Recovery Tracking

[joe.e]

Does anyone use anything fancy to track recovery? I've been mostly tracking work outs (duration and intensity), doing some recovery best practices, and adjusting based on feel, but I'm curious what everyone else is doing. Excel sheet? Garmin app? RHR in the morning and to hell with the rest?

[regularguy412]

For the last 5 years I've been using the Training Load portion of Polarpersonaltrainer . com. My RCX5B device uploads to the site and the site tracks accumulated training week by week. Within the uploads, the device also does some precise tracking- more specifically when you do a fitness test it measures the minute differences in heart beats which helps the site measure accumulated training load. Daily, there are three suggestions: Recovered and can train more, Can train but avoid racing or intense training, Training is not recommended at this time.

Before that I used an Excel spreadsheet tool that was created by a forumite. This was back in 2008. It worked pretty well, but I like the Polar site info better. It's easier to upload via the USB antenna vs. having to enter the data manually.

Works pretty well. I can also tell on my own when I'm hitting the limit on training. When I can't get my heart rate to come up even when working hard, then it's time to rest a few days.

Mike in AR

[JStonebarger]

I've just recently started using HRV4training, and so far I like it a lot.

I don't know if HRV is all it's cracked up to be, but this is a $10 phone app with no other monitor required (the phone's camera and flash are used to measure HRV). So I figure maybe worth a try, huh?

Meanwhile, I appreciate that the app logs subjective assessments of everything going on in your life -- Not just how much did you train? How intensely and how did it feel? But also did you sleep well? How sore are your muscles? Others stresses aside from training? Even did you drink yesterday? (Options: no; a little; too much. D'oh!)

Again, without more reading I'm not going to go on about HRV. Does this HRV4training app work? On a day-to-day level it sure seems to. In only a few weeks more than once it's told me "go easy today" when I had planned to go hard. Reading that on my phone, and rethinking my answers to the questions above and more, made me see that rest would help more at that moment than stress.

I took off all the computers years ago. I wasn't very motivated by counting miles, hours, watts, whatever. But now I'm back to logging my training, or rather, logging its effects on me. Whether that's useful in the long term, beyond just day-to-day, we'll see.

[ptourkin]

Originally Posted by JStonebarger

I've just recently started using HRV4training, and so far I like it a lot.

I don't know if HRV is all it's cracked up to be, but this is a $10 phone app with no other monitor required (the phone's camera and flash are used to measure HRV). So I figure maybe worth a try, huh?

Meanwhile, I appreciate that the app logs subjective assessments of everything going on in your life -- Not just how much did you train? How intensely and how did it feel? But also did you sleep well? How sore are your muscles? Others stresses aside from training? Even did you drink yesterday? (Options: no; a little; too much. D'oh!)

Again, without more reading I'm not going to go on about HRV. Does this HRV4training app work? On a day-to-day level it sure seems to. In only a few weeks more than once it's told me "go easy today" when I had planned to go hard. Reading that on my phone, and rethinking my answers to the questions above and more, made me see that rest would help more at that moment than stress.

I took off all the computers years ago. I wasn't very motivated by counting miles, hours, watts, whatever. But now I'm back to logging my training, or rather, logging its effects on me. Whether that's useful in the long term, beyond just day-to-day, we'll see.

I'm also using HRV4 and have found it accurately tracking my recovery, especially when combined with the PMC on Training Peaks. I'm on Android so I can use it with my regular ANT+ strap instead of the camera. I'm also in the VO2max for cycling beta test, which is interesting. Good people behind the app with solid support.

The main insight HRV4 has given me is the importance of sleep. My recovery metric is best after a good night, regardless of the activity the day before.

[nooneline]

for a long time i kept a calendar tracking rides, time per day, adding up time per week, with color-codes for intensity. that way, i could eyeball trends (like time per week) and volume of intensity.

when i started training with power I started keeping a close eye on PMC charts, which compare your chronic training load (CTL) to your acute training load (ATL) - both measured in TSS/day.

It's just a model, so I don't put stock in the numbers, but I keep an eye on the relationships. I'm okay driving down my training stress balance (TSB = CTL-ATL) pretty far, but when I've been carrying a negative load for a while, I tend to feel some heavy, deep fatigue.

Anyway, to do this you need a power meter and a program like GoldenCheetah (free), or TrainingPeaks/WKO, or Strava premium.

[joe.e]

thanks for the recommendations everyone. I guess I should have coughed up a bit more info in my initial post-- I (obviously) want to better track recovery related to cycling, but also recovery related to gym work. I'm in a heavy lifting phase, and I'd like to go off something other than just feel. I thought of writing something that basically does what it looks like hrv4 does (although I'd also like to incorporate sleep tracking, with quality and not simply quantity), which basically equates to a knock off of the Whoop software.

ptourkin, are you sleeping with your hrm strap on, or are you taking multiple readings per day? I have a bluetooth hrm, which looks like it will work with IOS

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by joe.e

thanks for the recommendations everyone. I guess I should have coughed up a bit more info in my initial post-- I (obviously) want to better track recovery related to cycling, but also recovery related to gym work. I'm in a heavy lifting phase, and I'd like to go off something other than just feel. I thought of writing something that basically does what it looks like hrv4 does (although I'd also like to incorporate sleep tracking, with quality and not simply quantity), which basically equates to a knock off of the Whoop software.

ptourkin, are you sleeping with your hrm strap on, or are you taking multiple readings per day? I have a bluetooth hrm, which looks like it will work with IOS

Whoop is the way to go if you want to recover for cross training. The genius behind it is that you never take it off. And that the recover is given to you every morning. It makes everything easy. Super easy. Especially after reading how others in this thread do it. I am not saying whoop is better but a heck of a lot easier which equates into better consistency which is what you want. I had mine since Christmas and probably have not worn it for two or three days.

[ptourkin]

Originally Posted by joe.e

thanks for the recommendations everyone. I guess I should have coughed up a bit more info in my initial post-- I (obviously) want to better track recovery related to cycling, but also recovery related to gym work. I'm in a heavy lifting phase, and I'd like to go off something other than just feel. I thought of writing something that basically does what it looks like hrv4 does (although I'd also like to incorporate sleep tracking, with quality and not simply quantity), which basically equates to a knock off of the Whoop software.

ptourkin, are you sleeping with your hrm strap on, or are you taking multiple readings per day? I have a bluetooth hrm, which looks like it will work with IOS

Unlike the Whoop and the new Garmin HRV4 just takes a reading in the morning and incorporates data from Strava and/or Training Peaks. I wake up and put my strap on in the morning trying to keep the routine as similar as possible. I am not currently using sleep tracking but it asks you questions after your reading to tag your sleep quality.

My girlfriend has been using her SUUNTO Bluetooth HRM with HRV4. Our experience with the fingertip camera reading is not good.

The VO2max for cyclists is now out of beta.

I have a friend who has not been happy with the Whoop and is returning (not a comprehensive review, maybe buyers remorse.) Look at DC Rainmaker for the new $139 Garmin that does much of what the Whoop does at a lower sampling rate.

[.RJ]

Originally Posted by ptourkin

Look at DC Rainmaker for the new $139 Garmin that does much of what the Whoop does at a lower sampling rate.

Which device is that?

[ptourkin]

Originally Posted by .RJ

Which device is that?

Vivosmart3. Not a Whoop per se but does some of the all day stress monitoring and reporting with an optical HR sensor.

[joe.e]

Originally Posted by ptourkin

Vivosmart3. Not a Whoop per se but does some of the all day stress monitoring and reporting with an optical HR sensor.

The new Vivosmart is pretty interesting, especially since it plays in Garmin's ecosystem.

The new Vivosmart is actually where my knockoff Whoop idea came from. I wanted something that did the bulk of the work for me (hr, sleep, hrv) and I would throw some stuff together on the back end (alcohol intake, work stress, muscle soreness,etc) to get the end result.

[Iansir]

Have had whoop for about a month...it's very cool, and agree that the simplicity is key. I have found it to be spot on regarding recovery and my resulting performance, and am starting to use it to adjust my training plans.

Highly recommended, but yeah it's not cheap.

[Iansir]

Also whoop just emailed...$125 off if you prove you are an athlete via team or club, race registration, or results.
That would have been nice when I bought it

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by ptourkin

Unlike the Whoop and the new Garmin HRV4 just takes a reading in the morning and incorporates data from Strava and/or Training Peaks. I wake up and put my strap on in the morning trying to keep the routine as similar as possible. I am not currently using sleep tracking but it asks you questions after your reading to tag your sleep quality.

My girlfriend has been using her SUUNTO Bluetooth HRM with HRV4. Our experience with the fingertip camera reading is not good.

The VO2max for cyclists is now out of beta.

I have a friend who has not been happy with the Whoop and is returning (not a comprehensive review, maybe buyers remorse.) Look at DC Rainmaker for the new $139 Garmin that does much of what the Whoop does at a lower sampling rate.

I don't think whoop just takes a reading in the morning. It gives you a recovery reading in the morning that is based on sleep, HRV , and previous exertion or stress. It does measure exertion in realtime which you can look at immediately after a workout or what ever. I just wanted to clarify

[ptourkin]

Originally Posted by joosttx

I don't think whoop just takes a reading in the morning. It gives you a recovery reading in the morning that is based on sleep, HRV , and previous exertion or stress. It does measure exertion in realtime which you can look at immediately after a workout or what ever. I just wanted to clarify

Yes, sorry if I wasn't clear - the HRV4 phone apps only sample in the morning and then use workout data that you collected on another platform. The Vivosmart3 is worn constantly but does not have the same sampling rate as the Whoop and is less comprehensive.