Your cycle and your recovery score

Why your score can dip before your period

If you menstruate, you may notice your recovery or readiness drops in the days before your period, then bounces back once it starts. That is not you doing something wrong. It is hormones, and it is normal.

In the second half of your cycle (the luteal phase), progesterone rises. That nudges your resting heart rate up a little and lowers your heart-rate variability (HRV), which are two of the main signals recovery tools read. So the same night of sleep can score lower purely because of where you are in your cycle. Large wearable studies covering tens of thousands of cycles show the same pattern: HRV is highest around menstruation and lowest in the late luteal phase, with resting heart rate moving the opposite way.

What IntervalCoach does about it

If you track your cycle, IntervalCoach now expects that luteal dip and adjusts what "normal" looks like for those days, so a routine hormonal change no longer counts against your readiness. It only activates once we can see your cycle from the health data you sync, and the adjustment is deliberately modest, so it will not hide a genuinely hard week.

Training with your cycle, not against it

• Your period and the days after (follicular phase): lower hormones often mean you handle hard training well. Many people set personal bests during their period, and short, hard intervals can even ease cramps.
• The week before your period (late luteal phase): the same workout can cost more, with higher inflammation and fuel needs. It is a good time for technique, mobility, or a slightly smaller dose of intensity rather than chasing your hardest session.

Turning it on

Log your period in Apple Health (or your connected app) and IntervalCoach reads it automatically. The more cycle history it can see, the better it places you in the cycle. Note that hormonal birth control changes the pattern, so the cycle-aware adjustment is built around natural cycles.

A lower luteal score is not a failure. It is information. Plan the hard sessions for when your physiology backs you up.