Could someone please explain the readiness score and active zone minutes

[Emily2312]

Hi,

I’ve had my sense 2 for about 3 weeks now and I can’t get my head around the readiness score. My readiness score is always between 1-5 with my Fitbit saying I have been doing intense physical activity. In line with this my active zone minutes are quite high. 

I am a primary school teacher and I am on my feet most of the day. I get the bus to work and have a short walk too and from the bus stop. However this is nothing strenuous. I haven’t been exercising since I started wearing my Fitbit because I’m concerned of burnout if my readiness score is really so low. 

Other info which may be useful- all of my metrics are within range each day and my sleep score varies from low 70s to high 80’s. In my settings my active zone minutes goal is set to 22 minutes, I haven’t altered this since I got my Fitbit. 

[JohnnyRow]

I personally wouldn't be too concerned about the readiness score.  Active Zone Minutes (AZM) come from time in the heart rate zones.  Check your zone limits by tapping on the Zone Minutes circle in phone app.  If the zones look ridiculously easy to achieve, check your birthdate in your Google account.  It seems Google just started taking birthdate from Google account rather than from Fitbit account, giving some people a strange birthdate, perhaps 1.1.1900, completely throwing off heart rate zones, giving huge amounts of AZM.

[phatbitzr · Accepted solution]

The readiness score is a premium subscription feature, so it can't just be discarded as irrelevent.

[Triletics]

@Emily2312 the problem is that readiness uses AZM. This post describes why using AZM for Readiness is a bad idea. Shortly, because it blurs a huge range of intensities into just 2 types of effort. This way, a long easy effort will be seen as more AZM-intense than another intense but shorter effort. For example, an easy 10k run would give me AZM x1 and if I go really easy, maybe approx. 55AZM yet a 5k race done within ie. 20min (going all-out effort) would grant me approx. 40AZM. Intensity-wise it's the shorter activity that leaves more strain on my body but for Readiness, which focuses only on numbers it would be the longer easier effort which has not that much impact. It's just an example but it shows a flaw in the design of DRS. By losing the intensity of activities the Readiness score isn't valid.

[Emily2312]

I thought that would be the case. It is such a flaw and almost seems pointless. Thanks for clarifying 

[Emily2312]

Thanks! I’ll try this