Does Off from usual mean I am getting sick?
No. It means several overnight signals moved away from your own usual pattern. It does not name an illness, and it is not a diagnosis.
Right now
Your watch says you are off from usual. What now?
Rest actions for this morning. Not a diagnosis.
Skip hard training, drink fluids through the day, and go to bed earlier tonight. Check tomorrow morning before you decide anything else. Early Signal does not diagnose or treat disease.
1. Skip hard training
Leave the hard session for another day. Easy walking is fine if you feel up to it.
2. Drink fluids
Drink through the day. A dry night is a common reason a morning reading looks off.
3. Sleep earlier
Go to bed earlier tonight and look at tomorrow morning's reading before you change the plan again.
Short answers
Should I still work out?
Skip hard training today. A walk is a different thing. Recheck tomorrow morning before you decide the day is back to normal.
When should I get medical care?
Seek care now for chest pain, trouble breathing, fainting, confusion, or a symptom that feels severe or sudden. Early Signal is not an emergency service.
Longer reading: Apple Watch heart rate higher than normal.
Sources
- Mishra et al., 2020 — Pre-symptomatic detection of COVID-19 from smartwatch data (Nature Biomedical Engineering). Background research, not a claim that Early Signal detects disease.
- Quer et al., 2021 — Wearable sensor data and self-reported symptoms for COVID-19 detection (Nature Medicine). Background research, not a diagnosis.
- Smarr et al., 2020 — Feasibility of continuous fever monitoring using wearable devices (Scientific Reports)
- Grzesiak et al., 2021 — Wearable sensors to detect influenza and the common cold before symptom onset (JAMA Network Open). Research context, not a claim that a watch names an illness.
- MedlinePlus — Heart rate variability