# Sleep and Recovery Tracking Jan 5, 2025 #personal From April to November 2024, I tracked my sleep, recovery, and physiological metrics using my WHOOP 4.0. Here's some patterns and performance through nearly 205 days of continuous monitoring. ## Sleep Architecture and Patterns ### Overall Sleep Statistics - Mean sleep duration: 381.3 minutes (6.35 hours) - Median sleep duration: 340 minutes (5.67 hours) - Standard deviation: 98.4 minutes - Range: 51-897 minutes - Sleep efficiency: 92% average - Sleep consistency: 61.2% average - Most frequent bedtime: 1:45 AM - 2:30 AM - Typical wake time: 7:30 AM - 8:15 AM ### Sleep Stage Distribution My sleep architecture showed interesting patterns: - Light sleep: 68.2% (259.3 minutes average) * Range: 21-613 minutes * Standard deviation: 89.7 minutes - Deep sleep: 14.1% (53.4 minutes average) * Range: 0-207 minutes * Standard deviation: 35.2 minutes - REM sleep: 17.7% (68.6 minutes average) * Range: 0-304 minutes * Standard deviation: 48.9 minutes ## Sleep Duration Distribution - <5 hours: 15% of nights - 5-6 hours: 45% of nights - 6-7 hours: 25% of nights - 7+ hours: 15% of nights ## Recovery and Physiological Metrics ### Recovery Score Distribution - Mean recovery score: 52.4% - Distribution: * High (67-100%): 31.2% of days * Medium (34-66%): 39.5% of days * Low (0-33%): 29.3% of days ### Key Physiological Markers - Average resting heart rate: 68.4 BPM * Range: 54-95 BPM * Standard deviation: 6.3 BPM - HRV average: 91.7ms * Range: 10-168ms * Standard deviation: 31.2ms - Respiratory rate: 13.7 RPM * Range: 12.4-17.9 RPM * Standard deviation: 0.9 RPM ## Sleep-Recovery Relationships ## Recovery and Sleep Quality Correlation ### High Recovery Days (>80%) - Average sleep duration: 7.8 hours - Sleep efficiency: 95% - Deep sleep: 16% of total sleep - REM sleep: 22% of total sleep - Average HRV: 128ms - Average resting HR: 61 BPM ### Low Recovery Days (<30%) - Average sleep duration: 5.3 hours - Sleep efficiency: 87% - Deep sleep: 9% of total sleep - REM sleep: 12% of total sleep - Average HRV: 52ms - Average resting HR: 74 BPM ## Recovery Optimization Patterns Best recovery scores consistently follow: - 7.5+ hours sleep - 90% sleep efficiency - 15% deep sleep - Consistent bed/wake times ## Temporal Patterns ### Sleep Debt Dynamics - Average sleep debt: 94.3 minutes - Weekday accumulation: +90 minutes average - Weekend compensation: -45 minutes average - Persistent debt cycle visible - Highest debt periods correlate with low HRV - Days with >100 min debt: 89 (43.4%) - Days with <30 min debt: 28 (13.7%) ### Weekly Patterns - Weekday average sleep: 5.8 hours - Weekend average sleep: 7.2 hours - Weekend recovery boost: +12% - Sleep consistency drop: -23% on Sunday nights ## Seasonal Variations ### Summer (June-August) - Higher respiratory rates (13.8 RPM average) - Slightly lower sleep efficiency (91%) - More frequent naps recorded - Higher skin temperature (34.6°C average) ### Fall (September-November) - Improved sleep efficiency (93%) - Better recovery scores (average 58%) - Lower respiratory rates (13.2 RPM average) - More consistent sleep schedule ## Performance Correlations ## Physical Strain Impact ### High Strain Days (>14.0) - Next day recovery: -18% - Sleep need: +45 minutes - Deep sleep: +15% ### Low Strain Days (<6.0) - Better sleep efficiency: +4% - Lower sleep need: -30 minutes - Higher HRV: +8ms ## Extraordinary Sleep Episodes ### Notable Records 1. Longest sleep: October 26 (14.95 hours) - 897 minutes total - 88% efficiency - 68% light sleep - 19% deep sleep - 13% REM sleep 2. Best recovery day: September 2 (97%) - 8.5 hours sleep - 134ms HRV - 55 BPM resting HR ## Conclusions This data reveals a pattern of chronic sleep restriction despite good sleep efficiency. While my body shows resilience in maintaining sleep quality (92% average efficiency), the consistent sleep debt and irregular timing suggest room for improvement. The strong correlation between sleep metrics and recovery scores indicates that focusing on sleep optimisation could yield significant performance benefits. Key areas for improvement: 1. Earlier bedtime to increase duration 2. More consistent sleep/wake schedule 3. Reduced weekend timing variance 4. Better management of sleep debt accumulation