Garmin Training Readiness Explained: What Every Score Actually Means
Garmin Training Readiness scores from 1 to 100 — what each range means, how it's calculated, which watches support it, and how to use it for better training decisions.
Garmin Training Readiness gives you a single number every morning. But what does a score of 42 actually mean? Is 55 good enough to train hard? What about 78 — does that mean you should go all out?
Most Garmin users glance at their Training Readiness score without fully understanding what goes into it, what each range signals, or how to act on it. This guide breaks down every aspect of the metric so you can stop guessing and start using it properly.
What Is Training Readiness?
Training Readiness is a daily score from 1 to 100 that estimates how prepared your body is to handle training stress. Garmin introduced it in 2022 as part of their push to give athletes more actionable recovery data.
Unlike standalone metrics like resting heart rate or step count, Training Readiness is a composite metric. It pulls data from multiple sources your watch tracks continuously — sleep, heart rate variability, recovery, stress, and training history — and combines them into one number.
The idea is simple: instead of checking five different screens and trying to piece together whether you should train, you check one score.
How Garmin Calculates Training Readiness
Garmin has not published the exact algorithm, but they have confirmed the key inputs and their relative importance. Based on Garmin's documentation and observed behavior, the score draws from:
Sleep Quality (High Influence)
Your most recent night of sleep is one of the heaviest inputs. The score considers:
- Total sleep duration compared to your personal baseline
- Sleep stages — the proportion of deep sleep and REM sleep
- Sleep disruptions — how often you woke up and restlessness levels
- Sleep consistency — whether you went to bed and woke up near your usual times
A night of 8 hours with good deep sleep proportion can single-handedly pull your Training Readiness into the green, even if other factors are moderate.
HRV Status (High Influence)
Heart rate variability — specifically your overnight HRV trend — is the other dominant input. Garmin tracks your HRV during sleep and compares it to your personal baseline established over the past 1-3 months.
What matters most is not today's single HRV number but where it sits relative to your baseline range. An HRV reading within or above your normal range is a positive signal. A reading below baseline, especially for multiple consecutive nights, is a strong recovery warning.
If you want to understand HRV status in depth, including what "balanced," "unbalanced," and "low" actually mean for your training, we cover that in a dedicated article.
Recovery Time (Moderate Influence)
Recovery time is Garmin's estimate of how many hours you need before your body is ready for another hard effort. If you ran a hard interval session yesterday and your watch still shows 36 hours of recovery remaining, that drags the Training Readiness score down.
Recovery time itself is calculated from your workout's EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) — essentially how much metabolic disturbance the session caused — combined with your current fitness level.
Recent Training Load (Moderate Influence)
Your short-term training load relative to your long-term fitness level matters. Garmin looks at the balance between your acute load (last 7 days) and chronic load (last 4 weeks).
If you have been ramping volume or intensity faster than your fitness base supports, Training Readiness will reflect that imbalance. This is the metric that catches overreaching before it becomes overtraining.
Stress (Lower Influence)
Garmin tracks all-day stress using heart rate data. Elevated stress throughout the day — whether from work, commuting, emotional events, or physical strain — contributes to the score, though it appears to have less weight than sleep and HRV.
High sustained stress over multiple days has a cumulative effect that becomes increasingly visible in your Training Readiness score.
What Every Score Range Means
Here is what the numbers actually tell you and how to respond to each range.
80-100: Prime
Your body is in excellent shape to handle training stress. Sleep was strong, HRV is at or above baseline, you are well recovered from recent sessions, and stress is manageable.
What to do: This is the day for your hardest session of the week. Intervals, tempo runs, long hard efforts, race-pace work — whatever your plan's key workout is, today is when your body will respond best to it.
How often you will see this: Depends on your lifestyle and training. Athletes with consistent sleep and moderate training loads may see 80+ several times a week. During heavy training blocks, you might go weeks without hitting this range, and that is normal.
60-79: Ready
You are in solid shape to train. Recovery is adequate, sleep was reasonable, and your physiological indicators are within normal ranges. Not your absolute peak, but well within a productive training zone.
What to do: Train as planned for most workout types. You may want to shorten or slightly reduce the intensity of the absolute hardest sessions, but standard training — easy runs, moderate efforts, strength work, long runs at easy pace — is fully on the table.
How often you will see this: This is where most consistent athletes spend the majority of their time. If your Training Readiness regularly sits in the 60-79 range, you are training and recovering well.
40-59: Moderate
Your body can handle training, but it is not in peak condition. One or more inputs are below optimal — maybe sleep was short, HRV dipped slightly, or you are carrying residual fatigue from recent hard sessions.
What to do: Train, but adjust. Swap hard intervals for moderate tempo work. Shorten the long run by 15-20%. Focus on technique and easy aerobic work. This is not a rest day, but it is not the day to chase PRs.
How often you will see this: Common during harder training blocks, after travel, or during stressful life periods. Seeing 40-59 for a few days in a row is normal during a build phase. Seeing it for two weeks straight is a signal to back off.
20-39: Low
Something is significantly off. Your body is dealing with accumulated fatigue, poor recovery, elevated stress, or some combination. Pushing hard here has a high risk of being counterproductive — you are unlikely to get a positive training adaptation from intense work, and you increase your injury risk.
What to do: Easy movement only. A light 20-30 minute jog, a walk, yoga, mobility work. Stay active to promote blood flow, but do not add meaningful training stress. If you have a key decision to make about training today, check other metrics before committing to anything beyond easy effort.
How often you will see this: Occasionally after very hard sessions, during illness, after poor sleep for multiple nights, or during high life stress. If you see scores in this range regularly, something systemic needs attention — sleep, training load, or stress management.
1-19: Rest
Your body is sending a clear signal: recover. Scores this low typically indicate significant sleep deprivation, illness, extreme training fatigue, or major physiological stress.
What to do: Rest completely or limit activity to gentle walking. Focus on sleep, nutrition, and hydration. Do not try to "work through it." If scores remain this low for more than 2-3 days without a clear cause (like known illness), consider consulting a doctor.
How often you will see this: Rarely for healthy athletes with reasonable training plans. If you are hitting single digits regularly, your training program, sleep habits, or stress load need a serious review.
Which Garmin Watches Have Training Readiness?
Training Readiness is available on Garmin's mid-range and premium watches. As of 2026, supported devices include:
- Forerunner series: 255, 265, 570, 955, 965, 970
- Fenix series: Fenix 7, Fenix 8
- Enduro series: Enduro 2, Enduro 3
- Venu series: Venu 3
- Epix series: Epix Gen 2, Epix Pro
Budget models like the Forerunner 165 and Venu Sq do not include Training Readiness. If this metric is important to your training decisions, it is worth factoring into your watch purchase decision.
Note that you need to wear the watch during sleep for Training Readiness to work. The score relies heavily on overnight data, so if you charge your watch at night or skip wearing it to bed, you will not get a score the next morning.
Why Your Training Readiness Might Seem Wrong
Several common situations cause Training Readiness to feel inaccurate.
The Score Is Low But You Feel Great
This usually happens when a single input — often one bad night of sleep or elevated evening stress — pulls the composite score down. Your muscles may feel fresh and your mood may be good, but the physiological data says recovery was incomplete.
In this case, the 15-minute warmup test is your friend. Start easy, see how your body responds, and decide from there. Sometimes the score is catching something you do not feel yet. Other times it is just noise.
The Score Is High But You Feel Terrible
Less common but it happens. Training Readiness relies on physiological data and may miss factors like emotional stress, nutrition issues, or the very early onset of illness before it affects HRV and sleep patterns.
When your body says no and your watch says yes, your body wins. Metrics are tools, not commanders.
Your Scores Are Always in the Same Range
If your Training Readiness hovers between 45-55 every single day regardless of what you do, the calibration may be off. This can happen if:
- You have not worn the watch consistently for at least 2-3 weeks
- Your sleep schedule is highly irregular
- You have a medical condition affecting HRV (certain medications, for example)
Give it time, prioritize consistent wear, and the scores should start showing more meaningful variation.
The Score Does Not Reflect Yesterday's Hard Workout
Training Readiness updates overnight, so a hard afternoon session might not fully register until the following morning's score. If you trained hard in the evening and check Training Readiness before bed, it will not yet reflect that session. Check in the morning.
How to Get the Most Out of Training Readiness
Wear Your Watch to Sleep — Every Night
This is non-negotiable. Training Readiness without sleep data is like a weather forecast without temperature. The score relies on overnight HRV, sleep stages, and recovery data. Inconsistent sleep tracking leads to inconsistent and less useful scores.
Focus on Trends, Not Individual Days
A single day's score matters less than the pattern over a week. Three days of declining scores is a much stronger signal than one random low day. Check your weekly trend in Garmin Connect under the Training Readiness widget.
Use It as Input, Not as a Command
Training Readiness is one tool in your decision-making kit. Combine it with how you feel, what your training plan says, and what your goals require. The decision framework we outlined in a previous article shows how to weigh Training Readiness alongside HRV, Body Battery, and sleep for a more complete picture.
Track What Moves Your Score
Over weeks and months, you will start noticing patterns. Maybe alcohol reliably drops your score by 20 points. Maybe a 10pm bedtime versus midnight is the difference between 70 and 50. These personal insights are more valuable than any generic advice.
FAQ
How long does Training Readiness take to calibrate on a new watch?
Garmin needs approximately 2-3 weeks of consistent wear to establish your personal baselines for HRV, sleep, and stress. During this period, scores may be less reliable. Some users report that scores become noticeably more accurate after about a month of continuous use.
Can I see Training Readiness in Garmin Connect on my phone?
Yes. Training Readiness appears on the Garmin Connect app under the "Training & Planning" section. You can view your current score, the contributing factors, and a historical trend chart. The watch face shows the score as well, and many watch faces include it as a glanceable complication.
Does napping affect Training Readiness?
Garmin does not currently factor naps into the Training Readiness calculation in a meaningful way. The score primarily relies on your main overnight sleep period. A nap may improve your Body Battery, but it is unlikely to significantly change your next morning's Training Readiness score.
Is Training Readiness the same as Body Battery?
No. Body Battery is a real-time energy metric that fluctuates throughout the day — it drains with activity and stress, and recharges with rest and sleep. Training Readiness is a once-daily score specifically designed to assess your capacity for physical training. They use some overlapping data (like HRV and stress) but serve different purposes. For a deeper comparison, see our decision framework article.
Why did my Training Readiness drop after a rest day?
This can happen if your rest day included poor sleep, high stress, or alcohol consumption. Rest days reduce training load but do not guarantee good recovery if other factors are working against you. It can also occur simply because the previous day's hard session is now fully reflected in the overnight data.