Free Tool
Should I Train Today?
Free here • Paid in Whoop, Oura recovery scores (hardware-gated)
Five questions. One answer. Built on the perceived recovery scales used by sports scientists to monitor athlete readiness, scaled down for everyday lifters.
Quick check-in
TRAIN
You are good to go
Your readiness signals add up. Run your planned session as written.
- ›Stick to your planned weights and rep targets
- ›Warm up thoroughly, you have full clearance to push
- ›Log RPE on top sets so tomorrow has data
Score breakdown
| Factor | Your answer | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep | 7 h | 0 |
| Soreness | 4/10 | 0 |
| Stress | 4/10 | 0 |
| Days since training | 1 | +1 |
| Fueled | yes | 0 |
Zealova auto-adjusts your daily plan based on logged sleep, soreness, and stress
Skip the daily quiz. Zealova reads your sleep, soreness logs, and check-ins to grade readiness, then trims sets and load automatically.
Free 7-day trial. $7.99/mo or $59.99/yr after. Cancel anytime.
Methodology + Sources
- Halson SL (2014). Monitoring training load to understand fatigue in athletes. Sports Medicine 44(Suppl 2):S139-S147.
- Coutts AJ, Reaburn P (2008). Monitoring changes in rugby league players' perceived stress and recovery during intensified training. Perceptual and Motor Skills 106(3):904-916.
- Saw AE, Main LC, Gastin PB (2016). Monitoring the athlete training response: subjective self-reported measures trump commonly used objective measures. British Journal of Sports Medicine 50(5):281-291.
Last updated: 2026-05-14
Built by Sai, founder of Zealova. Not a neutral third party. Calculator results are estimates. For medical decisions, consult a qualified professional.
Frequently asked questions
Is this scientifically validated?+
The individual inputs come from validated monitoring tools used with athletes: total sleep time, perceived muscle soreness, perceived stress, time since last session, and energy availability. The weighting is a practical heuristic informed by Halson 2014 and Coutts 2008, not a clinically validated composite score.
When should I never train, regardless of score?+
Sharp localized pain, fever, dizziness, chest pain, recent injury that has not been cleared, or symptoms of overreaching like persistent elevated resting heart rate. This tool measures readiness for normal training, not whether you should see a doctor.
I scored TRAIN but I feel terrible. Should I still go?+
No. Subjective feel beats any calculator. If the math says go but your gut says no, listen to your gut. The score is a prompt for honest reflection, not a court order.
How does this compare to Whoop or Oura recovery scores?+
Whoop and Oura use heart-rate variability, resting heart rate, and respiratory rate as objective inputs. Those are gold-standard signals if you wear a device. This tool covers the same conceptual ground using subjective inputs anyone can answer, no hardware required.
Related calculators
More tools in this category.
Caffeine Cutoff Calculator
See how much caffeine is still in your system at bedtime, and the latest you can drink coffee for clean sleep. Pharmacokinetic decay model.
Recipe Scaler
Scale any recipe up or down by servings. Paste an ingredient list, get scaled quantities. Includes a cooking-measurement converter.
Workout Buddy Compatibility Quiz
Eight questions, one shareable compatibility code. Compare codes with a friend to see if you would survive lifting together.
Marathon Plan Generator
Free week-by-week marathon training plan tailored to your race date, goal time, mileage, and experience. Base, build, peak, taper.