Apple Watch sets the bar with its health features. And Cardio Recovery (formerly Heart Rate Recovery) is one of them. But what is cardio recovery and how important is it for your health? Let’s break it all down, as well as how you can test cardio recovery on your Apple Watch and iPhone.
- What is Cardio Recovery?
- How to View Cardio Recovery on Apple Watch
- How to See Heart Rate Recovery on iPhone
What is Cardio Recovery?
In iOS 16 and watchOS 9, Apple renamed Heart Rate Recovery (HRR) to Cardio Recovery and moved it from the Fitness app to the Health app. This feature evaluates how quickly our heart rate returns to normal after it was at its peak during exercise.
The Cardio Recovery Score is determined by tracking your heart rate for one minute after you stop exercising. According to WebMD, “Heart rate recovery is a measure of how much your heart rate drops during the first minute after peak exercise.”
If a person’s heart is healthy, it will quickly return to its normal beats per minute rate. If someone’s heart is less healthy, it will take longer to return to normal beats per minute after an intense workout.
And while it’s a lesser-known metric, it can be active in the background every time you track a workout.
The ideal way to measure cardio recovery:
- Stop tracking your workout on Apple Watch as soon as you’re done.
- Remember to keep your watch on for at least 10 minutes.
Now let’s check how to see cardio recovery or heart rate recovery on Apple Watch and iPhone.
How to View Cardio Recovery on Apple Watch
- Open the Heart Rate app on your Apple Watch.
- If you recorded a workout today, scroll down to:
- Post Workout (watchOS 9)
- Recovery (watchOS 8 or earlier)
- Touch it to check the details.
Source: 9to5mac.com
Here you will see the recovery heart rate in two intervals, at 1 minute and 2 minutes. Notably, you will need an iPhone to check data from previous workouts. So let’s go there.
How to See Heart Rate Recovery on iPhone
Check out Cardio Recovery on iPhone running iOS 16
- Open the Health app on your paired iPhone.
- Select the Browse tab.
- Scroll down to Heart.
- Scroll down to Cardio Recovery.
- Select D/W/M/6M/Y tabs according to your preference.
Image credit: 9to5mac.com
View Heart Rate Recovery in iOS 16 and earlier
- Open the Fitness app → Summary tab.
- Select a day from above.
- Scroll down and tap a recorded workout.
- Swipe from right to left on the heart rate card.
Here you will see the section “Heart rate recovery”with the relevant data.
Signing
When observed closely, cardio recovery is a pretty useful feature. Although Apple (and even I) recommend that you treat these vital signs as a mere indication and heed your doctor’s advice before taking any adverse action. Also, if you feel that some of the characteristics do not match, see your doctor as soon as possible.
So what’s your favorite Apple Watch health feature? I will begin; my favorite is fall detection; share yours in the comments.