Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Wouldn’t it be great if there was information available that could help you know when you’re at risk for getting injured, sick, or having a health complication? This information is already available to you on many fitness wearables or smartwatches, but you need to know what to look for to understand this valuable information.
This information can be interpreted from your Heart Rate Variability, or HRV. HRV is the time difference between your heart beats. It gives us objective data that can help us manage the stressors placed on our bodies and if we are able to recovery properly. Examining trends in HRV can give insight into how your body is responding to the demands being placed on it.
For the Science-Lovers
Your autonomic nervous system controls your heart rate and rhythm. The autonomic nervous system consists of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). Your SNS can be thought of as the “fight-or-flight response” and the PNS can be thought of as “rest-and-digest.” These two systems that play a role in your heart rate and rhythm are constantly interacting.
Seeing trends that HRV is increasing shows that there is more parasympathetic stimulation, whereas decreasing HRV trends indicate more sympathetic stimulation.
What Should I Look For in my HRV Data?
The goal is to see your HRV numbers go up. This shows that you are more rested, recovered, and your body is responding well to the stressors placed upon it and is ready for activity. A decrease in HRV is showing that you may be in an over-worked or under-recovered state. You body is telling you that you could be overtrained, getting sick, and that prioritizing recovery could be beneficial.
Paying attention to the trends in the data is more important than the number itself. You can’t compare your HRV to someone else’s. Although fitter individuals generally have higher HRV numbers, there is a variability between individuals and age groups. Instead, focus on the trend of your own numbers.
Why Do I Need a Number to Tell Me How I Feel?
Decreasing HRV numbers can be observed before symptoms arise. There is a known connection between decreasing HRV trends and health complications, such as heart attack, stroke, and heart failure. Pain, poor sleep, and poor diet have all been related to these negative trends. There is also more data arising that links decreasing HRV and injury. Decreases in HRV combined with increased workload in the gym have been associated with a high probability of reporting an overuse injury in the coming week. Wouldn’t you like to know that you may be more likely to get injured on a certain day before walking in the gym doors so that you can plan your exercise appropriately for your readiness on that given day? HRV can help you know when it may be wise to avoid a complicated and heavy lift and instead focus on movements to help aide in your recovery that day.
Tracking HRV to help analyze your own stress vs. recovery balance can be performed on various devices, including Whoop, Oura, many Garmin watches, Polar watches, and some FitBit devices. Personally, I chose the Whoop and enjoy the HRV data as well as recommendations it provides based on questions it asks you. For example, I have learned that when I report reading before bed, my Whoop tells me I typically have a higher HRV the following day.
How Can I Improve My HRV?
Getting enough sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your recovery. Diet is also incredibly important. There is also evidence that incorporating long slow aerobic recovery sessions into your training can help aide recovery and HRV scores. These long slow recovery sessions should be at a lower intensity, where you can still hold a conversation.
Don’t spend all your time trying the fancy or trendy things, or paying for expensive “recovery aides” to try to improve your recovery. If you’re doing this and missing out on getting good sleep and eating well, you’re stepping over a dollar to pick up a penny. HRV can be an important tool for you to include as you focus on your training and recovery. Tracking it can help you get objective data into what is working and what you can work on improving.