Garmin · Your reading
Garmin Training Readiness is low. Should I train or rest?
Usually train, but change the session. Low (25–49) means trim the intensity or swap the hard session for easy aerobic work. Poor (1–24) means recover on purpose today.
What goes into Training Readiness
Training Readiness is a score from 1 to 100 with a short message about how ready you are for training. Garmin lists six factors: last night’s sleep score, recovery time, HRV status, acute load, sleep history over the last three nights and stress history over the last three days.
Garmin says the main drivers are last night’s sleep and the recovery demands of recent activities. Acute load is a weighted sum of your post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) over several days, so a heavy block holds the score down even after a good night. Recovery time counts down after each workout, for up to four days.
The analysis comes from Firstbeat Analytics, Garmin’s physiology platform, on recent Forerunner, fēnix, Venu and Instinct watches among others. The score updates through the day, so decide from the morning number.
Garmin’s levels, and what to do in each
| Score | Level | What to do today |
|---|---|---|
| 95–100 | Prime | Garmin calls this best possible. Train as planned, and do the hard session properly. |
| 75–94 | High | Ready for challenges, in Garmin’s words. Train as planned: a good day for intervals or a heavy lift. |
| 50–74 | Moderate | Good to go. Train as planned, or trim the last hard rep if one factor, such as a short night, is dragging the score. |
| 25–49 | Low | Time to slow down. Easy sessions go ahead. A hard one gets trimmed, or switched to easy aerobic or mobility work and moved out 2–3 days. |
| 1–24 | Poor | Let your body recover. Recover deliberately: a walk, mobility, an early night. If you feel ill, rest and see a doctor. |
Educational, not medical advice. With chest pain, a fever or feeling unwell, rest and see a doctor.
What the score can’t see
Training Readiness reads your body, not your day. It can’t see a sore knee, a twelve-hour shift ahead or that you barely ate yesterday. A specific pain that changes how you move overrules any number.
Read it against your own normal, not against 100. One low morning after a late night is noise; four in a row is a pattern, and patterns decide. Check which factor is pulling it down: a short night means trim today, a high acute load means an easier few days. Adjusting goes both ways, and a study of trained cyclists found that fitting hard days to daily readiness did at least as well as a fixed plan.
px reads your Training Readiness every morning alongside your sleep, HRV, resting heart rate and calendar, and sizes the day from all of it, telling you why. It doesn’t change anything on your Garmin.
Sources
- Garmin. Forerunner 970 Watch Owner’s Manual: Training Readiness.
- Garmin. Forerunner 970 Watch Owner’s Manual: Recovery Time.
- Garmin. Forerunner 970 Watch Owner’s Manual: Acute Load.
- Garmin Blog. New Features on Garmin Smartwatches Help to Maximize Your Training.
- Javaloyes A, Sarabia JM, Lamberts RP, Moya-Ramon M. Training prescription guided by heart-rate variability in cycling. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2019;14(1):23–32.
Your Garmin scores, explained.
Questions
Why is my Training Readiness low after a rest day?
A rest day lowers acute load, but the score also weighs last night’s sleep and the last three days of stress. A restless night, a stressful day off or an evening drink can hold it down, and recovery time from a big session can still be counting down.
Should I train with low Training Readiness?
Usually yes, but easier. Garmin’s message for Low is time to slow down, not stop. Keep easy sessions and trim or postpone the hard one. At Poor, recover deliberately.
What is a good Training Readiness score?
Garmin labels 50–74 Moderate (good to go), 75–94 High and 95–100 Prime. Your own usual range matters more: if you normally sit in the 60s, a 62 is an ordinary day.
px reads your Garmin Training Readiness every morning.
Alongside your sleep, HRV, resting heart rate and calendar, so the day is sized from all of it, not one number. You get the plan and the reason.