Cardio recovery is how much your heart rate drops in the minutes after you stop exercising. A bigger drop generally means a fitter heart. In clinical research, a drop of 12 beats or fewer in the first minute is the usual marker for poor recovery, and most healthy, active people see clearly more than that. Beyond that, your own trend matters more than any single number.
How does Apple Watch measure it?
When you end a workout in the Workout app, the watch keeps measuring your heart rate for three minutes and works out how far it fell. On iPhone you find it in the Health app under Browse, Heart, Cardio Recovery. It used to be called heart rate recovery.
Why does my number change so much?
Because the result depends on how the workout ended, not only on your fitness.
- How hard the last minutes were. A drop from 175 is bigger than a drop from 130. An interval session and an easy jog will never give the same value.
- What you do afterwards. Standing still gives a bigger drop than walking home.
- When you press End. If you cool down for ten minutes first, most of the drop has already happened.
- Heat, dehydration, caffeine and fatigue all slow recovery on the day.
How do I get a number I can compare?
- End the workout right at the end of the effort, not after the cool-down.
- Stand or sit still for the next three minutes and keep the watch on.
- Compare like with like: the value after your weekly tempo run against the same run a month ago.
What should I look for?
- A rising trend over months after similar workouts means your fitness is improving.
- A value clearly below your usual after a similar workout can be a sign of fatigue, a coming illness or too little recovery. It is worth reading next to your resting heart rate and HRV.
- One odd value means nothing.
What does Kiiro show?
For each workout Kiiro shows your heart rate recovery: how much your heart rate dropped in the first minute after finishing. A larger drop means your heart is recovering quickly, which is usually linked to better cardiovascular fitness. The value is estimated by your device, and Kiiro shows it next to the rest of the workout.
Related questions
- What is a good HRV on Apple Watch?: There is no single good number. HRV differs widely between people and falls with age. What matters is your own baseline and whether you are above or below it.
- Why is my resting heart rate going up?: For a runner the usual causes are fatigue from training, a cold coming on, poor sleep, alcohol, heat or stress. A beat or two is noise. Several beats above your normal for several days is worth acting on.
