Why Green Isn’t Always Good

The Morning Readiness gauge indicates your state of relative balance. In other words, it is comparing your HRV values to your recent past and telling you whether your Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is in a similar state or if it is swinging widely outside of your norm.

Green indicators are often desirable, but you also may not want to get them all the time. Here are a few scenarios to consider:

If your goal is to reduce stress, then you generally want to strive for as much Green as possible. This goal often coincides with prior chronically elevated mental, emotional, and/or physical stress.

If your goal is to improve athletic training, fitness, or movement ability, then it can be favorable to at least dip into the yellow 1-2 times a week to ensure you are stimulating your body adequately. If you are training for sports or more advanced movement/exercise then you may want to push it even more often or for longer periods of time before prioritizing recovery.

Remember: Stress causes adaptation. The right amount and type of stress (paired with adequate recovery) produces improvement – Eustress. The wrong amount and/or type of stress can cause breakdown – Distress. Eustress and distress (“good” and “bad” stress) are not black and white and depend highly on your mindset and perception of the stress.

Acute stressors are often very beneficial if they don’t exceed your capacity to recover from them. Chronic stress can be tolerable with practice and adequate resources, but can also lead to negative health and fitness outcomes if unchecked.