Know how recovered you are, and why.

From four things, each compared with your own last 30 days: heart rate variability (45%), resting heart rate (20%), last night’s sleep against the sleep you needed (25%) and yesterday’s effort against your usual load (10%). A morning right at your usual scores about 60. If one piece is missing, the others share its weight, and the score says it’s less sure.

Recovery shows what your body’s signals did against your own normal, not how you feel. Look at What moved it: often one thing, like a late night or a hard day yesterday, pulled it down. If you feel fine and the reasons look small, a moderate day is a fair call. It’s wellness information, not a diagnosis.

It reads the history already in Apple Health, so with a few weeks of Apple Watch data it can start on day one. Without that, it says it’s still learning, and your usual firms up after about two weeks. Days you tag as illness or travel are left out of your normal.

It’s best with one, because the Watch records heart rate variability overnight. Other wearables that sync to Apple Health work too. Fitbit shares no heart rate variability, so recovery then uses resting heart rate, sleep and effort, and says it’s less sure.