This article covers how Oura measures your Readiness Score, what's considered a "good" score, quick tips on how to improve your readiness, and the various factors that may result in lower Readiness Scores.
What Is the Readiness Score?
How Oura Measures Readiness
What Is a Good Readiness Score?
What Is the Crown Icon?
How to Improve Your Readiness Score
Factors That May Decrease Your Readiness Score
What Is the Readiness Score?
The Oura Readiness Score measures how well recovery and movement are in balance. It evaluates sleep quality, physiological responses, and movement levels to indicate how prepared the individual is for the day.
How Oura Measures Readiness
The Readiness Score looks at both overnight and long-term metrics. Overnight metrics include the lowest resting heart rate and its timing, body temperature, and sleep quality, as well as physical movement from the previous day. Long-term balance balance metrics include HRV, sleep, and activity balance. Most Readiness Score metrics, also the overnight ones, look at the individual's recent trends and compare them to their baselines.
Think of scores that are labeled with "balance" in this way: all of these metrics have to do with 14-day weighted averages, not daily fluctuations. They compare your average over the past 14 days (with the past 2-5 days holding slightly more weight) to your long-term average over the past two months.
For example, activity balance looks at how much physical load your body has been under in the past 14 days compared to how much physical load your body has become accustomed to over the past two months. When we say the past 2-5 days hold slightly more weight in your 14-day average, this means if you completed a tough workout yesterday, it will reflect more heavily in your activity balance score in comparison to a challenging workout you completed seven days ago.
What Is a Good Readiness Score?
Readiness, Activity, and Sleep Scores — and their contributors — are rated on a scale of 0-100.
- 85-100: Optimal
- 70-84: Good
- 60-69: Fair
- 0-59: Pay Attention
An 85 or higher may be a sign that you are ready to take on new challenges. Scores below 70 indicate that you may benefit from prioritizing rest and recovery in the indicated areas.
Keep in mind that stabilizing or optimizing your Readiness Score on a daily basis is not necessarily the end goal. Variety in your Readiness Score is positive because it demonstrates that you are pushing your body to a reasonable degree and taking on healthy amounts of stress that are needed to build metabolic and cardiovascular strength (i.e., a thriving metabolism and strong heart to keep you performing at your absolute best). The general idea is that you push yourself, recover, and then repeat this pattern.
What is the crown icon?
On days where your Readiness, Sleep, or Activity Score is 85 or higher, you'll see a crown icon in the following places:
- Near your Readiness, Sleep, or Activity Score on the Home tab
- Beside your score in the Readiness, Sleep, or Activity tab
- Above the corresponding day in the calendar view (accessed by selecting "Today" at the top of the app)
How to Improve Your Readiness Score
If you’re looking to improve your Readiness Score and get back to an ideal state of recovery, here are some quick tips on what you can do today to improve your Readiness for tomorrow:
- Don't complete any physical activity that is vigorous, but don't remain completely inactive either. Do something that allows your body to get moving without placing too much strain on your system. Examples include a 20-minute walk, light yoga, or stretching
- Take things slow, but avoid sitting at a desk or in a car all day. Specifically, avoid sitting for more than five hours if you can
Factors That May Decrease Your Readiness Score
1. High and low body temperatures compared to your own long-term (~2 month) average
- High body temperatures may be a sign of stress on the body, such as illness
- Low body temperatures may be a sign of changes in your system, such as those that take place during the female menstrual cycle. Lower body temperatures have been shown to occur during the follicular phase (the 14-day period leading up to ovulation)
2. High and low resting heart rates (RHR) compared to your own long-term average
- A lower than usual RHR indicates low arousal of your nervous system; in other words, you are not challenging your body enough to remain physically fit and are likely in a state of lethargy (low energy)
- A higher than usual RHR indicates that something is over-challenging your system to a degree that is leading to insufficient recovery
3. Heart rate variability (HRV) levels that are lower than your normal range or considerably higher than your normal range
- HRV levels lower than normal are signs of excessive load and stress on the body
- Considerably higher HRV levels are considered to be signs of low nervous system arousal
4. Consistently getting less sleep than your body needs depending on your age
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine guidelines, the average adult (18+ years) needs 7-9 hours of sleep per night in order to operate in a healthy manner.
5. Lower or higher activity balance scores, including your previous day activity
Activity balance is the ratio of your recent activity levels over the past 14 days compared to your long-term activity levels over the past two months.
- Lower activity balance scores may indicate that you are not challenging your body enough
- Higher activity balance scores may indicate that you are overexerting and pushing yourself too hard
6. Heart rate stabilization that occurs too late in the night
- Heart rate stabilization takes place when your resting heart rate (RHR) reaches a baseline, that is—when it falls within 3 BPM (beats per minute) of your lowest resting heart rate during the night
- Keep in mind: this typically takes place before your heart rate reaches its lowest point, which can be identified by the illuminated white dot located in your RHR graph found within the sleep tab. This is because heart rate stabilization occurs slightly above your lowest resting heart rate, allowing for this event to take place earlier in the night (although this is not always the case)
For more information on your Readiness Score, please visit The Pulse blog.
