Performance Equity Score™ Guide
Six lessons on the effort behind a strong record: consistency, intensity, heart rate, recovery, building a base, and measuring your own progress. Free to read. Ready to use today, with or without a wearable.
The Performance Equity Score™ (PES) is a 0 to 999 score built from physical effort that can be proven. This guide covers the training side: how effort works, how to build it week by week, and how to see your own progress.
The first cohort joins by invitation. Your invitation will explain the supported setup and scoring rules before you participate.
Lesson 1 · Consistency
Put the work on a schedule your life can hold.
Fitness is built across weeks, and the public guidelines describe a week. Adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or an equivalent combination of the two. Adults also need muscle-strengthening activity on 2 or more days a week that works all major muscle groups: legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms.1 2
A week can hold that in pieces. The CDC puts it this way: "It could be 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week."1 The American Heart Association recommends spreading activity throughout the week.2
Make the schedule hold.
- Pick the days before the week starts. Treat them like appointments.
- Set a floor for crowded days. A short session keeps the pattern. "Taking a brisk walk for five or ten minutes a few times a day will add up."2
- Count sessions. A weekly session count is a consistency record you can keep on paper.
Where this meets the score. Consistency showing up in the data. Weeks stacking. The number moves because the work moved it.
Lesson 2 · Effort and activity
Two different measures of a day.
Physical activity is "anything that moves your body and burns calories," including "walking, climbing stairs and stretching."2 All of it counts toward moving more and sitting less.
A training session adds a plan: the activity, how hard, and how long. Intensity is how hard a person works to do an activity, and two levels are important for physical activity and health:3
- Moderate. Brisk walking (2.5 miles per hour or faster), recreational swimming, bicycling slower than 10 miles per hour on level terrain.
- Vigorous. Jogging or running, swimming laps, bicycling faster than 10 miles per hour, jumping rope.
Intensity is personal. "An activity that is vigorous for a person of average fitness may only be moderate for a very fit person."3 The same run can be easy for one person and hard work for the next, which makes your own effort the right yardstick.
A step count measures how much you moved. Intensity measures how hard you worked.
Where this meets the score. PES measures verified effort over time: the gym, the run, the ride, on approved watches and wearables. Buying equipment does not buy verified effort.
Lesson 3 · Heart rate
Read the effort while it happens.
Aerobic activity gets your heart rate up, and knowing your target heart rate can help you track the intensity of your activities.2 A common estimate: your maximum heart rate is about 220 minus your age. The American Heart Association puts moderate intensity at about 50 to 70 percent of that maximum and vigorous intensity at about 70 to 85 percent.4
| Zone | Beats per minute |
|---|---|
| Estimated maximum (220 minus 40) | 180 |
| Moderate, 50 to 70 percent | 90 to 126 |
| Vigorous, 70 to 85 percent | 126 to 153 |
"The figures are averages, so use them as a general guide."4
No device? Two checks work anywhere.
- The talk test. "A person doing moderate-intensity aerobic activity can talk, but not sing, during the activity. A person doing vigorous-intensity activity cannot say more than a few words without pausing for a breath."3
- The 0 to 10 scale. Zero is the effort of sitting and 10 is maximal effort. Moderate effort is a 5 or 6. Vigorous begins at a 7 or 8.3
To take your pulse by hand: place the tips of your first two fingers on the inside of your wrist, thumb side, and press lightly. Count for 30 seconds and multiply by 2.4
Some medications affect heart rate. If you have a heart condition or take medication, ask your health care professional what your heart rate should be.4
Where this meets the score. During a session, your watch, wearable, or phone records heart rate, motion, and duration. A device records signals. Verification checks whether the evidence supports the session.
Lesson 4 · Recovery
The days between sessions belong to the plan.
Four habits to build into the training week:
- Cool down. After hard work your heart is still beating faster than normal. Slow your pace for 5 to 10 minutes so your heart rate comes down gradually.5
- Space your strength work. The American Heart Association's guidance: "Aim to exercise each muscle group at least two times per week, with a minimum of two days of rest between workouts."6
- Sleep. The CDC recommends 7 or more hours a day for adults 18 to 60, 7 to 9 hours for adults 61 to 64, and 7 to 8 hours for adults 65 and older.7
- Watch your morning number. Check your resting heart rate "in the morning after you've had a good night's sleep, before you get out of bed or grab that first cup of coffee."4 Stress, anxiety, hormones, medication, and how physically active you are can all affect it.4
Where this meets the score. The comparison that lasts is the one with your own history.
Lesson 5 · Building a base
Start where you are. Add a little at a time.
Every training history starts somewhere. The American Heart Association's guidance for people getting active: "Don't worry if you can't reach 150 minutes per week just yet. Everyone has to start somewhere."2 And for everyone: "Increase amount and intensity gradually over time."2
A suggested order for building a base. One way to apply "gradually over time":
- Frequency first. Short sessions, spread through the week.1
- Then length. Add minutes to the sessions you already keep.
- Then strength. Two days a week, all major muscle groups.1 One set of 8 to 12 repetitions, "working the muscles to the point of fatigue, is usually sufficient for each muscle group."6
- Then intensity. "If you're just starting out, aim for the lower range of your target zone (50%) and gradually build up. In time, you'll be able to exercise comfortably at up to 85% of your maximum heart rate."4
Change one thing at a time.
If you have a chronic condition or disability, talk with your health care provider about the types and amounts of physical activity that are right for you before making too many changes.2
Where this meets the score. Your history decides where you start. Verification decides where you go.
Lesson 6 · Ninety days
Measure yourself against yourself.
Ninety days is about 13 weeks, which gives you two points in time to compare. An optional self-check: take these six readings in your first week, then the same six in week 13, under similar conditions.
| Reading | How to take it |
|---|---|
| Sessions per week | Count the sessions in the last full week. |
| Weekly minutes | Add the moderate and vigorous minutes from that same week. |
| Benchmark effort | Repeat one benchmark session (same route and pace, or same load) and rate it on the 0 to 10 scale.3 |
| Benchmark heart rate | If you wear a device, note the average heart rate for that same benchmark session. |
| Morning resting heart rate | Check before you get out of bed and average a few mornings.4 |
| Strength benchmark | One exercise, same form: the weight and the repetitions you complete. |
Training is one influence on these numbers. Stress, anxiety, hormones, and medication can move some of them too.4 Changes to look for can include more sessions held, more weight or repetitions at the same form, and the same benchmark session rating lower on the 0 to 10 scale. On resting heart rate, the American Heart Association says: "When it comes to resting heart rate, lower is better. It usually means your heart muscle is in better condition and doesn't have to work as hard to keep a steady beat."4
Put the two weeks side by side and review what changed.
Where this meets the score. Am I better than 90 days ago. That is the question the score exists to answer. Your record against your record.
Keep training.
- More training information: The Compounding Effect →
- How a session gets verified: How It Works →
- Movement, long-term health, mental health, and recovery: Movement and Health →
Sources (accessed Oct 1, 2026)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Adult Activity: An Overview," last reviewed Dec 20, 2023. cdc.gov/physical-activity-basics/guidelines/adults.html
- American Heart Association, "American Heart Association Recommendations for Physical Activity in Adults and Kids," last reviewed Jan 19, 2024. heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/aha-recs-for-physical-activity-in-adults
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "How to Measure Physical Activity Intensity," Dec 4, 2025. cdc.gov/physical-activity-basics/measuring/index.html
- American Heart Association, "Target Heart Rates Chart," last reviewed Aug 12, 2024. heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/target-heart-rates
- American Heart Association, "Warm Up, Cool Down," last reviewed Jan 16, 2024. heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/warm-up-cool-down
- American Heart Association, "Strength and Resistance Training Exercise," last reviewed Jan 19, 2024. heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/strength-and-resistance-training-exercise
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "About Sleep," May 15, 2024. cdc.gov/sleep/about/index.html
- American Heart Association News, "'And Just Like That,' everyone wondered: Is exercise safe?", Dec 15, 2021. heart.org/en/news/2021/12/15/and-just-like-that-everyone-wondered-is-exercise-safe
Last reviewed October 2026.