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EXPLORING REGULAR EXERCISERS’ EXPERIENCES WITH READINESS/RECOVERY SCORES PRODUCED BY WEARABLE DEVICES: A DESCRIPTIVE QUALITATIVE STUDY

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Meta-session autoregulation offers a framework for person-adaptive exercise programming by matching session demand with an individual’s current mental, emotional, and physical resources (‘readiness’). Some consumer wearables have been designed to guide users’ exercise decisions by providing ‘recovery’ or ‘readiness’ scores, computed primarily based on heart rate variability. Despite the growing popularity of consumer wearables and interest in person-adaptive programming, there is limited research on how users interact, interpret and use these scores. Thus, the purpose of this study was to understand individuals' experiences using and interacting with their wearable device and scores.METHODS: Seventeen regular exercisers self-reported owning and utilizing a Whoop™ band or Oura™ ring for at least 3 months and underwent a one-on-one virtual semi-structured interview. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. ‘In-vivo’ quotes from our sample were used to both craft titles for and provide evidence underlying each emerging theme.RESULTS: While our analysis identified six overarching themes, we focus on three, providing each with sufficient attention and space required for a thorough exploration and comprehensive 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 is 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, ‘It’s just a wearable. It’s not God! It doesn’t know exactly what is happening,’ (Susan) 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: While these devices offer a simplified numeric-based approach to passively measuring individuals' 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, in addition to exploring the psycho-behavioral aspects of user interactions, can contribute to refining meta-session autoregulation as a person-adaptive approach to exercise.

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