Exploring Regular Exercisers’ Experiences With Readiness/recovery Scores Produced By Wearable Devices: A Descriptive Qualitative Study

There is a growing interest in developing exercise programs that are adaptive to individuals’ changing contexts and situations. Some consumer wearables aim to guide exercise decisions through ‘recovery’ or ‘readiness’ scores, primarily derived from heart rate variability. To date, however, there is limited research on how users interact, interpret and use these scores. PURPOSE: Understand individuals' experiences using readiness or recovery scores provided by their wearable device. METHODS: Seventeen regular exercisers self-reported owning and using a Whoop™ band or Oura™ ring for at least 3 months, underwent a one-on-one virtual semi-structured interview. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The emerging themes were supported with ‘in-vivo’ quotes from our sample. RESULTS: Our analysis identified six themes, but we focus on three, providing each a thorough exploration and demonstration. Theme 1, 'It's more about how I can make adjustments to optimize my programming,' (MPR) highlights using their wearables as intended, for guiding training purposes (e.g., reducing intensity when recovery scores are low). Theme 2, 'So many things outside of training modifications have changed,' (Misty) indicates users concurrently modify non-exercise behaviors (e.g., sleep, nutrition) to manage and optimize recovery/readiness scores. Within theme 3, ‘You can’t really capture the complexities of a human on a device,’ (Letty) users acknowledge the limitations and errors associated with these devices (e.g., provided scores sometimes incongruent with subjective perceptions), in capturing the complexities of human experiences, necessitating self-reliance to further direct behavioral adjustments. CONCLUSION: These wearable devices offer a simplified numeric-based approach to passively gauge readiness/recovery status. Users emphasized the importance of self-awareness, flexibility, and personal judgment in their exercise decisions. They viewed their wearables as valuable tools but not infallible authorities. Understanding these experiences and the psycho-behavioral aspects of user interactions can help create and refine person-adaptive approaches for exercise behavior.