How One Week of Fitbit’s Daily Readiness Experience Changed My Workout Routine For the Better

As an editor for the Fitbit blog, it’s safe to say that health and activity are often on my mind. I’m always on the lookout for the latest trends so I can provide our readers with the best possible tips for achieving optimal wellness. And when it comes to my own well-being, I can positively say that it takes precedence in my day-to-day life.

However, although I make a conscious effort to exercise, meditate, and prioritize good sleep, my wellness routine (like most people) ebbs and flows depending on how I’m feeling mentally, emotionally, and physically. That said, I sometimes struggle with seeing the signs of when my body is telling me that I need to rest and recover. 

But good news was on the horizon when Fitbit introduced it’s new Daily Readiness Score and I had a feeling I found my solution.

Daily Readiness is a Fitbit Premium experience that uses insights from your body such as recent activity levels, heart rate variability (HRV), and sleep patterns to help determine if your body is ready for exercise. By taking these metrics into account, we can work out and recover smarter. Plus, taking time to recover can produce better results than working out hard all the time. With Fitbit’s Daily Readiness experience, you understand your body’s readiness to take on exercise each day. 

So I said: fitness fatigue no more! And using my trusty Fitbit Charge 5, I set out to try Daily Readiness for 7 days. I listened to my personalized Daily Readiness recommendations and the results have officially changed the way I approach my workout routine, such as how yoga sessions help me prepare for my more intense workouts. 

Keep reading to learn more about my first week in the life with Daily Readiness and how it can benefit you and your workout regimen too. 

My 7-day Daily Readiness journey

When Fitbit introduced Daily Readiness, it would be an understatement to say I was pumped to try it out. I’m an avid runner, and exercise isn’t just something I do to keep fit, it brings me joy. So, I wore my Charge 5 for 2 weeks before starting my 7-day test to allow the Daily Readiness algorithm to learn my workout and sleep patterns and tune my score. Once it was ready, I dove into my first week using the experience. Here’s what happened: 

Day one and I was off to the races. I woke up and checked my Fitbit app and had a score of 80—an excellent score. It told me that my recent activity levels were light, my Sleep Score was high, and my HRV was average, which indicated that my body was ready to perform. My Active Zone Minutes recommendation was 89 Zone Minutes.

Feeling energized, I went for my usual run down to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which totaled 53 Zone Minutes. I knew I wanted to reach my target of at least 89, so when I arrived home I checked the app to see if it had any quick Premium workout recommendations. I chose the 20-Minute Obliques and Flat Abs Workout from Popsugar, which took me through to the finish line.

For the next three days, with good activity levels, sleep, and HRV under my belt, my Score ranged between 80-90, so I continued going hard with my workouts. It wasn’t until day four that I woke up with a lower score of 46. My Fitbit app told me I’d been more active lately and I should plan for moderate exercise and not overdo it. With this advice, instead of going on a run, I opted for the low-impact Premium workout: 17-Minute Core Burn from Daily Burn.

The next day, I was down to a low readiness score of 10, which told me that my body likely needed rest. For an easy active recovery, I chose to do the recommended 14-minute Les Mills Bodyflow Flexibility Yoga session.

Midweek I prioritized recovery based on my Daily Readiness Score and I can honestly say I felt the difference. Before Daily Readiness I would’ve done a hard workout as usual and unknowingly pushed my body to the point of exhaustion. But with Daily Readiness, it recognized when my body was experiencing fitness fatigue and gave me a low readiness score. With this knowledge, I was able to give my body the time it needed to recover, which set me up for success with my workouts for the rest of the week. 

After taking my hard earned rest day, the next morning I woke up with a score of 92! My activity was light, my recent sleep was high, and my HRV was average. My body felt great and my Fitbit app recommended I go over 89 Zone Mins that day. Feeling ready to sweat, I pushed myself to run a little further and even surprised myself with the energy to do an ab workout afterwards. 

I closed out the week with sore legs (the good kind!) and although I took two days of active recovery, I racked up more Active Zone Minutes than expected. This tells me that when I was working out, I was getting more out of it.

The takeaway

Having a tool that tells me when I should slow down and recover based on insights from my body was exactly what I was looking for as I head into 2022 with the goal of taking a more holistic approach to my health. 

Daily Readiness isn’t just a reminder to take advantage of rest and recover days, it’s a tried and true tool that helps you optimize your workouts without overdoing it. I can’t wait to continue my exercise journey with Daily Readiness and get my body feeling the best it ever has. Are you ready to try Daily Readiness?