Sprint Recovery Readiness Calculator

What the Sprint Recovery Readiness Calculator does and when to use it

This calculator turns four everyday recovery signals into a single readiness score to help you decide how hard a sprint session should be. You enter last night's sleep, how much your resting heart rate is above your usual baseline, a rating of leg soreness from 0 to 10, and the minutes of high-intensity work you did the previous day. It returns a score out of 100, a suggested intensity tier, a fatigue figure and a 10-point version for quick comparison.

The formula is a simple planning model, not a clinical or laboratory measure, and it should not be treated as a validated measure of performance or injury risk. Use it to structure your own trend-watching, alongside how you actually feel and advice from a coach or health professional. Persistent pain, dizziness or unusual heart rhythm deserve medical attention, not a spreadsheet.

Formula and method

The score starts from a base of 62 and adds or subtracts for each input: Readiness = 62 + 6 × (sleep − 7) − 2.2 × HR delta − 3.4 × soreness − 0.35 × load minutes. The result is limited to the range 0 to 100. Sleep above seven hours adds points and below seven subtracts them.

Intensity tiers follow from the score: 75 or higher is High, 55 to just under 75 is Moderate, and below 55 is Low. Fatigue points are 100 minus readiness, and the 10-point figure is the score divided by 10.

• Sleep hours slept last night; each hour from seven adds or removes 6 points.
• HR delta today's resting heart rate minus your normal, in beats per minute; each bpm costs 2.2 points (a negative value adds points).
• Soreness leg soreness on a 0-10 scale; each point costs 3.4.
• Load minutes minutes of intense work yesterday; each minute costs 0.35.

Worked example

Use the default inputs: 7.2 hours of sleep, resting heart rate 4 bpm above normal, soreness 5, and 28 intense minutes yesterday.

1. Sleep term: 6 × (7.2 − 7) = +1.2.
2. Heart-rate penalty: 2.2 × 4 = 8.8.
3. Soreness penalty: 3.4 × 5 = 17.0.
4. Load penalty: 0.35 × 28 = 9.8.
5. Readiness = 62 + 1.2 − 8.8 − 17.0 − 9.8 = 27.6.

The calculator shows 27.6/100, an intensity of Low, 72.4 fatigue points and 2.8/10. In a fresher scenario with 8 hours of sleep, a 1 bpm heart-rate rise, soreness of 2 and 10 intense minutes, the score is 62 + 6 − 2.2 − 6.8 − 3.5 = 55.5, which lands in the Moderate tier.

Common mistakes and how to interpret the result

• Treating the score as a diagnosis. It is a weighted sum of four inputs, so it cannot detect illness, injury or overtraining, and it can misjudge someone whose baseline differs from the assumptions.
• Entering the absolute resting heart rate instead of the difference. The field wants today's value minus your typical morning value, for example 4 for four beats higher.
• Using inconsistent soreness ratings. Rate leg soreness the same way each day, otherwise changes in the score reflect changes in how you scored, not how you recovered.
• Focusing on one day. Trends over a week are more informative than a single score, so log results and compare them with how sessions actually felt.

Related calculators

• Recovery Calculator — plan rest time after hard efforts.
• Training Load Calculator — track weekly workload.
• Sprint Calculator — pace and speed for short efforts.
• Sleep for Athletes — sleep targets for training.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common Tip Percentages

General Household Budget Ratios (50/30/20 Rule)

Common Measurement Conversions for Everyday Use