Coaching with dataIntermediate7 min read

Acting on a smart alert

Alerts exist to flag the athlete who needs you days before it becomes an injury. Here is what triggers them, how they reach you, and how to respond without overreacting.

Smart alerts watch every athlete's metrics against your team thresholds and surface the ones drifting in the wrong direction. The point is early warning: catch the decline on Tuesday so you can ease the load before Saturday.

What triggers an alert

Out of the box, the engine watches a range of conditions. The main ones, with their default lines:

SignalMonitor (watch)Protect (act)
Low recoveryBelow 67Below 34
HRV drop vs baseline20 percent below30 percent below
High strain14 and above16 and above with low recovery
Sleep debtAbout 2 hoursSustained over 3 days
RHR above baseline12 percent above-
Stale syncNo data for 36 hours-

It also watches slower-burning patterns: HRV staying suppressed for two days or more, sleep debt running chronic across three days, and any athlete whose recovery sits about 15 percent below the team average.

How alerts reach you

Alerts surface two ways. They appear as flags directly on the roster, against the athletes they concern, and they are bundled into an email digest so you do not have to be staring at the dashboard to catch them. Email alerts are on by default and each coach can switch their own off.

How to respond

  • Triage Protect (red) flags first; those are today's decisions.
  • Open the athlete and read the trend, not the single day. One bad night is not a reason to change a plan.
  • Talk to the athlete. The data tells you where to look; they tell you why.
  • Adjust the load, not the athlete. Ease volume or intensity, protect sleep, and watch the flag clear over the next few days.
Alerts are a starting point. A flag means look here, not panic here. The coaching judgement still belongs to you; the alert just makes sure nothing slips past unseen.
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