Recovery, sleep, and strain

Progress shows three daily scores from 0 to 100: Recovery, Sleep, and Strain. They are worked out on your phone from Apple Health data and give you a quick read on whether today is a day to push or a day to take it easier. The scores never leave your device.

What each score means

  • Sleep looks at last night: how long you slept against an 8-hour target, how much of your time in bed you were actually asleep, and the share of deep and REM sleep. If your sleep source only records total sleep, the stages part is skipped.
  • Recovery compares this morning's heart rate variability and resting heart rate with your own last 60 days. Above your usual scores high, below it scores low. It needs about a week of history before it shows anything.
  • Strain compares today's active energy with your typical day over the last 30 days. 50 is a normal day. It grows through the day as you move, so a morning reading is always low.

Setting it up

  1. Open the Recovery card on the Personal tab.
  2. Tap Connect Apple Health and allow access to sleep, heart rate variability, resting heart rate, and active energy.
  3. Scores appear as soon as Apple Health has data. Each score's detail shows its inputs and a 7-day trend.

Which wearables work

Anything that writes to Apple Health: Apple Watch, Oura, Garmin, Whoop, Amazfit, and others. Progress reads Apple Health, so you do not connect a wearable to Progress directly. If two sources record the same night, overlapping sleep is counted once.

What it does not do

  • It does not store the scores. They are recalculated from Apple Health every time you look, so past days work and nothing goes stale.
  • It does not sync scores to your account, and they never appear in your friends' feed.
  • It does not change your training plan. Adjusting a plan on a low recovery day is planned, not built.
  • There is no stress score.

If the card is empty

Progress cannot tell when Apple Health access was declined. An empty card means no data reached it. Open the detail page and tap Allow Health access, or check Settings → Health → Data Access & Devices → Progress on your iPhone.