How ZONAL learns your normal
ZONAL doesn't compare you with other people. It compares each morning with your own normal: the 28 healthy mornings before today. Every arrow, chip and flag in the app is measured against it.
What counts as your normal
Your normal for HRV, resting heart rate and the other signals is the average of your last 28 healthy mornings before today. It rolls forward every morning, so it keeps up as your fitness changes.
"Healthy" means ZONAL leaves out: - Sick days: any day inside a sick period you've marked. - Travel days: days on a trip in Travel mode, plus the days you spend adjusting after you get home. This is on by default.
ZONAL looks further back to replace the days it skipped, so your normal always stands on 28 healthy mornings. A cold or a long flight never drags it down.
While it's still learning
A new member doesn't have 28 healthy mornings yet, so ZONAL is careful early on: - On Today, HRV and resting HR show as grey dashed chips with an Early normal note (for example "12 of 28 mornings"). They don't change the morning call until your normal is set. - Signal watch shows a progress bar and starts once your normal is set. - Your personal go and swap lines need 30 healthy scored mornings. Until then the ZONAL Score uses standard lines. - Tomorrow's recovery turns on after 30 full days. A day counts once the next morning is scored, so the count runs one behind the days you've had. - On This Morning, the Load box, Strain vs Recovery and Plan adherence say Learning with how far along they are, instead of a number that would look like a bad score. Strain vs Recovery needs 14 finished days, Plan adherence 30. - Every card that's still learning has a See what's still learning link that opens Getting to know you.
See where you are
Tap the round + button, then More, then Getting to know you. You'll see: - Your normal: how many of the 28 mornings you have, and your usual range for HRV and resting heart rate, with each morning as a dot. - Each feature that depends on your history, with Ready or how far along it is: the ZONAL Score's lines, Tomorrow's recovery, Signal watch, Why today, What moves your numbers, Load balance, Long-term stress and Sleep schedule.
Good to know. Your WHOOP sleep, strain and recovery show from day one. Only the features that compare you with yourself need time.
Questions
Why does my HRV look "off" when I feel fine?
ZONAL calls a reading off when it's about one usual swing (one standard deviation) away from your normal in the wrong direction. A hard session the day before can do that on its own. One off reading is a nudge, not a diagnosis.
Can I change the 28 days?
Yes, under More, Settings, Advanced settings, Norm window (days). The default works for most people.
Do I need to mark sick days?
It helps. Marked sick days are left out of your normal, trends and effects, so your baseline stays your healthy self. See Log a sick day.