Strain Common Questions

We’ve compiled answers to the most frequently asked questions about Strain.

Your Strain Score represents your total daily exertion, combining both:

• Active Strain: From recorded workouts

• Passive Strain: From everyday activity using background heart rate data

Even if you don’t log a workout, your daily movement still contributes to your Strain Score.

Strain is typically measured on a 0–100% scale, but it can go above 100% if you are consistently training at a high level.

Your score increases based on:

• Exercise intensity: More time in higher heart rate zones = higher strain

• Workout duration: Longer sessions increase strain

Strain increases logarithmically, meaning higher scores are progressively harder to reach.

Tracking your Strain over time can help you understand how your body responds to different types of activity. If your Strain is elevated without a workout, it may indicate physical stress, fatigue, or other factors.

Your Target Strain is determined by considering your recent Recovery Scores and activity levels. Depending on how well you've been recovering, Bevel will suggest a higher or lower target Strain than your activity baseline.

The numerical value displayed next to the activity icon represents your total strain for that specific activity. This value is then aggregated to calculate your overall strain score.

Note: Strain numbers do not add up linearly, since there is a diminishing return function applied to Strain score.

Stress and Strain are two distinct concepts. Strain indicates your level of activity, while stress refers to your body's physiological reaction to external influences like illness, alcohol consumption, interpersonal conflicts, and so forth.

Your target strain is determined based on your recent recoveries and strain baseline. If you've been recovering well in the last few days, Bevel will suggest a higher target strain from your baseline. Conversely, if your recent recoveries are low, it will suggest a lower target strain.

Calories come directly from your wearable. We display either total calories or active calories (based on your settings under Customization) as recorded throughout the day.

Strain and Cardio Load measure different things:

• Strain: Includes both cardio and strength (active + passive strain)

• Cardio Load: Focuses only on cardio training using TRIMP

If Cardio Load shows Overtraining, it means:

• Your recent cardio load (last 7 days) is too high relative to recovery

However, your Target Strain is based on a broader view (last ~14 days).

What should you do?

If you see this mismatch:

• Reduce high-intensity cardio

• Focus on lower-impact activities (e.g. walking)

• Shift toward strength training if appropriate

This allows recovery without completely stopping activity.