Fitbit Sense needs Recovery Score

[WardCarson]

I love my Sense - best piece of tech ever from Fitbit. Only thing lacking is a recovery score a la Whoop. I have no idea how to use the stress score for planning exercise or how to use and interpret its component scores for sleep, heart and fatigue. Also don’t see good explanation anywhere on how heart responsiveness is calculated - on days where my RHR is low and HRV is high, the heart response score isn’t that great. That doesn’t make a lot of “sense”.

[sancho90]

Hi @WardCarson,

great idea. I would suggest posting it as a feature suggestion:

Suggest a new feature

That done you can link the suggestion here that we can upvote for it.

[SunsetRunner]

Can't see it ever happening if i'm honest.  Fitbit is more of a health and wellbeing brand and not a sports watch, also they might need to license the algorithm off a third party such as Firstbeat.  

[Dvto2]

Fitbit is owned by Google.  They can afford to license anything or develop anything they want, if they see value.   I am struggling between a Sense and a Whoop, and will probably go with Whoop for now, keeping my Charge 2, but anticipate Fitbit will add this sooner or later. 

[SunsetRunner]

True they could license whatever they want but that would involve making a deal with the competition.  The recovery metric Garmin use is developed by Firstbeat who are wholly owned by Garmin so I can't see them (Garmin) licensing their IP to a rival even though Fitbit and Garmin target completely different markets.

[t.parker]

@SunsetRunner Suunto did that, they work with FirstBeat.

[SunsetRunner]

They are actually far more likely to absorb Fitbit OS into Wear OS as there is a new version coming based off Android 11

[Rich_Laue]

The resting heart rate score uses your recovery as one of its inputs. 

[SunsetRunner]

That's lovely @Rich_Laue but I think what people are actually asking for is recovery time post workout such as my run this morning has a recovery time of 33 hours according to my watch.

[t.parker]

@SunsetRunner this kind of recovery time (just time needed to recover after activities) doesn't really require a licensing third-party solution. Suunto and Polar have been supporting such a feature for a long time. I think, Firstbeat appeared on Suunto devices since Suunto 9 but my Spartan model has a recovery time (no support for Firstbeat).

I'd rather say that Fitbit isn't interested in delivering such a feature and probably there is no such demand. See that people come up with some features by comparison with competitors. However, Fitbit's largest base of users is probably the one for which Fitbit device was the very first choice and they stuck with it not aware of how far the competitors already are. It's like certain things are taken for granted in Fitbit world - no HR during swimming (competitors have it), limited Strava syncing (competitors sync all), no external sensors (people take for granted that Spinning or Treadmill cannot be accurate, yet competitors can make them accurate with additional sensors). Until, as a user, you know something is possible you may not even think that you want it. Then single voices like in this thread make no difference. I sadly must agree with you that such a feature (and probably many more) won't happen on Fitbit. However, over years I came to the conclusion that Fitbit isn't for everyone. The company makes very simple devices to accommodate a need for basic exercise. You mentioned you use Garmin. Do you even care on Garmin how many steps daily you do? But that's what Fitbit users care about 🙂 Those are entry-level health and fitness devices (maybe some are a bit too expensive for what they offer). At least this is how I see it now.

[SunsetRunner]

@t.parker fair point, I don't obsess over my steps even though my watch adjusts them daily based on my activity and history.  They are aimed at different markets you're right which is why the extra training metrics will never make it to a Fitbit.

[Rich_Laue]

I realize what people want @SunsetRunner. I was simply pointing out where the recovery data is being used. And that the user may use the resting heart rate to get an idea if they are improving. 

[Nicola_grec]

Use the resting heartrate, if it’s to high , it’s likely that you need some rest . 

[Nicola_grec]

Why , the polar watches has no firstbeat , 

it has his own algorithm to calculate rest . 
I think Fitbit can do it also by it’s own , it has the resting heartrate, it need also the exertion of past days , then they can also calculate it , Fitbit had the advantage , that it tracks automatically exercise with heartrate. That’s something that Garmin don’t doe . 
i think it’s a great plus for Fitbit, cause stepping to much steps a day can also be harmful , it’s a good idea if they do some number crunching that tels if you must calm down . 

[Dvto2]

I don't think resting heartbeat captures day to day strain.  The more I work out, the lower my testing heartbeat, but that doesn't mean I'm fully rested for thre next day.  Hrv may be more useful, but frankly, my Fitbit hrv score is always low, and doesn't change much, whether I've worked out or not, so I wonder how accurate and useful it is.

[SunsetRunner]

Hi @Nicola_grec can you elaborate on what you mean by Garmin don't track exercise with heartrate whereas Fitbit does? Also how is resting heartrate useful for recovery as @Dvto2 states? My resting heartrate changes during the day depending on what i'm doing.  At the moment it's 69bpm typing this, having just gone into the kitchen to make a cup of tea it was 90bpm, if i'm really relaxed it drops to about 53bpm, also certain drugs can affect it. My wife's is around 100-110 as she is on certain asthma drugs which artifically raise it, my daughter's is around 90 as she is also on certain drugs.  

A much better way would be to measure your recovery heart rate i.e. how quickly it slows over a two minute period after exercise, which for me is around 50bpm, excellent for my age yet my recovery time depends on my previous activities, V02 max, and other metrics such as aerobic and anaerobic effect nothing of which Fitbit currently measure.

[Nicola_grec]

Garmin if you dont start an exercise on the watch it traks your steps , and know also when you run.

but the heartrate , it dont show on the garmin , fitbit if you dont track , after exercise you can see on the exercise tab what you have done .

thats a plus for fitbit , cause it can calculate the exertion of the whole day, and gif a number .

i m 53 years , and have diabetic type 2.

but i do walk if i can , my resting heartrate today is 65 , some times it goes also lower , 

if its to high i know that i need a restday.

the vo2max and other effects on a garmin device are to my point crap.

for vo2max you need it to do it in a lab test. and you need a heartstrap like polar h10 , best .

[Nicola_grec]

That cant be true.

If say you run every day hard , you dont lower you resting heartrate , cause you body needs adaptation , thats why after a run the resting heartrate the day after is always higher then the day before .

then if you rest enouch you resting heartrate wil lower.

hrv , the lower the more fatique you are , and need to rest , my hrv is one day say 29 , thats low , and i feel i need rest , and somtymes it is 40 , and then i feel the difference , i feel better .

i dont know if the numbers are correct but it definitifely gives me an image of where i m. that day.

[SunsetRunner]

Sorry @Nicola_grec but I completely disagree.  Not sure what Garmin you use but if I forget to manually start the activity, it tracks it accurately even back to the start (due to Move IQ) and provides me with a full GPS map, heartrate, etc.  Whenever I've forgotten to start an activity on my Fitbits it just says 'run' or 'walk' with no map or other useful info.  I'm assuming you're a doctor or otherwise qualified to state that all other metrics employed by other brands are crap?  For your info I may not use a lab, but I do use a chest HR strap so am fairly confident my HR, respiration rate and other metrics are fairly accurate.

You also state that other brands are in your opinion crap, yet you then go on to say that 'i dont know if the numbers are correct but it definitifely gives me an image of where i m. that day.'  so you are just relying on some random figure to gauge how you feel.

[oeagleo]

Hello.  I too liked the "recovery time" available on Garmin and Suunto devices, and missed the feature on the Apple watch, and Samsung watches I've owned.  Yeah, I'm a geek at heart. 😄  Anyway, there is a free web based app out there that accepts Fitbit activities natively, just connect them, and gives all the stats that you've wanted for so long, including Training Impact (ala Training Peaks), gives recovery time in days, and a bunch of other stats.  Really nice, and once again, it's free.  You can donate of course, but essentially it gives all of the stats that Garmin or Suunto gives, (except EPOC) so check it out.