Readiness is low because my RHR is high-but I feel fine?

[OingoSpoingo]

So my readiness today is at 15 because my resting heart rate is 5bpms above the usual, but otherwise I feel fine (except some calf soreness from my leg day the day before yesterday, and I rested yesterday. Everything I’ve checked indicates that the only reason my resting heart rate would be high is if I was going too hard workout-wise or if I was sick, and none of this is true. It’s also weird that yesterday my readiness was 25 based off basically the same information and got worse after a rest day. I had a stressful dream and woke up thirsty and that’s about all I can think of as far as understanding what’s going on. Can anyone help me out, here?

[Julia_G]

Hi, @OingoSpoingo , I think you should always first listen to what your body is telling you.  Your Fitbit is an excellent tool for helping you understand what is going on, and I think it is a pretty impressive tool, but the best judge of whether or not you feel ready to work out, is you.  

So I would suggest that if you feel ready, go for a workout today, and see what impact that has on your readiness score for tomorrow.

As for your resting heart rate (RHR) that can vary for lots of reasons, not just readiness.  It is true that it is often more elevated if you are coming down with something, and stress is also a factor.  Women can have significant fluctuations based on their menstrual cycle and a consistent rise in RHR can indicate pregnancy in child birth bearing aged women.  

Stress can also be a significant factor, but also life style habits - for example a night of significant drinking could raise your RHR for several days.

For full information about your readiness score please see this really useful help article .  And also for all the details about how Fitbit calculates your resting heart rate (and why it matters) please go here