
WristGrid surfaces your readiness score right on your iPhone, alongside the recovery context behind it — resting heart rate, stress load, and sleep — so you can see not just the number but the "why" at a glance.
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