Readiness score feels demotivating, can someone help?

[MisterMarcoo]

Hello,

I'm still new to Fitbit, so I started really enthoustic with training and tracking everything and really love it.

But I don't seem to get the readiness score.

Everyday I check my readiness score and the recommended zone minutes I should try to get. Everytime I achieve those goals . At the beginning it showed mediocre to low scores. On mediocre days I'd train, on the lower days I don't. 

However, at some point, I didn't train for two days, because I had pain on my knees of running. So the following the day the score was excellent. And no matter how hard I train now, I need to get two times plus active zone minutes on a excellent day to even ever get a low score again.

One might say: why care? Well seeing the low score, to me meant that I hadnt trained hard enough yesterday so I earned a day of rest. But now, everyday I must train according to the score, but my body cannot deal with that at the moment, since my knees are still hurting. So .. annoying score.

How should I read the score?

[t.parker]

Listen to your body, not some 'magic' score that is based on totally wrong data (using AZM for readiness... such a dumb idea). However, if you need a tool to manage your training efforts you can try using TrainingPeaks and the TSB metric (which I find really useful, especially before racing, it helps me shape the intensity of my training before events). If you want the readiness, you may use EliteHRV, which is currently considered a gold standard in the industry (and includes context so you don't blindly follow the number but rather interpret it within the context like illness, muscle soreness etc.).

[MisterMarcoo]

Hmm yea I think you are right and I know you need to know your limits. I
was just hoping the feature would be some sort of a "digital coach" to keep
you motivated and going. But that is not what this score does, at least not
in the best way apparently.

So what does this score eventually mean then? What can I reap from it?

[t.parker]

@MisterMarcoo this is a kind of the wrong approach if you want the score to motivate you. The score must be telling you what you need to hear not what you want to hear 🙂 EliteHRV will often tell you that this day isn't your day, you will see the performance goes down, etc. FirstBeat (on Garmin) will tell you whether you are unproductive or even detraining. That isn't motivating but it is what it is - sometimes you need to hear that you suck so you can work to suck less 😄 It is however different story when the metric is built on false assumptions. I explained here why exactly using AZM as part of DRS is a bad idea.

I don't know until now what daily readiness should be used for and how to interpret it. I gave it a go but didn't work for me. My DRS was always high because my AZM was too low. Short and medium-length all-out/high-intensity efforts are totally lost in the DRS so when you should be recovering afterward the DRS tells you to ramp up your activity level because you are not enough active. It can't tell an hour of brisk walk from an hour of hill sprints - gives me the same AZM for both. I was expecting something like that which is quite well defined metric and thousands of athletes and coaches incorporate it into training. Maybe DRS works for non-sporty people, casual-active, etc. I don't know that. I know however that it isn't a metric to be used in proper training and following it may in fact backfire.

[MisterMarcoo]

Wow the post you made was excellent and it's clear the Readiness Score by
Fitbit is not accurate enough and indeed focussing too much on AZM. (Did
they invent the AZM and therefore try to make it fancy?)

Just out of curiosity, EliteHRV (and TrainingPeaks for that matter) can use
the data from your Fitbit to work or do you need other stuff?

[t.parker]

The concept of AZM isn't invented by Fitbit. Other platforms incorporate it, too. The AZM (and obtaining 150min) is the same as the "10000 steps a day" rule - it's made mostly for people who try to get fit or keep a low to moderate level of activity. This is something that is achievable for the majority of people and easy to track and evaluate (more minutes - good, fewer minutes - not that good). There is nothing wrong with it as it makes people move (and this is a good thing). The problem is that AZM isn't really a metric of anything (same as steps) because it hides (smoothens) the information. It tells you "minutes" but it doesn't tell you how you got it. There is not enough information in a single number to extract the context so, as a metric, it isn't particularly useful. Using it to calculate quite a complex metric like Readiness is incorrect algorithmically. I get AZM on my Garmin and Fitbit watches but I don't pay any attention to it as it's irrelevant to me. Yet, as I said, there is nothing wrong with AZM if it's used correctly. If somebody is trying to get fit, AZM is quite alright - an achievable goal, 2 ways of getting there - less intense but slower or more intense and faster (walk vs brisk walk?). That may work and I see nothing wrong about it. Just shouldn't be used as a part of the Readiness score.

For EliteHRV you need to use a chest strap (and I highly recommend getting one as most of them are designed to capture R-R intervals with very high accuracy). The readiness score of EliteHRV is based only on HRV. You just do a short measurement after you wake up (time domain 2-3 minutes only, it's enough to evaluate readiness). You will be able to attach context info like whether you got sick, or had a very hard workout before, etc. You may measure your HRV after workouts as well and this data will be used for the next readiness capture. EliteHRV is very well documented (manual and methodology, lots to read but worth it).

TrainingPeaks integration: https://www.trainingpeaks.com/partners/fitbit/

TrainingPeaks has some learning curve but once you dive into it you'll get a plethora of useful stuff.

[MisterMarcoo]

Thanks for all your explanation. This really helps a lot. Big thank you!

[brownawella]

To me the score can mess with my head a lot.  I work out intensely anywhere from 2.5 to 3 hours a day and it never tells me to take a rest day (I mean I don't but that is because I have compulsive exercise issues).  So I am not sure how great it is to watch that score as any reasonable person (not saying I am one as I admitted I workout every day) would think that such a score should tell you take a rest day.