How Training Today Works

To understand how Training Today works, it's essential to understand that the Readiness To Train Score (RTT) Score uses your Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and presents it in a way that is easy to view and act on by comparing the last 24hrs to your baseline 60-day average.  In that sense, it is driven very closely by your physiological state as indicated by your HRV data which Apple Watch captures automatically.

Some Background on HRV

HRV is a complex physiological metric that can be affected by many factors, including physical exertion, sleep, diet and nutrition, illness, and stress.

A higher HRV indicates a healthy, adaptable, and resilient autonomic nervous system. It means the body can respond effectively to different situations and stressors, including physical exercise, emotional stress, and environmental changes.

A lower HRV may indicate an imbalanced or overactive sympathetic nervous system, which may lead to a reduced ability of the autonomic nervous system to respond to the demands of physical exercise, which could affect exercise performance. 

Apple Watch records your HRV in the background throughout the day and night.  You can review your HRV data in Apple Health as described: Checking Your HRV Logs.

What Training Today Does

The Training Today app calculates your RTT score by looking at your HRV 60-day average in Apple Health and comparing it to a rolling 24hrs of data (by default, you can change this in settings). 

So a high RTT score indicates that you have recovered well in the rolling 24hr period from which the score is derived.

You can read more about our RTT methodology here: https://trainingtodayapp.com/blog/training-today-rtt-methodology-and-24-hour-comparative-data. 

If Your Score Doesn't Feel Right

There are specific scenarios where HRV seems to go in the wrong direction, and your score may seem high when it seems it should be low and visa-versa.  

For example, some highly trained athletes find their score goes to 10 a day after a tough event.  This could be because their recovery system is working in overload and because the fact of finishing the event has relieved emotional stress.  

Alternatively, some people sometimes have low scores and still feel ready for high-intensity exercise. In this case, you should be cautious as you could leave yourself open to illness, as your immune system may be weakened through illness.  However, physical exercise could benefit you if your low HRV values result from other factors, such as work stress.

Scientific Evidence

Please visit here for papers on scientific evidence we have used in creating this app: https://trainingtodayapp.helpscoutdocs.com/category/37-research-papers