RECOVERY
What your recovery score does to today’s session
Complete reads your recovery two ways: from your wearable’s data and from how you say you feel. The score compares your HRV, resting heart rate, sleep and breathing rate with your own baseline, and when it’s red, today’s session turns into rest or an easy one while your plan for the week stays the same. No wearable? A short morning check-in on how you slept and how you feel still shapes each day’s recommendation.
How the score is built
HRV (heart rate variability) is the small variation in time between your heartbeats. Complete compares it, and the other three signals, with your own recent baseline rather than with other people.
The score needs 7 days of data before it appears. A night under 5 hours of sleep caps it at 66, so it can’t read green. If you use WHOOP or Oura, Complete takes your recovery and sleep from that device. Your workouts still come in through Apple Health.
| Signal | Weight |
|---|---|
| HRV | 40% |
| Resting heart rate | 33% |
| Sleep | 20% |
| Breathing rate | 7% |
The three bands
The score runs from 0 to 100 and falls into one of three bands.
| Band | Score |
|---|---|
| Green | 67 to 100 |
| Steady | 34 to 66 |
| Red | Under 34 |
What a red day changes
A red score caps today’s recommended session at zone 2, an easy effort you could hold a conversation in. If yesterday’s score was red and today’s is not, today’s recommendation is capped at zone 3.
In the 30 days to 28 September 2026 there were 24 red days across Complete’s users. 11 of those sessions became rest and 10 were zone 2 or easier; none was harder. On 432 green days, none became rest.
Your plan for the week is not rewritten. Only today’s session changes.
What your plan does adapt to
Paces. Every Monday, Complete checks the runs you logged. Slower paces apply straight away. Faster ones apply only when three or more runs show you’re more than 3% quicker, and then by at most 1.5% a week.
Sessions you did differently. Small changes are absorbed on their own; long runs and big differences ask you first.
How hard it felt. Rate sessions from 1 to 5, and “Update Running Plan” rebuilds the weeks ahead from those ratings and your paces. Training you rated easy can raise the volume by 10%.
The Coach
The in-app Coach sees your recovery and can suggest an easier day. You decide. If it proposes a new plan, nothing changes until you confirm.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my recovery score say I’m fine when I feel terrible?
Neither one is simply right. The score compares your body’s signals with your own baseline, the morning check-in asks how you feel, and Complete uses both to shape the day. If you still feel worse than it reads, tell the Coach. It can suggest an easier day, and you decide.
Does Complete rewrite my plan when I sleep badly?
No. A short night can cap your recovery score, and a red score turns today’s session into rest or an easy one. The week’s plan stays.
Why doesn’t my plan get easier after I miss a session or struggle with one?
In Complete the plan follows what you log. Rate a session as hard and update your running plan, and the weeks ahead are rebuilt from your ratings. Paces update every Monday, and a red recovery day turns today’s session into rest or an easy one.
Do I need a WHOOP?
No. Complete builds the score from the Apple Health data your watch already records. If you use WHOOP or Oura, Complete takes your recovery and sleep from that device, and your workouts still come in through Apple Health. With no wearable at all there is no score, but the morning check-in on how you slept and how you feel still shapes each day’s recommendation.
How long until I get a recovery score?
Seven days. The score compares each night with your own baseline, so it waits until it has one.