Understanding Your Level
NestEgg uses 15 Levels to make competition fair. Here's how the handicap system works, and how you move up — or down.
Why Levels exist
NestEgg is a team competition. Without a handicap system, elite athletes would dominate and beginners would never stand a chance. Levels fix that.
Every Egg is assigned a Level with a weekly EP target matched to their fitness. Your Level Score is the percentage of your target you hit — not an absolute number. A beginner earning 180 EP at Level 1 (target: 150) scores 120%. An elite athlete earning 1,600 EP at Level 12 (target: 1,700) scores 94%.
The beginner beats the elite. That’s the design.
The 15-Level table
| Level | Class | Weekly EP Target |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beginner | 150 |
| 2 | Beginner | 200 |
| 3 | Beginner | 250 |
| 4 | Intermediate | 300 |
| 5 | Intermediate | 400 |
| 6 | Intermediate | 500 |
| 7 | Advanced | 600 |
| 8 | Advanced | 750 |
| 9 | Advanced | 900 |
| 10 | Professional | 1,100 |
| 11 | Professional | 1,400 |
| 12 | Professional | 1,700 |
| 13 | Elite | 2,100 |
| 14 | Elite | 2,600 |
| 15 | Elite | 3,300 |
WHO alignment: Level 1 (150 EP/week) approximately matches the WHO minimum guideline of 150 minutes of moderate activity. Level 4 (300 EP/week) matches the WHO recommended guideline of 150 minutes of vigorous activity plus strength training.
How your starting Level is set
During onboarding, you answer a question about your current activity level. Based on your answer, you’re placed at the middle Level of the matching class.
| Your answer | Starting Level | Weekly EP Target |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner (0–2 hrs/week) | Level 2 | 200 |
| Intermediate (2–4 hrs/week) | Level 5 | 400 |
| Advanced (4–7 hrs/week) | Level 8 | 750 |
| Professional (7–14 hrs/week) | Level 11 | 1,400 |
| Elite (14–28 hrs/week) | Level 14 | 2,600 |
If you’ve done a NestEgg Challenge before, your starting Level is your finishing Level minus 2 (to account for any detraining between Challenges), with a minimum of Level 1.
Pre-challenge calibration: Your Flock may run a calibration week before the Challenge begins. This uses your actual workout data to set your Level before the competitive weeks start. It’s the single most effective fairness mechanism — and strongly recommended.
How promotion works
All Level changes happen at the end of each week. Your Level is locked for the entire week — no mid-week changes, no retroactive recalculations.
At the end of each week, the system calculates your EarnedLevel — the highest Level whose EP target you met or exceeded.
| What happened | What happens next |
|---|---|
| Your Level Score is below 50% | Demoted 1 Level (minimum Level 1) |
| EarnedLevel ≤ your current Level | Stay at your current Level |
| EarnedLevel > your current Level | Promoted to your EarnedLevel |
Promotion means earning it. Hitting 100% of your current target is a good week — but it doesn’t trigger promotion. You need to reach the next Level’s target. The Level table is the promotion criteria.
Example: earning a promotion
You’re Level 5 (target: 400 EP). You earn 520 EP in a week.
- 520 EP ≥ 500 (Level 6 target) → your EarnedLevel is Level 6
- EarnedLevel (6) > current Level (5) → promoted to Level 6
- Next week, your target is 500 EP
Example: a good week, no promotion
You’re Level 5 (target: 400 EP). You earn 480 EP.
- 480 EP < 500 (Level 6 target) → your EarnedLevel is Level 5
- EarnedLevel (5) = current Level (5) → stay at Level 5
- Your Level Score: 120%. A great contribution to your Nest.
Two Configurable Settings That Affect Levels
Your challenge has two separate settings that control how levels work. Both are set by your Flock Leader and are configurable per challenge.
Setting 1 — Exercise Points Scoring System
This controls how your Level Score is calculated each week, and sets the demotion threshold.
| Option | How Level Score is calculated |
|---|---|
| Raw EP (default) | Level Score = Raw EP ÷ Target × 100. No taper. |
| Effective EP | Level Score = Effective EP ÷ Target × 100. Taper applies above target. |
The demotion threshold (default: 50%) is also part of this setting. Eggs with a Level Score lower than the threshold are demoted one Level at the end of the week. This threshold is configurable per challenge.
Setting 2 — Level Promotion / Demotion Method
This controls which EP figure is used to calculate your EarnedLevel at the end of each week — the number that drives promotion decisions.
| Option | Behaviour | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Raw EP (default) | Uses full, uncompressed EP to determine EarnedLevel | Corrects misleveling in one week — promotes directly to the Level earned |
| Effective EP | Uses tapered EP to determine EarnedLevel | Caps promotion at ~2 Levels per week — smoother progression, reduces whiplash |
These two settings are independent. A challenge could use Effective EP for Level Score (taper active on the leaderboard) while still using Raw EP for promotion decisions — or any other combination. Most Eggs will never need to think about this; the defaults work well for the majority of challenges.
The Taper and Promotion Thresholds
One important property holds regardless of configuration: the first taper band is always full credit — 100% all the way up to the next Level’s EP target. This means everything you earn on the path to a promotion qualifies at full value.
The taper discount only begins above the promotion threshold. The taper never prevents a deserved promotion — it only compresses the surplus after you’ve already qualified.
See What is a Level Score? for the full taper worked example.
Demotion
If your Level Score drops below the demotion threshold (default: 50%) in a week, you’re demoted by 1 Level. This makes the following week’s target easier, giving you room to recover. You can never drop below Level 1.
The demotion threshold is configurable per challenge. Below 50% of your target, Raw EP and Effective EP are always identical — the taper only activates above target — so the demotion calculation gives the same result regardless of which EP type your challenge uses.
Misleveling corrects fast
Picked the wrong starting Level? The system fixes it in one week. If a Level 2 Egg earns 623 EP (which meets the Level 7 target of 600), they’re promoted directly to Level 7. No gradual correction — straight to the Level the data says they belong at.
With Effective EP promotion mode active, the same correction still happens — but promotion jumps are capped at approximately 2 Levels per week, so the path to the correct Level takes a few weeks rather than one.
The golden rules
- Every workout helps your Nest. Your Level Score only goes up — never down within a week.
- Scores only go up. No mid-week Level changes. No retroactive recalculations. Once a week is done, it’s done.
- Earn the Level. Promotion requires reaching the next Level’s EP target. Proportional, clean, no ambiguity.
- Raw EP is always visible. Whatever the challenge configuration, you always see your true output in the app.
NestEgg rewards consistency over heroics. The system adapts to you. The only thing that determines your rank is how hard you try relative to your capacity.