Oura activity goals

The point of the Oura ring is to use sophisticated, research-based algorithms to calculate readiness and recommend rest and activity goals. Over time these recommendations are supposed to become quite personalized for the individual as the ring begins to recognize patterns. After 4+ months of using the ring, it continues to make recommendations for training volume (intensity) and activity goals (duration) that I can not meet. I bought the ring specifically because I was recovering and wanted guidance on readiness, rest and rehabilitation goals. The rest part has worked very well, but the Oura ring sets activity goals that would leave me injured. The ring knows age, gender, height, weight, etc. and is supposed to factor that into its algorithms. It clearly tracks failure to meet training goals day-after-day. These failures detract from the activity and readiness scores.

Oura ring evaluation of user activity record

Even if the ring considers the goals it sets to be modest ones for most people, the question remains: why does the Oura ring persist in setting goals the user does not attain? If the user does not routinely meet goals and readiness scores are under 85, then shouldn’t goals be lowered? As fitness grows (goals are met more often), then goals could be raised. If health is about balancing activity and recovery, then shouldn’t goals balance activity and recovery?

Update:

The photo below shows the morning message I got the day after I wrote the post above. Despite this cautionary note, the app assigned me the exact same activity goal that it had assigned me for the previous 3 days - a goal I had not met on any of the three days! It seems to be a mixed message.

Cautionary note from the Oura app